Sourdough Bagels

With a chewy crust, a dense, yet soft interior, and the added flavor from a long fermentation, these sourdough bagels are versatile enough to make your own bagel adventure!

I went to college in New York City and thus, had my fair share of bagels. The bagels were often from a street cart, wrapped in parchment paper, ultra-chewy if not toasted, and slathered in probably too much cream cheese.

Were they the best bagels in New York City? Absolutely not. But to 18-year-old Brandon, getting one was like a little ritual in sustenance that said “You’re a New Yorker!”. And most importantly, as I perused all of the bagel flavors and cream cheese options, they were a little adventure on what path I’d choose to take that day. Would I stick to a classic combo I know and love or switch my order up and try something new?

However nostalgic and great a simple bagel is to me, you can’t escape that many have strong opinions about their preferred bagels and how they should be made. It’s so contentious that even political candidates are judged for their bagel orders! Thus, I hesitated to make a recipe I knew couldn’t satisfy every bagel craving, or maybe even mine.

Why make these sourdough bagels?

After lots of recipe testing, I finally landed on my ideal sourdough bagel recipe. At their core (or hole?), is a baseline appreciation for flavor and texture that’s exemplified by the sourdough, a touch of rye flour, and the muted sweetness of barley malt syrup.

Most significantly, the recipe is versatile enough to make into your own!

You can add whatever toppings you want, schmear them in cream cheese or don’t, add lox, toast them, shape them into your preferred size, etc.

It’s a make-your-own bagel adventure and you can use this recipe to jumpstart your own bagel journey just like I would start my mornings in college. And to me, that’s why these are my favorite homemade sourdough bagels.

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👨‍🏫 Baker’s Percentage Table

I include a baker’s percentage chart to quickly scale a recipe up or down. This sourdough bagel recipe makes eight medium-sized bagels.

With baker’s percentages, the total weight of all flour in the recipe is 100%. The other ingredients are noted in relation to the total weight of flour. This is why the percentages below will add up to over 100%.

If you want to learn more, the King Arthur website has a more detailed reference page on why and how baker’s percentages are calculated.

Dough Ingredients	Weight	Percentage
Bread Flour	510 grams	95.3%
Rye Flour	25 grams	4.7%
Water	300 grams	56.1%
Sourdough Starter*	35 grams	6.5%
Salt	9 grams	1.7%
Barley Malt Syrup	41 grams	7.7%

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⏰ Sample Schedule for Sourdough Bagels:

Below is a sample schedule for making these sourdough bagels. However, you’re always welcome to adjust the schedule based on your own needs. As always, fermentation times depend on the ambient temperature (warmer= proofs faster, colder=slower).

For example, you can make the levain the night before with a smaller percentage of sourdough starter and more flour and water (i.e. 10g of starter and 48g each of flour and water). That way, your levain is ready in the morning, and you can mix your dough earlier.

Sample Schedule	Time
1. Make Levain (5hrs)	10am-3pm
2. Mix Dough	3pm
3. Bulk Fermentation (4-5hrs)	3:30-7:30pm
4. Overnight Proof	7:30pm-8am
5. Shape	8am
6. Final Proof (4 hrs)	8am-12pm
7. Boil and Bake	12pm

Can I shape the bagels and proof them overnight in the refrigerator?

Another option is to shape the bagels after bulk fermentation and proof the shaped bagels completely in the refrigerator. I’ve seen other recipes use this method, but I don’t prefer it because:

1. I often don’t have enough room in my refrigerator to proof a whole sheet of bagels.
2. Shaping cold dough is easier.
3. Judging the final proof is more challenging when relying on the refrigerator’s cold temps. The bagels can overproof, or the opposite, and you end up waiting hours for them to proof at room temperature.

A benefit to this method is that if the bagels do proof properly in the refrigerator, then you can bake them in the morning.

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🛠 Tools Needed:

Click the links below for my tool recommendations.

• Baking Scale
  • A baking scale is essential for sourdough baking and will instantly improve all of your baking! Weight measurements are more accurate and consistent than volume measurements.
• Stand Mixer (recommended)
  • I recommend using a stand mixer to mix the bagel dough; however, you can definitely mix the dough by hand and knead it. The dough is quite stiff. Follow the same indicators as you would if mixing with a stand mixer.
• Large sheet pan (19.5×13.5″)
  • To use one sheet pan for this recipe, I like the large ones linked above by Nordic Ware. However, if you have half-sheet pans, use two for this recipe so there’s enough room for the bagels to proof and bake.
• Spider Strainer
  • Use the spider strainer to easily move your bagels to and from the boiling water.
• Brød and Taylor Folding Bread Proofer (optional but helpful)
  • My home tends to stay cool, so I proof all of my breads in this convenient proofing box that can also act as a slow cooker.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed:

Click on the links below for my ingredient recommendations.

• Bread Flour
  • Using a high-protein content bread flour is crucial for this recipe because it gives bagels their distinctive chewy texture.
  • If you don’t have bread flour, use all-purpose flour.
• Rye Flour
  • I love using a small amount of rye flour in recipes like My Everyday Sourdough Bread or my pretzel recipe to boost flavor.
  • You only need a small amount of rye flour to add that extra flavor, but if you don’t have it, feel free to substitute it with whole wheat flour.
• Water
• Sourdough Starter
  • Use active sourdough starter in this recipe at 100% hydration. Sourdough discard will not have the leavening power needed for bagels.
  • No sourdough starter? Learn how to make one in a week with my day-by-day guide.
• Sea Salt
  • I like finely ground sea salt because it incorporates more easily into the dough, but Kosher salt also works fine.
• Barley Malt Syrup
  • This is the gold standard ingredient for making great bagels and is usually pretty common to find in a well-stocked grocery store. Eden is the most popular brand.
  • The barley malt syrup adds complexity, a mild sweetness, and enzymes, and gives color to your bagels that can’t compare to other substitutes. This recipe adds it to the bagel dough and boiling water, which is common for New York style bagels.
  • If you can’t find barley malt syrup, substitute it with molasses first and honey second.
• Your Choice of Toppings
  • Use any toppings you want for these bagels or make them plain. My favorite toppings are everything bagel seasoning, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds.
• Cornmeal, for dusting
  • Lastly, use a dusting of cornmeal or semolina flour to prevent sticking to the parchment paper.

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🥯 How to Make Sourdough Bagels

If it’s your first time making sourdough bagels, be sure to follow this detailed recipe guide as you bake.

1. Make the Levain

Mix 35g of sourdough starter, 35g of bread flour, and 35g of water in an empty jar.

If you’d prefer to skip making a levain, use about 105g of active sourdough starter instead.

Cover and set it in a warm location (75-80ºF) for about five hours until doubled and bubbly.

2. Mix the Bagel Dough

Once the levain doubles in size, add the following ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment (or into a large bowl if mixing by hand):

• 475g of bread flour
• 25g of rye flour
• 9g of sea salt
• All of the levain (or 105g of active sourdough starter)

Then, in a liquid measuring cup, mix together 265g of warm water and 41g (2 TBS) of barley malt syrup until the barley malt syrup dissolves completely. This will help the barley malt syrup incorporate into the dough more easily.

Pour the liquid mixture into the bowl and mix on low speed for a few minutes until most of the flour is hydrated. Rest the dough for at least 10 minutes to hydrate.

At first, the dough will be very dry and stiff. While tempting to add more water, please don’t! The dough will hydrate as it rests and during the next mixing phase.

Now, continue mixing on medium speed for about 10 minutes, or until the dough passes the windowpane test. If mixing by hand, knead the dough on the counter rocking back-and-forth to bring the dough together and develop enough gluten.

The dough passes the windowpane test when you can pull a piece of it and stretch it between your fingers into a thin membrane without it tearing. If the dough tears, then it needs to be mixed more (like making brioche).

3. Bulk Fermentation

Cover the dough and place it in a warm location to bulk ferment for 4 to 5 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

At the end of bulk fermentation, the dough should be domed, feel light, and it may have some visible air bubbles in it.

The sourdough yeasts perform best around 78-80ºF, so I like to keep my dough in my handy Brød and Taylor bread proofer, especially if it’s winter time.

4. Overnight Proof

Transfer the dough to the refrigerator to proof overnight and for up to 48 hours.

As mentioned in my sample schedule above, you can shape your bagels and then overnight proof them. However, I find that the bagels tend to over or under proof in the refrigerator, so I prefer shaping and doing the final proof on the day I want to bake them.

5. Shape

Shaping bagels can be a little tricky if you’ve never made them before, but it only takes practice with one or two to get the hang of it!

Preshaping

First, remove the cold dough from the refrigerator and turn it out onto a clean work surface. There’s no need to add flour as you’ll use the tension of the work surface to shape them.

Then, divide the dough into eight equal-sized pieces. I use my baking scale to weigh the entire batch of dough and then divide the weight by eight. Each of my pieces tends to be 110-120g.

Like making dumplings or dinner rolls, pinch the ends/corners of the dough together into a taut ball, turn it over, and use your hand and the surface tension to roll each piece of dough into little spheres. Let them rest for about 10 minutes. This preshaping will help reduce wrinkles on the bagel ropes and prepare the pieces to be rolled out into ropes.

While the preshaped balls rest, prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper and a generous dusting of cornmeal or semolina flour. This is important so the bagels don’t stick to the parchment paper as they proof.

How to Shape Bagels

If you’ve ever made pretzels, the process of shaping bagels is quite similar.

Use both hands to roll out each dough ball into a rope with slightly tapered ends about nine inches long.

Place one hand palm-side-up on top of the center of the rope and use the other hand to connect and overlap the two ends of the rope on each other.

Turn your hand over (with the connecting ends on the bottom now) and slowly roll your hand back and forth on the work surface to fuse the ends together. Remove your palm from the hole and adjust the shape as necessary to center the hole.

Repeat with the remaining bagels and space them evenly on your prepared baking sheet dusted with cornmeal for final proofing.

6. Final Proof

Like challah or croissants, bagels like to proof in a humid environment to not form a skin on top of the crust. Cover the bagels with plastic wrap or damp tea towels during proofing.

Proof the bagels in a warm location for about four hours, or until they’ve doubled in size and feel full of air when poked. Since bagel dough is already dense, it’s okay in this instance if they’re slightly under proofed.

7. Boil the Bagels and Toppings

Boiling bagels is a necessary step to get a chewy, leathery crust. Once again, it’s a similar process to making homemade soft pretzels.

While simple, the boiling step is a little bit of a coordinated dance, so make sure you have your working space clear, and you have all of your tools and materials ready to go, which I’ll go over below.

Prepare your Workstation

First, preheat your oven to 450ºF (232ºC).

Then, boil a large pot of water on the stove and have your spider strainer nearby.

Near the pot, I like to have another sheet pan with a wire rack so the bagels can drip some of the water off after boiling.

Finally, have whatever toppings you’re planning to use nearby in bowls or small plates that the bagels can fit in for dipping.

Boil the Bagels

Boil the pot of water. Once it is boiling, add a couple of tablespoons of barley malt syrup to the boiling water and stir it in until the water is dark brown.

This is the traditional way of boiling bagels for added crust color, but if you don’t have barely malt syrup, you can use honey or molasses (like making Montreal-style bagels). If you prefer an even darker crust on your bagel, add a tablespoon of baking soda to the boiling water (but watch out, as the water will bubble quickly!).

Transfer two or three bagels at a time to the boiling water. They should float. If they sink, they might pop back up in a minute. If they never float…well, they may need to proof longer.

Boil the bagels on one side for about 45 seconds. Then, flip them over and boil for another 45 seconds. Use the spider strainer to lift each bagel and place them on a wire rack to let some additional water drip off. Repeat with the remaining bagels.

The skin of the bagels will be a little slimy and have a gelatinized texture, which is normal. The boiling precooks the crust, making it chewy as it bakes. The bagels will poof up some during boiling as you are essentially parcooking them.

Add Toppings

After boiling all the bagels, you can bake them plain or add toppings. Some of my favorite toppings include everything bagel seasoning, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. 

Add whatever toppings you choose to small plates or bowls and dip one side of the slightly wet bagels onto the toppings. This is the best method to top the bagels with seeds as the seeds will stick better than if you sprinkle seeds on top.

Alternatively, you can cover both sides of the bagels in seeds for extra seed coverage.

8. Bake

Evenly space the bagels on a clean parchment-lined baking sheet to bake.

Bake the bagels at 450ºF (232ºC) for 20-25 minutes or until the bagels are deep brown. If your oven bakes unevenly, rotate the pans halfway through.

Let the bagels cool for at least 15 minutes before enjoying them!

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How to Store:

Fresh bagels are always best and don’t need toasting the day they’re made! However, these sourdough bagels store well too. 

My favorite method of storing bagels is to freeze them. Once completely cool, you can slice them and place them in a freezer-safe bag and freeze for many months. If you want bagels, simply reheat them in a toaster or oven!

At room temperature, the bagels will remain in the refrigerator for a few days or slightly longer. Keep them in brown paper bags or sealed containers and toast them before eating.

How to Serve:

There are many ways to serve bagels, including schmearing with cream cheese (and many different cream cheese flavors), toasting, with butter and jam, with lox, using as breakfast or lunch sandwiches, or just plain. Choose your own adventure!

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Sourdough Bagels FAQs:

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