Learn how to make homemade blueberry bagels completely from scratch. These bagels are chewy on the outside, soft and dense on the inside, and packed with real blueberries. Taste testers said they were the most flavorful blueberry bagels they’d ever had, and we agree—just look at their gorgeous color!
There’s nothing quite like a fresh bagel, especially when it’s warm from the oven, lightly crisp on the outside, and packed with blueberries inside! These homemade blueberry bagels are soft, very chewy, subtly sweet, and boast a gorgeous, naturally violet hue. Best of all, they’re made with simple, real ingredients and the dough can be prepped ahead.
My team and I tested these blueberry bagels many times over the past 2 months to get the texture just right: not too dense, not too bready, and never gummy. The key is a sturdy yet soft dough, a quick boil before baking, and plenty of blueberries in every bite. This was a tall order!
If you’ve ever made homemade bagels, the process will be familiar to you. And if this is your first time, let me assure you: this recipe is very doable, even for beginners.
Yeast Beginners: Start Here
Reference this Baking with Yeast Guide whenever you work with baker’s yeast. I include practical answers to all of your common yeast questions.
Ingredients You Need:
- Fresh or Frozen Blueberries: We’ll flavor and tint the dough with a homemade blueberry reduction. Something similar to this blueberry sauce topping, but not as thick. For the reduction, you can use fresh or frozen blueberries; I use frozen, which are convenient and available year round.
- Granulated Sugar: You’ll need to divide it in half; cook half with the blueberries, and add the remaining half to the yeast and water.
- Warm Water: Liquid for the dough.
- Yeast: Allows the dough to rise. I recommend an instant or active dry yeast.
- Vanilla: A teaspoon of vanilla extract complements and enhances the blueberry flavor.
- Dried Blueberries: Look for the kind that are chewy, like raisins or dried cranberries. We haven’t tested these bagels with freeze-dried blueberries.
- Bread Flour: A high-protein flour is necessary for bagels. We want a dense and chewy texture, not soft and flaky like homemade cinnamon rolls.
- Salt: Can’t make flavorful bread without it!
Step-by-Step: How to Make Blueberry Bagels
Cook the fresh or frozen blueberries with a little sugar until they break down into a loose sauce, about 10 minutes. You should have 1/2 cup (about 130g); do not use more than that in the dough. Let it cool slightly before adding it to the dough (too much heat can kill the yeast).
The blueberry reduction will be looser/thinner than a jam, and even thinner than blueberry sauce topping. This is what you’re going for:
Whisk together the remaining sugar, warm water, and yeast. Cover and let it sit for about 5–10 minutes until foamy and frothy. Mix in the remaining dough ingredients, including the cooled blueberry mixture and dried blueberries, until a dense, slightly tacky dough forms. If it feels dry, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
Knead the dough by hand or use a stand mixer. (Need help? I have a full visual guide in my How to Knead Dough tutorial.)
After the dough has been kneaded, cover it and let it rise until about doubled in size, about 2 hours:
How to Shape Blueberry Bagels
Punch down the dough, then divide it into 8 sections and shape into bagels. If you have a food scale, it’s helpful here for dividing the dough evenly. Our bagels each weighed around 130g.
Poke a hole through the center and gently stretch to about 1.5–2 inches wide. They don’t need to be perfect!
Bagel Water Bath
Bagels must cook for 1 minute on each side in a pot of boiling water. This is actually the most important step in the whole recipe. Why?
- Boiling the bagels gives them their beautiful shine. But looks aren’t everything—this shine is actually a result of the dough’s starches gelatinizing, which creates a crisp, shiny coating. I learned this from Cooks Illustrated.
- Boiling bagels cooks the outer layer of dough, which guarantees they’ll hold their shape in the oven.
Add honey or barley malt syrup to the water bath. Why? The sugar adds extra caramelization and crisp. Brushing the boiled bagels with egg wash does the same. Don’t skip either!
Once your bagels are boiled and egg-washed, they’re ready for the oven! Bake until these purple beauties darken on top to a deep golden-brown shade.
Homemade blueberry bagels are one of those baking projects that feel extra rewarding, because they taste infinitely better than store-bought. Slice, toast, slather with cream cheese, enjoy plain… however you like them, they’re always a win.
Homemade Blueberry Bagels
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 26 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 bagels
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These homemade blueberry bagels are wonderfully chewy on the outside, soft and dense on the inside, and packed with real blueberries. The dough is flavored with a quick stovetop blueberry sauce and chewy dried blueberries. Made completely from scratch with simple ingredients and unbeatable flavor! Make-ahead and freezing instructions included below.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (about 200g) fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar, divided
- 1 cup (240g/ml) warm water (between 100–110°F/38–43°C)
- 1 Tablespoon instant or active dry yeast*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (120g) dried blueberries
- 3 and 3/4 cups (488g) bread flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed*
- 2 teaspoons salt
- for coating the bowl: nonstick spray or 2 teaspoons butter or olive oil
For Boiling & Topping
- 2 quarts (1.9L) water
- 1/4 cup (85g) honey or barley malt syrup
- egg wash: 1 egg white beaten with 1 Tablespoon water
Instructions
- Cook the blueberries: Place the blueberries and half of the sugar (2 Tbsp/25g) in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring with a silicone spatula, until you have a blueberry sauce, a little thinner than a jam, about 10 minutes. You should have around 1/2 cup of sauce, or about 130g. Pour into a heat-proof bowl and let cool slightly (to about 110°F or cooler). Feel free to speed it up by placing it in the refrigerator while you continue.
- Prepare the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, whisk the warm water, remaining 2 Tablespoons of sugar, and yeast together. Cover and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy and frothy on the surface. *If you don’t have a stand mixer, use a large mixing bowl and mix the dough with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula in the next step.*
- To the yeast mixture, add 1/2 cup (130g) of the slightly cooled blueberry sauce (do not exceed that amount), followed by the vanilla extract, dried blueberries, 1 cup of the bread flour, and the salt, then beat on medium speed until incorporated. Add the remaining flour and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If it seems too sticky and clings to the sides of the bowl instead of forming a rough mass around the dough hook or spoon, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue to mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be stiff. If it is dry or crumbly and breaks off in pieces, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Knead the dough: When the dough has reached the proper consistency, beat on low speed with the dough hook for an additional 6–8 minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 6–8 minutes, until the dough feels smooth and elastic. (If you’re new to bread-making, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with nonstick spray, butter, or oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Shape the bagels: When the dough is risen, punch it down to release the air. On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 130g each. Shape each piece into a ball. Press your index finger through the center of each ball and stretch to create a bagel shape with a hole about 1.5–2 inches in diameter. Arrange the shaped bagels on the prepared baking sheets. Loosely cover the shaped bagels with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rest for 5–10 minutes as you prepare the water bath.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C).
- Water bath: Fill a large, wide pot with 2 quarts (1.9L) of water. Whisk in the honey or barley malt syrup. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-high. Drop 2 or 3 bagels in at a time, making sure they have enough room to float around. Boil the bagels for 1 minute, then use a spatula to flip each bagel over and boil for 1 minute more. Using a slotted metal spatula, lift the bagels out of the water, letting the excess water drain off. Place the bagels back on the lined baking sheets. Repeat with remaining bagels.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash on top and around the sides of each bagel.
- Bake for 26–30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the bagels have lightly browned. Allow the bagels to cool on the baking sheets for 20 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Slice, toast, top, whatever you want! Cover leftover bagels tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can freeze them for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Overnight Make-Ahead Instructions: Prepare the dough through step 5, but allow the dough to rise overnight in the refrigerator instead of at room temperature. The slow rise gives the bagels wonderful flavor! In the morning, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let the dough rise for 45 minutes at room temperature. Continue with step 6. I don’t recommend shaping the bagels the night before as they will puff up too much overnight.
- Freezing Make-Ahead Instructions: Baked bagels freeze wonderfully! Freeze them for up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature, then warm to your liking. You can also freeze the bagel dough. After punching down the dough in step 7, wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil—or seal it tightly in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then punch the dough down again to release any air bubbles. Continue with the rest of step 7.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Small Saucepan | Stand Mixer | Baking Sheets | Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Mats | Food Scale | Large Pot (such as a 5- or 6-quart Dutch oven) | Pastry Brush
- Yeast: Use instant or active dry yeast. If using active dry yeast, the rise time may be slightly longer. 1 standard packet is about 2 and 1/4 teaspoons, so you will need a little more than 1 packet of yeast. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Dried Blueberries: Look for the kind that are chewy, like raisins or dried cranberries. You can skip them if needed, but they add concentrated blueberry flavor and chewy texture. Without them, the bagels will be milder in flavor. We haven’t tested these bagels with freeze-dried blueberries.
- Bread Flour: Bagels require a high-protein flour. Bread flour is a must. Here are all my recipes using bread flour if you want more recipes to use it up. All-purpose flour can be used in a pinch, but the bagels will be flimsy and not nearly as chewy.
- Bread Machine: Place the dough ingredients into the pan of the machine. Program the machine to dough or manual, then start. After 9–10 minutes, the dough will be quite stiff. Allow the machine to complete its cycle, then continue with the recipe.
- Halve or Double: You can halve this dough recipe by simply halving all of the dough ingredients (do not halve the water or honey for the boiling step). No changes to the recipe instructions. For best taste and texture and to not overwhelm your mixer with excess heavy dough, I do not recommend doubling this dough recipe. Instead, make separate batches of dough.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Outstanding blueberry flavor and chewiness. My husband says best blueberry bagel he’s ever eaten!
These are really, really good. I’ve always wanted to make bagels and I was excited to see these were January’s baking challenge did not disappoint. 100% recommend, will be making them again.
This recipe was so easy and fun to make. It was my first time making bagels and I found the instructions to be very clear. Truly enjoyed by all. Especially by my blueberry loving toddler!
This is a great recipe for first time bagel makers like me! I found the step-by-step instructions to be super useful. As always, a trustworthy recipe from Sally! I found my dried blueberries at Whole Foods (I know some people had difficulty finding) and it seems to be enough for two batches!
The bagels had a great flavor and I made a homemade pistachio honey cream cheese to spread on them.
The bagels were outstanding in blueberry flavor and chewy texture !
I would definitely make again.
These Blueberry Bagels are better than anything you could buy in a store
This bagel recipe was so fun to make and absolutely delicious. It’s perfect with cream cheese on top!
I really enjoyed this recipe. It has a beautiful natural color and was easy to make. The texture is perfect.
First time making bagels! They came out great. The instructions were very clear and we followed them exactly. Well almost exactly … we researched instant yeast vs active dry yeast (which is what we have). Based on this research, we increased the amount by 25%. The rise time was the same as in the recipe (not longer) and the bagels came out super plump. They’re nicely browned with a crispy outside, chewy inside, and a deliciously blueberry flavor. A big hit! Will definitely make again.
These turned out great! It was my first try making bagels from scratch and they turned out really well. They were moist and chewy and the flavor is delicious! I would say the recipe is more work than I’d want to do most of the time, but it was a great baking project for my weekend. Thanks Sally!
First time making bagels! These are so good toasted and spread with cream cheese!
These bagels have the perfect texture. Loved the subtle blueberry flavor without overwhelming sweetness.
Not too sweet, perfect texture and amount of blueberry flavor
Delicious!
I made them a bit to thin so they were pretty hard to cut through the middle but they were still good!
We definitely have enjoyed these homemade blueberry bagels! The recipe is pretty straightforward and fun to make. We used Molasses in the boiling water as we were out of honey – but the flavor still came out great. Will be making these again 🙂
It was the first time I’ve ever made bagels! Easy recipe to follow and delicious results!
Great description, very helpful recipe, a little challenging
So flavorful and the right amount of chewy. My shaping was way off but it’s easy to look past that when they taste so good I am sure I’ll make these again!
Homemade bagels has been on my long-term list of “new baking skills” for awhile, so this was the perfect excuse to finally cross it off. These were fun/easy to make and tasted great. Really enjoyed the blueberry flavor.
These turned out great! Definitely will use this recipe again
These are delicious and so easy to make! We’re not even bagel people at my house, and we all loved them! Another knockout recipe from Sally!
My family loved them so much that I made them twice in one week. The first time the bottoms burned a little but they were delicious! Second time, I turned the oven down 5 degrees, baked for 21 minutes and used a double stacked cookie sheet and they turned out perfect.
This was my first time making bagels! I found the recipe straightforward and easy to follow. My bagels weren’t very pretty but the flavor and texture is amazing. I’m so glad I gave them a shot! Will be making again!
Delicious and easy to make! Have already made these more than once!
I made these a couple weekends ago and they came out delicious! I was disappointed when we had finished them all. So, I had to make them again this last weekend however, since we still had some frozen cranberries and craisins left from the holidays, I had modified the recipe a bit to create cranberry orange bagels. They are also wonderful!
This recipe was easy to follow and tasted delicious. I made the mistake of not reading the ingredients all the way through before going to the store, so missed the dried blueberries. Luckily I had cranberries at home so I made a blueberry cranberry bagel instead! It worked perfect!
These are delicious! Definitely worth the effort.
Our house smelled so good while these were baking in the oven. Very easy recipe to follow and tasted delicious all toasted up. Would definitely recommend and will make again
These were so fun to make with the beautiful color! I love the end flavor too, mine were just a bit dense, and I’m not sure where that came from. The chewy outside is perfect though, so definitely could have been a personal baker error!
Directions are simple to follow and the flavor is incredible!