How to Make Mini Sourdough Pizza Bagel Bites
These Mini Sourdough Pizza Bagel Bites are the ultimate nostalgic snack. Soft and chewy mini bagels, topped with pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni….I think it is safe to say we all enjoyed these as a kid only they came from a box in the freezer!
I was making bagels the other day, and out of nowhere was flooded with memories of those little pizza bagel bites from childhood. Right then, I knew I needed to recreate them in a homemade sourdough version! Trust me when I say, they turned out even better than the ones we grew up on.
Whether you ate these growing up or not, they are a must make! You start by making my classic sourdough bagel dough. Then instead of rolling it into 10 full sized bagels, you roll it into 30 mini bagels. They get boiled and baked as normal, then sliced in half and ready for pizza toppings.
You can add almost any pizza toppings you like to these little bites. I keep it pretty classic with tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni, but do what you please. These pizza bagel bites make for the perfect on the go snack or breakfast for your kids and the whole family. This recipe makes a large batch so you can store them in the freezer and pull some out to enjoy whenever you need.
Tips for Making Sourdough Pizza Bagel Bites
- Make sure you are using a nice and active fed sourdough starter to make the bagels. I always recommend a 1:4:4 ratio feed about 8-10 hours before you make the dough.
- This dough can take a while to rise, so I like to keep it in a nice warm spot like my oven (turned off) while it rises. You will know it is done when it has doubled in size.
- Always ensure that you let the bagels cool before slicing them and adding toppings. If you try to slice the bagels while they are still hot, it can result in gummy or squished bagels.
Sourdough Pizza Bagel Bite Ingredients
Sourdough Starter– As mentioned above, you want a nice active fed starter for this recipe.
Flour– Use whichever flour you typically make bread with. Unbleached all purpose flour or bread flour.
Sugar– There is a touch of sugar in the dough, you can also replace with honey if you like.
Salt– Any fine salt will work.
Pizza Sauce- You can buy pizza sauce or make your own.
Cheese– I like a combination or cheddar and mozzarella for flavor and color.
Pepperoni– Pizza pepperoni is delicious, but you can use any kind of meat you like!
Basil– This is optional, but I love adding some fresh basil on top once they come out of the oven.
The Steps
Making the Dough
- Start by mixing together the sourdough starter, sugar and water in a large bowl with a wooden spoon or dough whisk.
- Once the mixture is milky, add in the flour and the salt. Stir until it begins to form a dough.
- After you have a dough starting to come together, dump the dough onto the counter and knead it. You want to knead the dough for a good solid 6-8 minutes until it gets nice and smooth.
- Then, place the dough back into the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot on the counter to bulk rise so it is doubled in size.
Shape the Dough
- Once your dough has risen, dump it out onto the counter, and cut it into 30 pieces.
- Take each piece of dough and form it into a smooth ball by pulling all sides of the dough underneath itself until the top is nice and smooth.
- After you have all your smooth balls of dough, take one at a time and push your thumbs through the centre. You want to gently stretch the dough to make a couple inch wide hole in the middle.
- Finally, gently place the shaped bagels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until you want to bake them. See notes for timeline.
- About an hour or two before you want to bake the bagels, remove them from the fridge and let rest in a warm spot to rise.
Boil & Bake
- Preheat your oven to 425F.
- Once the bagels are nice and puffy, bring a large pot of water to a boil with 20g or honey in it.
- Then, with the water at a light bowl, gently drop each bagel into the water. Cook them for 20 seconds then flip them over and cook another 20 seconds.
- Transfer the bagels to a wire rack so the excess water can drip off.
- After all of the bagels have been boiled, place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment.
- Bake the bagels in the prepared oven for 15 minutes or until golden and perfect.
- Allow the bagel to cool for 20 minutes before slicing them all in half and laying them back out on the baking sheet.
- Take a small spoonful of sauce and spread it over each bagel half. Top with shredded cheese, and a few pieces of pepperoni.
- Place these back in the oven at 400F and bake for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.
- Once they are out of the oven, sprinkle the bagel bites with fresh chopped basil and enjoy!
If you give this recipe a try, leave a comment or a recipe review below!
Looking for more fun sourdough recipes to try?
https://cmbarndominium.com/salted-caramel-apple-sourdough-hand-pies/
https://cmbarndominium.com/easy-apple-cream-cheese-sourdough-french-toast-bake/
https://cmbarndominium.com/perfectly-soft-gooey-sourdough-monkey-bread/
* You can absolutely make these with full sized bagels if you prefer. * The finished pizza bagel bites can be stored in the freezer for up to a month. * The toppings in this recipe are a classic option, but you can use any pizza toppings you like. *TIMELINE- You can let the bagels rest at room temperature for about an hour after shaping then boil and bake them OR you can put them in the fridge after shaping to boil and bake them anywhere 8-36 hours later. 
Sourdough Pizza Bagel Bites
Ingredients
For Toppings
Instructions
Notes
