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Sourdough Bagels (with flavour variations!)

With a little bit of planning and patience, you can bake up some soft and delicious sourdough bagels to bring some sunshine to your morning breakfast!
5 from 2 votes
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Prep Time 15 hours
Cook Time 25 minutes
Course Bread, Breakfast
Servings 8

Equipment

  • Kitchen Scale (measurements are provided if you don't have a scale)
  • Large Bowl
  • Plastic Wrap
  • Large Pot
  • Baking Sheet
  • Parchment Paper

Ingredients
  

  • 150 g Active Sourdough Starter (about 3/4 cup)
  • 250 g Warm Water (about 1 cup and 2 Tbsp)
  • 24 g White Sugar (about 2 Tbsp)
  • 500 g Bread Flour, or All-Purpose Flour if you're in Canada (about 4 cups and 2 Tbsp)
  • 9 g Salt (about 1 1/2 tsp)
  • Cooking Spray
  • 1 Tbsp Honey (optional)
  • Toppings like sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and bagel seasoning (optional)

Instructions
 

Making the Dough

  • In a large bowl with plenty of room for the dough to rise later, whisk together the sourdough starter, water, and sugar. I find it best to whisk with a fork.
  • Add flour and salt. Whisk with fork until a rough dough is formed, then mix by hand until no lumps remain. The dough will be fairly dry at this point.
  • Cover the bowl / dough with a damp towel and let rest for an hour.
  • Work the dough into a smooth ball. I find it easiest to pick up the dough and smooth it with my hands, rolling it over frequently in my hands. Only do this for about twenty seconds so you don't overwork the dough.

Bulk Rise

  • Spray a piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray and use it to cover the bowl. The sprayed side is down so if the dough rises and touches the plastic wrap, it won't stick. Let rise 10-12 hours at room temperature, or 8-10 hours if you're in a warmer climate or keep your house warm.
    Sourdough is as much an art as it is a science. The more you make sourdough, the better you'll be at recognizing when it's ready. Because my climate is dry, I let it rise the full twelve hours.
    Since I do a full twelve hours, I do this as an overnight rise. If you're in a warm and humid environment and your dough takes about 8 hours to rise, you could do this as a same-day project.

Shape the Bagels and Second Rise

  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Give it a quick spritz of cooking spray.
  • Divide the dough into eight even balls. You can do this with the scale for a more exact measurement; I usually eyeball it. Roll each piece into a ball and let them all rest on the baking sheet for about fifteen minutes.
  • Shape the bagels. I poke a hole through the ball of dough and then insert a finger from the other side, twirling my fingers around each other to stretch out the bagel hole. I find the bagels "close up" the hole, so if you like a hole in your bagel, make it a little large knowing it'll get smaller in the next few steps.
  • Cover bagels with a damp towel and let rest at room temperature for twenty minutes.

Boiling Bagels

  • While the bagels are resting, fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. Stir in the honey. This will give the bagels a bit of color. (If you're vegan or allergic to honey, you can omit this.)
    While doing this, preheat the oven to 425 F.
  • When bagels have rested and water is boiling, add the bagels (two or three at a time) to the pot. Boil for thirty seconds on each side. The bagels usually float, but if they're at the bottom of the pot, give them a nudge with a slotted spoon to ensure it's not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
    This step gives the bagels a thin crust, which prevents it from ballooning like a loaf of bread when baking.
  • When boiled, transfer back to the baking sheet and boil the next batch.
  • Optional: When the bagels are cool enough to touch, you could dip them in bagel toppings like sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or bagel seasoning.
    I usually do not do this as plain sourdough bagels are quite nice.

Baking the Bagels

  • Place the baking sheet in the middle of the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.
    Optional: After removing them from the oven, you can flip the bagels over and bake for 2 minutes more. This will give colour to the bagel bottoms. I don't always do this because when I flip them sometimes they look toasty on the bottom already.
  • Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Notes

Flavour Variations:
Chocolate Chip Bagels
Add 100g of mini chocolate chips to the initial stage when adding flour and salt, so they get worked in nicely. If you don't have mini chocolate chips, you can roughly chop regular sized chocolate chips. I use semi-sweet, but use any sweetness you prefer. You can also add more or less chocolate chips, to your preference.
Cheddar and Banana Pepper Bagels
This is a surprisingly good combination! You can use any amount of peppers and cheese to your preference. You can swap out banana peppers for any hot pepper you prefer. If using pickled peppers, chop them finely and add them in the initial step with the flour and salt. If using fresh peppers, add them the next day when working the dough into eight balls. Work the dough a little more than usual to work the peppers in. If adding cheese, add a little bit when dividing the dough into eight balls, again, working the dough a little extra to work the cheese in. Reserve some cheese to sprinkle on top of the bagels right before baking.
Sun-dried Tomato and Basil Bagels
Add sun-dried tomatoes and basil the next day when working the dough into eight balls, working the dough a little extra so the ingredients mix in. You can use any amount of tomatoes and basil to your preference.
Keyword bagels, Sourdough, sourdough bagels, sourdough starter