Soft & Chewy Sourdough Bagels

Soft & chewy sourdough bagels are a staple in our home. The deliciously light tange of the sourdough pairs well with sweet or savory toppings on these homemade bagels.

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

rise time 8

Total Time 8 35

Serving Size Bagels

Ingredients

Bagel Dough

½ cup sourdough starter
1 cup warm water
3 Tablespoons sugar or honey
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups flour

For Boiling The Bagels

3 quarts water
1 Tbl baking soda
1 Tbl sugar

Instructions

To the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add first four ingredients.
Begin mixing on low speed, and then add flour one cup at a time.
Mix for 5-10 minutes or until a nice stiff dough is formed. If your sourdough starter is super thick, you may have to add a Tablespoon or two of water to the dough to get it to come together, but you want a pretty stiff dough for bagels.

Option 1: Shape and then let rise

Divide dough into 8 equal pieces.
Shape each piece of dough into a bagel by forming a ball out of each piece and putting tension on it by tucking the edges underneath. Stick your thumbs into the middle of the ball of dough and stretch it out gently to form the hole in the bagel.
Place on a silicone baking mat or greased parchment paper. Cover with another baking sheet turned upside down to seal in the moisture and allow to rise at room temperature overnight.

Option 2: Allow to rise overnight, then shape and do a second rise.

I usually do option 1, but you can allow these to rise covered in the bowl of a stand mixer overnight.
Then proceed with shaping into bagels by forming a ball out of each piece and putting tension on it by tucking the edges underneath. Stick your thumbs into the middle of the ball of dough and stretch it out gently to form the hole in the bagel.
Place on a silicone baking mat or greased parchment paper. Cover with another baking sheet turned upside down to seal in the moisture or a tea towel and and let the dough rise at room temperature for one hour.

For Either Method, Proceed With Boiling And Baking:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Bring 2-3 quarts of water to boil in a large pot or dutch oven.
Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 Tablespoon of honey or sugar. Stir well.
Genly drop bagels into the boiling water and boil bagels for 1 minute. Flip bagels over using slotted spoon and allow to cook for another minute on the second side.
Scoop the shaped bagels out of the large pot of water and place right side up back on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
Add favorite toppings as desired.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
Cool before slicing.
Can be frozen for up to three months or stored in an airtight container or plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Serve with homemade butter or your favorite cream cheese for a healthy snack anytime. More serving suggestions listed above.

Notes

Tips For These Easy Homemade Sourdough Bagels:

These bagels are best when made with active sourdough starter, but I’ve successfully made them with sourdough discard as well with no added yeast. They might need to rise a little longer if made with discard, but they still turn out just fine.
Toppings can be added on the top of the bagels after boiling and prior to baking. (See video below)
To make bagels with flavorings added into the dough like cinnamon raisin, chocolate chip or blueberry, just add the flavorings to the dough as it’s being kneaded in the mixer.
Slice and freeze for up to three months for quick and easy snacks.
Since bagel dough is a stiff heavy dough, it’s easiest to make it with a stand mixer. You can knead these by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer, but you’ll need to knead them for at least 10 minutes to fully develop the gluten.
Depending on how wet or thick your sourdough starter is, you may need to add another 1-2 Tbl. of water or flour to the dough to get it to come together. You want it to be a stiff heavy dough, but not dry and flaky of course.
When boiling your bagels, use a slotted spoon to flip them and dip them out of the water to allow the water to stay in the pot.
You can either shape the bagels right after mixing and place on greased parchment paper to rise overnight for quick cooking in the morning. Or you can leave the dough in the mixer with the lid on to rise overnight, and shape and allow them to rise a second time after shaping in the morning. Either method works fine, just depends on when I think I’ll have time to boil and bake them.
Don’t over bake them. Every oven is different. I set my timer for 15 minutes to check and see if they are golden brown, even though typically I end up baking them for 20 minutes.