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–+ servings
8 bagels made with sourdough starter placed on a cooling rack

Sourdough Bagels recipe

Meenakshi
This easy sourdough bagels recipe will yield chewy and soft bagels with a crispy and shiny crust. Topped with everything bagel seasoning, these bagels are so flavorful and delicious that you will make them again and again.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Resting time 6 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 7 hours 5 minutes
Course Bread
Cuisine American
Servings 8 Bagles
Calories 296 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 480 g Bread flour 3 ½ cups
  • 312 g Water 1 ½ cup
  • 96 g Active Sourdough Starter
  • 15 g salt 2 tsp
  • 2 tablespoon Honey (divided)
  • 2 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 tablespoon Milk
  • ¼ cup seasoning of your choice (White sourdough+ poppy seeds+ Black sourdough+ sea salt+ dried garlic)

Instructions
 

Step 1 Kneading the bagel dough

  • Before starting to knead the dough, make sure that the sourdough starter reaches its peak. It is good to feed the starter the night before so that you have the sourdough starter ready for use in the morning.
  • Measure the water in a jar. Then add sourdough starter to it. Use a spoon or whisk to mix the starter in the water.
  • Now add honey and oil to the sourdough water. Give them a mix. Please note that we are going to use only half of the honey in the dough. Retain the half for adding to the milk while making milk wash for the bagels.
  • Take the bowl of the stand mixer and add bread flour and salt. Combine by whisking them all together.
  • Now add the wet ingredient mixture and hook the stand mixer bowl in the stand mixer. Start kneading using a dough hook attachment at low speed. The dough will appear very sticky initially but will come together in no time.
  • Knead it for 7 minutes at low speed (1 on KitchenAid) and then bump it to high (5 on KitchenAid) and knead for 4 more minutes.
  • The dough will look smooth and not be sticky at all. (Read recipe notes for Kneading with hands)

Step 2 Bulk Fermentation/ First Rise

  • Bulk fermentation helps with flavor and gluten development.
  • The dough will take 4-6 hours to bulk ferment. Look for the rise in the dough, it would appear to double up in volume.

Step 3: Shaping the sesame bagels

  • Remove the dough onto a floured surface. Now we need to weigh the dough and divide it by the number of bagels we aim to make. I divided the dough into 8 equal portions.
  • Then I take one portion and flatten it using my fingers. I collect all the edges and gather them at the center to form a rough round ball.
  • Then I flipped it and used the edges of the palms of my hand to lift and twist it. This builds tension on the surface and makes perfectly round dough balls with a smooth top.
  • Repeat with the rest of the dough pieces.
  • Do not forget to cover the shaped rounds while you work on the rest.
  • Now for making bagels take one round on a clean work surface and poke a finger into the center to make a hole. Then put another finger on the other hand. Stretch the dough outward while rolling the fingers in a wheel-like circular motion around the hole. Stop when you feel that the size is right.
  • Please note that the dough with shrink back a bit, so make a larger hole than desired.
  • Use a full-size baking sheet (26x18 inches) and line it with 8 small parchment paper pieces. Place the shaped bagels on these individual pieces of parchment paper.
  • Also, do not forget to cover them.

Step 4 Proofing or second rise

  • Leave enough room among the bagels to rise. Please note that we do not want the bagels to be proofing too much. Keep an eye on the bagels, they should appear slightly proofed. This step can take anywhere between 1 ½ to 3 hours.

Step 5 Water bath or boil the sourdough bagels

  • When the bagels appear fuller, put water for boiling in a large pan.
  • Add baking soda to it.
  • Once it boils, gently lift a bagel with the parchment paper and drop it into the boiling water. The paper will easily separate itself from the bagel in boiling water. Use tongs to remove the parchment paper from the water.
  • Add 1-2 bagels at a time. You can add more if the pot allows. Have a wire cooling rack placed on a sheet pan to take out the boiled bagels.
  • Boil the bagels for 15-20 seconds on each side while gently flipping them once or twice. Remove onto a cooling rack.
  • Repeat with all the bagels.

Step 6 seasoning the bagels

  • In a small bowl combine milk and honey.
  • When all the bagels are boiled, brush them with the prepared milk wash using a pastry brush. Quickly sprinkle the seasoning mix on the bagels.
  • To get a better covering, take the seasoning on a wide plate and flip the bagels in it to coat them nicely.

Step 7 Baking the Bagels

  • While you are still boiling the bagels, preheat the oven to 425oF. By the time you finish boiling the bagels, the oven would have preheated.
  • Carefully lift the bagels from the cooling rack and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  • Bake them at 425o F for 22-25 minutes or until the crust turns golden brown. Make sure to rotate the baking tray halfway through the baking process.
  • And there you have it. The most delicious homemade sourdough bagels. Give them a schmear and enjoy!

Notes

  • You can add a tablespoon of flour more or less to make up for the altitude and humidity differences.
  • Kneading with hands: For kneading with hands combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Then combine all the wet ingredients in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine everything well using the back of a wooden ladle. Leave no patch of dry flour behind. Cover the dough mass and let it rest for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, dust a work surface and transfer the dough mass onto the work surface. Now start kneading with your hands. Use the heel of your hands to stretch the dough away from you. Then, bring it back and collect it. Keep repeating this motion to knead the dough until it becomes smooth and stops sticking to the hands and the surface. 
  • The actual time for bulk fermentation will depend on the vigor of the sourdough starter and the ambient kitchen temperature. It may take as long as 8 hours if it is a peak winter month, and your starter is relatively young. 
  • You need to decide on what size of bagels are you looking at. This recipe will make 8 standard bagels. These are slightly bigger than the supermarket bagels, more like the bakery ones. If you want to make small bagels, this recipe could make 10 of them. 
  • The shaped bagels do not need to be proofed too much, they just need to puff up a little bit. The crust of the over-proofed bagels is super soft and airy. It can easily dissolve in boiling water, depriving you of the smooth and shiny crust.
  • Sprinkle the parchment paper with some flour so that the bagels do not stick to the parchment paper on proofing and could be easily lifted for dropping into the boiling water.
  • Alternately place the bagels on small pieces of parchment paper for proofing and put them for boiling with the paper intact. The parchment will separate itself from hitting the water.
  • Adding baking powder and baking soda to the is optional, it helps with the color, flavor, and texture. 
  • To get a better covering, spread the seasoning on a wide plate and flip the bagels on it.

Nutrition Facts

a table of nutrition facts about the bagels made using the sourdough starter

Nutrition

Calories: 296kcal
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