Sourdough Cinnamon Crunch Bagels

These sourdough cinnamon crunch bagels are a super delicious and possibly addicting breakfast or brunch. Chewy bagels topped with a cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter topping that is baked until caramelized and crunchy. 

I’ve been on a bagel kick lately trying out a bunch of different recipes. There is just nothing like a homemade bagel for breakfast (we also love to use them for sandwiches for lunch).

My original recipe can be made in so many ways, but I really had a taste for one that tasted just like a Panera cinnamon crunch bagel. 

These turned out so amazing. They are fluffy while having a perfectly chewy texture and mouth watering crunchy cinnamon sugar topping. 

Make this recipe for a special brunch, Christmas morning (you can even prep ahead so all you have to do is top with the cinnamon topping and bake in the morning), or really any day of the week. It’s really hard to just eat one. Even the little bits of caramelized sugar on the pan are delicious.

Also, these are guaranteed to make your house smell amazing and like a beautiful fall day is just wafting through the house. 

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.
• When boiling the bagels in the water bath try not to overcrowd your pot. Also, the bagels should float.
• You can knead the dough by hand or use a stand mixer. A stand mixer is much easier and less time consuming.
• Make the dough ahead, allow to ferment at room temperature, and then pop into the fridge before or after shaping if you want to bake them later. I like to do it after shaping, because shaping the dough after refrigeration can be a bit challenging. You could also let it sit at room temperature for a bit before shaping as well.

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Ingredients

Bagel Dough Ingredients

All-purpose flour: You could also use bread flour if desired. The amount of water may need to be adjusted.

Active sourdough starter: This is a starter that has been fed 4-12 hours before starting the dough. It is bubbly, active, and has about doubled in size. It should also pass the float test. Take a little bit of starter and place in a glass of water. If it floats it is ready to use.

Water: Preferably filtered water. Tap water may contain too much chlorine which can inhibit the wild yeast in the sourdough starter. 

Cinnamon: This adds a nice warmth to the dough, perfect for fall and winter.

Salt: I prefer sea salt or Himalayan salt

Honey: You can also substitute with regular sugar or maple syrup.

Cinnamon Crunch Topping

Brown Sugar

Sugar: I like organic cane sugar. Regular white sugar will also work.

Melted butter: The butter acts like a glue to combine the crunch topping. It also gives it an amazing crust that melts over bagels.

Cinnamon: Pumpkin spice would also be amazing

Tools you may need:

Stand mixer with dough hook attachment

Measuring cups and spoons

Large pot or dutch oven

Baking sheet

Parchment paper

Kitchen scale (optional)

Slotted spoon or spider

Bench scraper (optional, but handy)

How To Make Sourdough Cinnamon Crunch Bagels

Add sourdough starter, warm water, honey (maple syrup or sugar), salt, cinnamon, and two cups of all purpose flour to a bowl of a stand mixer. 

Mix with the dough hook attachment until it comes together, about 10 minutes on low speed. This is a pretty stiff dough.

Add remaining flour, half a cup at a time. Knead until it is smooth and pliable. You could also knead by hand, but the stand mixer makes this process much easier. Less of an arm workout.

Cover dough with wet tea towel, plastic wrap, or beeswax wrap; allow to ferment at room temperature in a warm place for 8 to 12 hours for the first rise. The cover must be tight or damp or else a dry crust will form at the top of the dough, and while it will not completely ruin your homemade bagels, it makes it a little less desirable.

Shape

After the dough has fermented, divide into 8 equal pieces. I like to use a bench scraper to make it easier.

Roll the dough into balls in a circular motion, flatten them down a bit, and poke a hole in the middle with your index finger. Stretch the hole a bit to widen.

Place shaped bagels on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Cover with a tea towel and allow the dough to rest in a warm spot for two hours or until puffy. The time will depend on how warm your house is. It could take anywhere from 1 to 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Bring a large pot of water to a full boil and add the baking soda and sugar. If you are sensitive to baking soda, you can just use sugar.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon and butter together. Set aside.

Using a slotted spoon, gently add bagels to the boiling water and boil for one minute, flip, then boil for another minute.

Shake off excess water and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Generously sprinkle the top of the bagels with the sugar mixture. I like to try to mound it up right in the center.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown on top and the cinnamon mixture has a little crunch. Enjoy the delicious smells.

Serve with butter, cream cheese (hazelnut cream cheese would be amazing), nut butter, etc.

Storage:

Store in a paper bag at room temperature. Do not store in an airtight container, like a plastic bag. They will turn into a slimy mess. Trust me. They also do not freeze well.

FAQ:

Are sourdough bagels healthier?

Yes. They are higher in nutrients and lower in gluten making them easier to digest. 

These bagels on the other hand do contain a lot of added sugar. So they are more of a special treat.

Why are my sourdough bagels tough?

Most likely it is due to a starter that was not active enough, over-fermentation of the dough, or they did not rise enough before baking.

Why didn’t my sourdough bagels rise?

This is most likely due to over-fermentation or under-fermentation of the bagel dough. Not giving the bagels adequate time to rise until about double, will leave you with flat bagels. If you allow the dough to rise too long, it could also lead to flat bagels.

Find More Sourdough Recipes:

• My Favorite Sourdough Bread
• Sourdough Blueberry Bagels
• Sourdough Buttermilk Pancakes
• Easy Sourdough Discard Pretzels
• Puff Pastry Made With Sourdough Starter

If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you could come back to the recipe card and give it 5 stars! 

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