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
Ingredients
- ½ cup sourdough starter, bubbly and active (113 grams)
- 1 cup water, 236 grams
- 2 tablespoons honey, 21 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.
Thanks for sharing all your recipes. My family and I love these bagels.
FYI Print feature doesn’t seem to work.
That is wonderful to hear. Hmmm I’m not having any issues. Are you pop ups blocked?
These were very good tasting! Makes for delicious bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches!
A couple things:
I found that you have to make sure you grease the cookie sheet or use parchment paper to let them rise and also when baking. Mine rose so well, but because the recipe didn’t say to use parchment or oil the baking pan, I ended up having to scrape them off with a spatula, which caused them to deflate some, and then after baking, we had to leave the bottom of the bagel on the cookie sheet because it was impossible to scrape off. Maybe it told this in the blog, but I just skipped to the recipe, so I missed anything of the sort.
Also, I didn’t add all the flour. I used the weight measurements and it just got too stiff, even for my kitchenaid. Had maybe 1/4 cup left over that I dumped out of the bowl after finding it wasn’t mixing in.
AND I cooked them for considerable less time. It could be my oven, but it only took 15 minutes or so to get them browned.
Hi Lisa, I’ve just got a couple of questions:
1) Am I using a dough hook the whole time or is it a paddle mixer until all the flour is added?
2)Is the mixing for 10 min happening before the second half of the flour is added? or after all the flour?
Thank you!
You can use the dough hook the whole time, and the 10 minute mix is before adding the additional flour.
I just made these for the first time today and they are SO GOOD! I’m still a beginner when it comes to sourdough baking and this recipe was so simple to follow. Thank you so much!
Yay! That makes my heart happy!
If I want to have a 24 hour ferment for my gluten sensitive daughter, what would you recommend? Refrigerate and then let come to room temp before shaping? We have really been enjoying your recipes!
I would bulk rise and then stick them in the fridge to reduce the risk of over fermentation. Before shaping, pull them out of the fridge for an hour or so and shape.
If you put the dough in the fridge overnight do you leave it out to ferment until double like usual for 8-12 hours after taking it out of the fridge?
I recommend letting it double in size at room temperature first before putting it in the fridge. In the morning, I may let it sit at room temp for an hour just to make them easier to shape. I have before let it rise for just a few hours at room temp, then stuck it in the fridge, then pulled it out for a few more hours to double and then shaped.
Love this recipe! Wondering if you’d have any tips for preventing ugly bagels though.. My bagels mishapened when transferring over to the pot. I tried using flour on my hands and that helped a bit.. Delicious nonetheless! I just thought i would take any tips you have for next time- definitely attempting this again!
They could be a little over fermented. How long are you letting them rise the day of? They still should be a tad firm.
I am having a hard time getting the bagels off the parchment paper after the second rise to get them in the boiling water. They are sticking to the parchment
Is the dough supposed to be really hard after kneading?
It is a stiffer dough, yes.
Each bagel contains 1004 gr of carbs???? How can that be?
The recipe card automatically calculates those numbers. So, take them with a grain of salt for sure. However, the number of each nutrient is listed after. So it actually says 61g of carbs. The 1004 is mg and is for sodium. Hope that helps!