Homemade sourdough discard bagels made with sourdough discard have a deliciously chewy texture. The perfect way to start a morning or use it for breakfast sandwiches.
Not to be confused with my homemade sourdough bagel recipe made exclusively with active sourdough starter. These are a little bit of a cheater recipe.
It uses commercial yeast to give them the rise and makes the whole process much quicker, but they still have that classic sourdough tang thanks to the discard.
The only downfall to this recipe is that the grains will not be fermented like most sourdough recipes. But on the other hand, you are only like 2 hours from homemade bagels. Worth it in my opinion.
These are great to make ahead and keep them in the freezer for a quick breakfast or lunch. Bagels are my favorite thing to use for sandwiches, especially if we are on the go or are planning a river day.
Why you will love this recipe:
Fast: Unlike my traditional homemade sourdough bagels that can take at least 11 hours from start to finish, this recipe comes together quickly. You could be biting into a chewy bagel within around 2.5 hours.
Delicious: Just as good, if not better, than any bagel shop.
Customizable: Add your favorite toppings
Great way to use extra discard: I always say… don’t toss the discard when feeding your starter. It can be used in so many recipes. Check out my favorite discard recipes here.
Tips:
- To achieve that typical chewy crust that bagels are known for, boiling is a must. Seems like a silly step, but they just won’t be the same.
- If you are sensitive to baking soda, you can just boil the bagels in sugar.
- The dough may be hard to mix together, but don’t give up. It will come together eventually.
- New to sourdough? Check out how to make a sourdough starter here.
Ingredients:
Active dry yeast- Good ol’ commercial yeast. This is what gives these sourdough discard bagels rise since we are using discard rather than active starter.
Warm water – about 95 degrees. Too hot and you run the risk of killing the active dry yeast.
Sourdough discard: Technically you can use an active starter as well. Discard will give you a more sour flavor.
Honey or maple syrup
Salt
Unbleached all purpose flour: Could also substitute with bread flour.
For boiling the bagels
Water
Baking soda – If you are sensitive to baking soda, you can omit.
Brown sugar
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Tools:
Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
Measuring cups and spoons or kitchen scale
Large pot
Baking sheet
FAQ:
Most likely, they were not allowed to rise enough during the first or second rise.
Yes! You can use sourdough discard in so many recipes. From pancakes, to waffles, muffins, even bread. Find 35+ Discard Recipes here.
How To Make Sourdough Discard Bagels:
Whisk the warm water and yeast together in the bowl of your stand mixer. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes. It should get nice and bubbly.
To the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, add the sourdough discard, honey, salt and flour.
Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. This dough is very stiff and will look quite dry since this is a low hydration recipe.
I like to continue kneading it in the mixer, but the smaller models struggle with such a stiff dough. Sometimes I knead for a few minutes on low speed, give the motor a rest and then turn it back on again for a few more minutes.
Knead until it comes together to form a smooth ball. About 5-10 minutes total.
Alternatively, you can turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough by hand for 5-10 minutes.
After the bagel dough sits for a bit and relaxes it will become softer and more pliable.
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, a beeswax wrap, plastic wrap, or a wet tea towel. This keeps it from drying out on top.
First Rise
Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes, or until doubled in size. The amount of time can depend on how warm your kitchen is.
After rising, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. These absolutely do not need to be perfect, but they will each be about 137-140 grams
Roll a piece of dough into balls, flatten them down a bit, and poke a hole in the middle with your finger. Stretch the hole a bit to widen.
Cover with a tea towel and place the dough in a warm spot for 30 minutes – 1 hour or until puffy for the second rise.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and prepare your water bath. Place parchment paper onto a baking sheet.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the baking soda and sugar. If you are sensitive to baking soda, you can also just use sugar. The reason you add this to the water is to create the perfectly chewy crust that every good bagel has.
Using a slotted spoon, gently add bagels to the boiling water. Boil for one minute, flip, then boil for another minute.
Shake off excess water and dip into desired toppings (optional).
Place boiled bagels on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds, everything but the bagel seasoning, or even some brown sugar.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
Move to a wire rack to cool.
Storage:
Store in an airtight container for up to 5-7 days. Freeze for up to 6 months. Allow to cool completely. Transfer the bagels to a freezer safe container or bag and place in the freezer.
My Favorite Bagel Toppings:
Cream cheese
Jam: Find my strawberry and peach recipes here.
Avocado and a fried egg- Add bacon for extra points
Lunch meat
Cream cheese, avocado, and poppy seeds.
“Cheesecake”: This was a staple in my house growing up. My mom would use rice cakes, but it is absolutely delicious on bagels. Spread a thin layer of cream cheese and top with your favorite jam. Personally, I like strawberry.
Fried eggs and bacon.
Peanut butter or the classic PB&J.
Find More Sourdough Discard Recipes:
- Sourdough Pretzels
- My favorite English Muffins
- Same Day Sourdough Bread
- How To Make A Potato Flake Sourdough Starter
- 6+ Sourdough Cookie Recipes
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you gave it 5 stars! Thank you! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Sourdough Discard Bagels
Ingredients
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast, 9 grams
- 1 cup warm water, 236 grams
- 1 cup sourdough discard, 250 grams
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup, 42 grams
- 2 teaspoons salt, 10 grams
- 4 cups unbleached all purpose flour, 560 grams
For boiling the bagels
- 2 quarts water
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Whisk the warm water and yeast together in the bowl of your stand mixer. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes. It should get nice and bubbly
- To the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, add the sourdough discard, honey, salt and flour. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes.
- Continue kneading it in the mixer until it comes together to form a smooth ball. About 5-10 minutes total. Smaller models struggle with such a stiff dough. Sometimes I knead for a few minutes on low speed, give the motor a rest, and then turn it back on for a few minutes. Alternatively, you can turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough by hand for 5-10 minutes.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, a beeswax wrap, plastic wrap, or a wet tea towel. This keeps it from drying out on top.
- Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes, or until doubled in size. The amount of time can depend on how warm your kitchen is.
- After rising, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. These absolutely do not need to be perfect, but they will each be about 137-140 grams.
- Roll each piece of dough into balls, flatten them down a bit, and poke a hole in the middle with your finger. Stretch the hole a bit to widen. Cover with a tea towel and place the dough in a warm spot for 30 minutes- 1 hour, or until puffy.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and prepare your water bath and place parchment paper onto a baking sheet.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the baking soda and sugar.
- Using a slotted spoon, gently add bagels to the boiling water. Boil for one minute, flip, then boil for another minute.
- Shake off excess water and dip into desired toppings (optional). Place boiled bagels on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds, everything but the bagel seasoning, or even some brown sugar.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Move to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
- To achieve that typical chewy crust that bagels are known for, boiling is a must. Seems like a silly step, but they just won’t be the same.
- If you are sensitive to baking soda, you can just boil the bagels in sugar.
- The dough may be hard to mix together, but don’t give up. It will come together eventually.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hey Lisa!
I absokutely love this recipe and have done it a few times. When i do a single batch, i definitely get 8 bagels. However, I’ve now doubled it twice and both times i’ve only gotten 9 bagels out of the recipe. What am i doing wrong?
The Sourdough discard bagels are wonderful! We live at very high altitude (10,000 ft) so I had to make some adjustments but they still came out great! Instead of 8, I made each one slightly smaller (120 g each) and got 10 bagels out of the batch. We did an assortment of plain, everything and jalapeño cheddar. My husband is definitely a fan!
Thank you for sharing this! I followed your directions to make my starter, fed it for two weeks and baked my first loaf today. It turned out beautifully- though the crumb wasn’t great. The crust tasted almost bitter. It had a horrible taste. Any idea why that happened? The inside tasted great!
These bagels are easy to make and so beautiful! But they are terribly bland! I seasoned some with cinnamon/brown sugar, some with Everything But the Bagel/garlic/onion, and some with Everything But the Bagel/shredded Parmesan cheese. I weighed everything EXACTLY. I boiled them as instructed in soda/brown sugar.
The baking soda was very overpowering and what you could taste was incredibly bland. I think I’ll stick with my other recipe. They aren’t as big and fluffy but they definitely taste better.
Great recipe! It will be hard to buy store bagels now that I know how easy and tasty fresh sourdough bagels are!!
LISA!!! I’m SO sad!!! I’ve made these several times and they’re always a huge hit. I doubled the recipe this time to send bagels home with friends. All ingredients were doubled in the recipe except the flour (8 cups is not 560 grams). I am going to bake them anyway with double all of the other ingredients and hope for the best. 😩
Omg , these are delicious!!!!!
I can’t believe how easy they were to make !!!!!
Yum yum yum , thank you so much for sharing the recipe !
I can not believe I made these bagels this morning. They are delicious. I am not an experienced baker by no means. I followed the recipe and the bagels came out awesome.
I got 8 large beautul bagels.
Thanks for the well detailed recipe.
Plus I was ecstatic to use my discard.😃
4 cups of flour equals 512 grams. I used 560 grams as you said. What would be right weight in grams?
I weigh my flour differently and it needs the 560 to be accurate.
I did 560 and it was perfection
Can you explain this? A gram is a gram. How do you weigh your flour that makes it come out differently? Are you packing it? And if you weigh it differently, then how are we supposed to understand this if we follow standards? I’ve been getting confused by your conversions. I rely on my scale for weighing everything–measuring cups are just fancy scoops in my book–but since the conversions seem off I’ve been using your cup measurements. Can you explain in the recipe notes so we understand?
This is the only recipe I will use! I’ve made it 5x and the bagels have been perfect every time!!