Sourdough bagels are savory, chewy, crusty, and deliciously tangy. These are an amazing way to start your morning or to enjoy for a yummy brunch.
Sourdough may be one of my favorite ways to start the morning, whether it be breakfast strata, pancakes, English muffins, crepes, or these delicious bagels.
It’s a delicious, easy, and filling way to start our busy days, fueled up.
Bagels may seem intimidating, but I promise that they really aren’t that difficult. It’s much like making any baked sourdough recipe, with the added step of cooking it in boiling water for a few minutes before baking.
These sourdough bagels have a yummy and tangy flavor, pairing really well with sweet or savory dishes. They’re a wonderful comfort food.
I love slathering cream cheese or homemade butter all over them.
Below, I share a few different variations and a bunch of bagel sandwich ideas.
Sourdough Bagel FAQ
Are all bagels sourdough?
No. They are typically leavened with either sourdough or commercial yeast. Unless they are specifically labeled as sourdough, you can expect bagels to be made with commercial yeast.
Why is there a hole in a bagel?
There is a hole for more even cooking throughout. This also helps with crust development.
Are bagels bad for you?
While they tend to be higher in calories, these simple sourdough bagels are made with wholesome ingredients and healthy fermented grains.
What do you eat bagels with?
There are so many ways to eat bagels. Most commonly, they are served with cream cheese. See below for sandwich recommendations.
Why are bagels boiled at first?
You boil bagels first to set the crust, which allows them to hold their shape in the oven. The longer you boil them, the thicker the crust. Boiling for 60 seconds on each side yields the perfect result. Although this step may seem silly, don’t skip it – it is one of the most important.
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Tips:
- Use a slotted spoon or ‘spider’ strainer to flip and pull the bagels out of the boiling water.
- If you don’t have a sourdough starter, you can check out this post, where I show you exactly how to make a starter from scratch.
- Cook 2-4 bagels in the baking soda water at a time. Don’t overcrowd your pot.
- You can knead the dough by hand or use a stand mixer. A stand mixer is much easier and less time consuming.
Tools you may need:
Measuring cups and spoons
Large pot or dutch oven
Parchment paper
Topping ideas
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Sesame seeds
- Dried onion/dried garlic flakes
- Poppy seeds
- Everything But The Bagel seasoning
- Cinnamon sugar topping
Additional Bagel Add-Ins:
Mix in these extras into the dough right before forming into bagels:
Blueberries – add fresh blueberries
Cinnamon and raisins
Chocolate chips
How To Make Sourdough Bagels From Scratch
Add sourdough starter, water, honey, salt, and two cups of flour to a stand mixer.
Mix until it comes together, about 10 minutes on low speed. The dough will be really stiff and difficult to incorporate.
Add remaining flour, half a cup at a time. Use a dough hook and knead until it is smooth and pliable. You could also knead by hand, but the stand mixer makes this process much easier.
Cover dough with wet tea towel, plastic wrap, or beeswax wrap; allow to ferment for 8 to 12 hours. Don’t just cover with a dry towel, because it will create a hard skin on the top of your dough, which you don’t want.
After the dough has fermented, divide into 8 equal pieces.
Roll the 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 allow the dough to rise in a warm spot for two hours or until puffy. The time will depend on how warm your house is. It could take 1 to 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
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 water and boil for one minute, flip, then boil for another minute.
Shake off excess water and dip into desired toppings (optional).
Place boiled bagels on parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden on top.
Sourdough Bagel Sandwich Ideas
Truly, a sourdough bagel is a vessel for the yummy toppings you want to add.
- Breakfast sandwich – add a fried egg, bacon or sausage, cheese, and some lettuce for a yummy way to start your morning.
- Cream cheese and veggie. Spread cream cheese on bagel, add slices of tomato, cucumber, avocado (optional). Sprinkle with salt and enjoy.
- Avocado… bagel. Rather than toast. Add sliced avocado and sprinkle with salt.
- Locks – cream cheese and smoked salmon (locks) make a really delicious sandwich any time of day.
- Turkey club. Really any of your favorite lunch meat will do; top with slices of cheese, tomato, avocado, and an egg.
- Ham and cheese. Top with ham and a slice of Swiss or cheddar cheese. Bake it in the oven until the cheese starts to melt. Honey mustard takes this up a notch.
- Add chicken salad
Find More Sourdough Recipes:
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you could come back and give it 5 stars!
Sourdough Bagels
Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup sourdough starter, 100 grams, bubbly and active
- 1 cup water, 236 grams
- 2 tablespoons honey, 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
- Add sourdough starter, water, honey, salt, and two cups flour to a stand mixer.
- Mix until it comes together, about 10 minutes on low speed. The dough will be really stiff and difficult to incorporate.
- Add remaining flour, half a cup at a time. Use a dough hook and knead until it is smooth and pliable.
- Cover dough with wet tea towel, plastic wrap, or beeswax wrap and allow to ferment for 8 to 12 hours.
- After fermentation, divide into 8 equal pieces.
- Roll the 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 allow the dough to rise in a warm spot for 1-4 hours or until puffy.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- 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 water and boil for one minute, flip, then boil for another minute.
- Shake off excess water and dip into desired toppings (optional).
- Place boiled bagels on parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden on top.
Notes
- Use a slotted spoon or ‘spider’ strainer to flip and to pull the bagels out of the boiling water.
- Cook 2-4 bagels in the baking soda water at a time. Don’t overcrowd your pot.
- You can knead the dough by hand or use a stand mixer. A stand mixer is much easier and less time consuming.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are bagel perfection!! I’ve tried so many bagel recipes – and this is the best!! I swapped out 50 of flour for 50 g of flaxseed meal and they are DELICIOUS! Thank you!!
Hey! I’ve used your recipes for awhile now and am really bummed to see the transition from using grams. One, it requires more dishes and two I appreciate the accuracy it offers. Would you consider keeping those on?
Thanks for sharing your talent
They are still there. It is located under the ingredient list. You can toggle between weighted and volume measurements.
Hello! I’m a first time bagel maker! A friend invited me on this exciting journey by giving me some of her starter. As I was reading the instructions, I was confused by the second instruction as it says the dough will be thick, but I believe it is supposed to be soupy at that point? I still stirred it in my mixer for 10 minutes, as instructed. After adding the other half of flour was when it became incredibly thick and kneadable. Thanks for the site and recipe! 😀
When is the appropriate time to add the add ins to the recipe like chocolate chips or blueberries and how much ?
These bagels are great! Just one question, when using freshly milled whole wheat, how much do you adjust the water content?
I don’t adjust the water at all! I just use 1-1 hard white or hard red wheat. I do let the dough sit for an hour before doing any type of kneading.
Quick question… after BF can I stick the dough in the fridge covered large dough ball and continue in the morning? Mixed too late… thanks!!!
Yes, that is just fine!
Piggy backing. When taking it out of the fridge, should I wait till the dough is back at room temperature?
You don’t have to wait!
These bagels are amazing! 2 questions:
1. I must have an older recipe, it calls for 285g of sourdough discard. What made you decrease the amount?
2. Have you frozen these?
Thank you!
I update my recipes and found that only 1/2 cup of sourdough starter is all that it needs! Yes, they freeze well. I like to slice them before freezing them.
These were so easy to make. I am about to make them again, but would love to have some (fully baked) frozen to be able to pull out as needed. Have you tried freezing them?
Yes. You can freeze them. I like to slice them first.
How many bagel will the 1x recipe make?
8.
Hi Lisa! I guess if I lo9ked at the direction closer I would have figured that out when it said to divide into 8 pieces!! Lol! Sorry.
These have been a go-to for me for more than a year! Do you have your old recipe that had the ingredients in grams? I can’t find my printed copy and this looks to have been updated but it was useful to read it in grams and also had some notes about cinnamon raisin right?
It’s still there! Look below the ingredients and you will see a button to toggle between volume and weighted measurements.
There it is! Thank you Lisa!
I just made these this past weekend. They are fantastic. The perfect bagel texture on the inside and out.
Although I did add a few more tablespoons of flour and an extra tbsp of water, because I thought I failed in the beginning. The dough ball was seemingly very hard and tough. I decided to give it a shot and let it ferment on the stove under the microwave light overnight and it was perfect when I woke up. Fail turned to success.
Only question I have is storing in an airtight container, how long would these be good for? Thinking about a double batch next time.
5-7 days. With an airtight container, it keeps them from going stale, but it draws moisture which can cause them to mold prematurely.