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.
Hi. It’s my first time trying these. My kitchen aid mixer is struggling after adding the last 2 cups of flour! It’s like it needs more liquid. I had to stop it because i was afraid my mixer was going to burn up. Trying to finish kneading by hand…. Others have this problem?
I’m pretty far away from “smooth and pliable”!!! Help!!!!
It does take awhile in the kitchen aid mixer! Some versions of the kitchen aid mixer don’t have as strong of a mixing machine as others. This could be your problem. It typically takes 15+ minutes to mix in the mixer.
Thanks for the recipe. I’m going to try these a second time. The flavor was good, but I had trouble with getting them to rise. Should the gram amount for honey be 42 g instead of 21g? I am wondering if that might be what went wrong since I used my scale for this.
Here’s a conversion chart to help you!
Would there be a way I can put this in the fridge? I just noticed the hours and it’s going to be like 2am before they are done! I just didn’t realize the time frame! 😳🤣
Yes. So it’s normally not advised to place dough in the fridge during the bulk rise, but have I done it and it worked just fine.. yes. I let it rise at room temp for as long as possible. Then popped it in the fridge. The next morning, pull it back out and let it rise until doubled, then shape, rise again, boil, etc.
Can I leave it sit out at room temp for the whole bulk ferment (12hrs) and then place it in the fridge overnight and get it out the next morning? Or should I not leave it out for the whole 12 hours bulk ferment? And when I get it out in the morning how long do I let it rise again before forming the bagels? Thank you!!
Let it bulk ferment for 12-24 hours before baking. If you put it in the fridge, pull it out and let them warm up before baking them.
I’ve made these several times and the family loves them! One thing about the recipe though, after the addition of 2 cups of flour, my dough is still very loose for that 10 minutes in the mixer. It doesn’t become stiff and difficult to incorporate until the rest of the flour is added. Is this how it is when you make them?
Because I have a professional stand mixer I can get away with just adding all my flour at one time without issue, but those who have a start mixer tend to have more of a hard time incorporating the flour.
I had the same thought! I think the intended question is, is there a chance step 2 and 3 are mixed up? 10 minutes of kneading after all the flour is added or is it really knead the 2 cups for 10 minutes then add the rest?
Lisa, I love your channel! Thank you for getting me into sourdough!
Keep kneading as you add the flour!
Ok I was also wondering this, I added the 2 cups and mixed for 10min before starting to add additional flour. Once all the flour was mixed i switched to the kneading tool for about 5min. If using a stand mixer can you just add all the flour at once? and then knead for 10min?
My bagels turned out amazing. Next time i need to smash a little more and add a bigger hole. Taste was amazing and baked for 20min. Thank you for an awesome recipe.
You can add the flour gradually while the stand mixer is mixing!
Hi. Can you please also post a recipe for multigrain bagels?
I can make a note!
Thank you, These were so yummy!! Can you also post a recipe for multigrain bagels?
Hi, I’m wondering if you’ve ever made these bagles with self milled flour?
I have not! I need to try it though.
Do they keep longer in the fridge? I see below it says airtight container 3-4 days. Side note, I’m a huge fan of your blog & Youtube:)
I don’t typically keep breads in the fridge because it tends to dry them out. If I want to store them longer I will just pop them into the freezer.
Hi.
2 sticks of butter…how many grams or tablespoons would that be?
2 sticks of butter is one cup. For grams, I use this conversion chart: https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/baking-conversion-chart
I made these and they tasted great! But mine turned out quite dense especially after a couple days. Is there any tips to get more of a light fluffy bagel?
Bagels tend to be denser. For softer bagels a little more moisture and kneading help.
They taste amazing right out of the oven, but after a couple of days they weren’t nearly as good. I solved that problem by freezing them. I pull out 2 the night before and by morning they are ready to toast and taste just as good as out of the oven!
Great idea!