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
These were fun to make, steps easy to follow. If you like blueberries, definitely give these a try.
I usually make sourdough bagels so it was fun to make a yeast one. So much fluffier! Recipe was easy, I did the overnight version and had fresh bagels this morning. I made a lemon, blueberry cream cheese with lemon juice, zest and left over blueberry sauce. Delicious!!
The bagels tasted great! Good blueberry flavor and good texture. We tried with and without toasting and both were really good! It’s definitely a process but the recipe walks you through step by step and makes it easy (easier than I expected for the first time making bagels!).
Much easier to make than expected. The outside was not pretty after baking, but I know for next time to work on my shaping! So yummy!
These bagels were way easier to make than I expected, and I think they turned out great! Thank you for making a simple, but wonderful recipe!
First time making bagels was a success! Fun process and easy-to-follow directions as usual.
Easy to follow. Fun to make!
First time making bagels. This recipe was easy to follow and they taste great! Family Approved
Super easy recipe. Steps were clear and easy to follow. Used the overnight method and it rose like crazy! Can’t wait to try them.
These bagels smell and taste delicious! Crunchy outside, soft and chewy on the inside…and the dried blueberries add a fresh pop of flavor.
These took a little more time to make than I thought they would but nothing too complicated. My dough did not allow for 130g for each bagel.
They taste delicious though!
These were super easy to make and turned out great. I pulled them around the 22 minute mark and they were perfect.
Really tasty and easy to make, but would love a juicier blueberry flavor! Maybe it’s the type of dried blueberries I was using, however.
Absolutely delicious and so fun to make! I thought they would be difficult but not the case at all!
I just made bagels for the first time. The results were amazing! Super easy, step-by-step instructions.
These bagels are absolutely delicious!! Although I’m a seasoned bread baker I’ve never made bagels. When I saw this challenge I knew I had to try them. They were easy with Sally’s step by step instructions. You can’t go wrong! These are the best blueberry bagels I’ve ever had!!
These were all right. I liked the flavor, but the outside was harder and inside not as soft as Sally’s original bagels. Probably not a repeat for us, but it was fun to try something different!
The recipe was easy to follow and the finished product had a great chewy bagel texture and a nice blueberry flavor! I used my food scale to measure some of the ingredients and divide the dough. I struggled a little bit with shaping the bagels because the hole closes in while waiting for the water bath. Next time I’ll make the hole bigger.
So fun to make! Weighed my ingredients, and did have to add a bit more flour during kneading but all in all came out wonderful with lots of blueberry flavor! Yum!
This was a fun recipe. I followed it exactly, and while they taste delicious, I feel like the texture is off. Like perhaps there was too much moisture in the dough maybe, or maybe I just didn’t drain them well after boiling. Still, a great recipe and I’m glad I tried it!
These bagels exceeded my expectations in taste! I think that the blueberry jam really adds to the flavor. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow. I’d make these bagels a hundred more times.
Great recipe
I’ve never made a bagel and at 71 I decided to do Sally’s challenges after using cookie recipes at Christmas and were delicious! This was so easy and turned out perfectly! So good!
These were great! The process was fun. I only baked mine 18 minutes and one tray at a time. Thanks Sally!
We loved these bagels. My current pregnancy craving is bagels, so I was very excited to make these. The perfect amount of blueberry flavor and so chewy while also being soft and fluffy.
These were easy and turned out great with a nice blueberry flavor. I did find the egg wash got a little dark so I might add it a few minutes into the baking time next time.
These are amazing! Great Blueberry flavor and love the color. My husband couldn’t stop eating them!
Baking anything with yeast intimidates me, but this recipe was very easy to follow! I have a little one at home, so I appreciated the overnight option—it felt much less demanding. And the flavor turned out excellent. Next time, I’ll definitely reduce the baking time. Even sticking to the low end (26 minutes), they turned out a little too crunchy for me.
Texture is great. Crisp outside, tender inside. Yummy flavor. Easy enough to make.
Great recipe. I did the overnight proof and they were fresh and ready for breakfast the next day.
First time making bagels and they worked out perfectly! I used frozen and dried cranberries because I had both on hand and they were just as good as I am sure the blueberries would have been. Will definitely make these again and use bread flour bc they were a little dense but great flavor and easy to make.