How to Make Perfect Soft & Chewy Sourdough Bagels

If you have been looking for the perfect bagel recipe, these sourdough bagels will blow your mind! They are incredibly easy to make, have a lightly crisp edge and a perfectly soft and chewy centre.

Bagels are a superior bread product in that their texture and flavor is unique to them. However, if you have never had a homemade bagel, you haven’t truly experienced just how amazing they really are! While they might seem intimidating or difficult to make, this recipe is incredibly easy and turns out perfect every time.

To make these sourdough bagels, you start with a simple dough of flour, starter, water, salt and a touch of sugar. You want to then knead that dough by hand, to give you a perfectly soft and fluffy bagel. There is no stretch and folds required so you go straight to a bulk rise then into shaping them. Then, whenever you are ready to bake them, you boil them for 1 minutes then baked until the oven until golden perfection.

Bagels are such a great staple in your kitchen because they are delicious enjoyed as toast with breakfast, for breakfast sandwiches, lunch sandwiches or a snack at any time of day. The toppings and flavor combos to go with bagels are endless and they freeze extremely well! I promise, that once you make these, you will never want to buy a bagel again!

Tips for Making Perfect Sourdough Bagels

1. Use a strong and active sourdough starter. I always recommend feeding your sourdough starter a 1:4:4 ratio about 8-10 hours before you want to make the dough.
2. Always knead this dough by hand. While many of my sourdough recipes get mixed in a stand mixer, I find that kneading this dough by hand gives the most ideal light and chewy texture. Do not skip this.
3. I highly recommend brushing the bagels with some melted butter over the top as soon as they come out of the oven. This gives you the most beautiful shine on top and an additional light buttery flavor.

Sourdough Bagel Ingredients

Sourdough Starter– As mentioned above you want to use a strong active starter that has been fed a 1:4:4 ratio.

Flour– Use whichever flour you typically use for your sourdough bread. Bread flour or unbleached all purpose flour.

Sugar– You just need a touch of granulated sugar which helps in the flavor and texture of the dough.

Salt- Any fine salt you like will do.

Honey– Some people use brown sugar but I prefer honey in the water while boiling my bagels.

The Steps

Make the Dough

1. Start by mixing together the sourdough starter, sugar and water in a large bowl with a wooden spoon or dough whisk.
2. Once the mixture is milky, add in the flour and the salt. Stir until it begins to form a dough.
3. After you have a dough starting to come togehter, 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.
4. 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 Sourdough Bagels

1. Once your dough has risen, dump it out onto the counter, and cut it into 8-10 pieces.
2. 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.
3. 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. I like to swing it around on two finger a few times to let gravity create a nice hole.
4. 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.

Boil and Bake

1. 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.
2. Preheat your oven to 425F.
3. Once the bagels are nice and puffy, bring a large pot of boiling water to a boil with 20g or honey in it.
4. Then, with the water at a light bowl, gently drop each bagel into the water. Cook them for 30 seconds then flip them over and cook another 30 seconds.
5. Transfer the bagels to a wire rack so the excess water can drip off.
6. After all of the bagels have been boiled, place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment, then sprinkle over any toppings you like or keep them plain.
7. Bake the bagels in the prepared oven for 20-22 minutes or until you have golden sourdough bagels.
8. Brush with melted butter right out of the oven.
9. Allow the bagels to cool for 20 minutes before slicing and enjoying!

If you give this recipe a try, leave a comment or a recipe review below!

Looking for more staple sourdough recipes to try?

https://cmbarndominium.com/the-most-soft-fluffy-garlic-herb-sourdough-rolls/

https://cmbarndominium.com/how-to-make-delicious-sourdough-baguettes/

https://cmbarndominium.com/how-to-make-perfectly-soft-sourdough-ciabatta-buns/