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How to Make Bagels at Home
SweetnSpicyLiving's avatarSweetnSpicyLiving

Small‑Batch Homemade Bagels

These small‑batch bagels come together fast, thanks to a shortcut method that skips the traditional water bath. You still get that chewy, golden finish without the extra steps. Perfect when you want fresh, homemade bagels without making a huge batch or spending all morning in the kitchen.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Rest Period 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 8 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Bread
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Video Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tsp Active Yeast no need to activate as we don’t want too much rise in the Bagel. Mix directly with other dry ingredients
  • 3/4 cup Water 110F (tap water microwaved for 20 seconds)
  • 1 tbsp granulated White Sugar
  • 3 tbsp unsalted Butter – slightly melted microwaved 30 seconds
  • 1 3/4 cup Bread Flour + 2 tbsp only as needed If you substitute this with all-purpose flour, the texture will not be the same. It will be lighter and fluffier and not compact like a regular bagel
  • 3/4 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Sesame Seed Poppy Seed, Everything Bagel Blend Seasoning, Parmesan Cheese, chopped fresh Jalapeno, Cheddar Cheese or any preferred toppings
  • 1 Egg wash beaten egg + tsp water

Equipment

  • Mixer

Method
 

  1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and set it aside.
  2. Dry Ingredients: In the bowl of your stand mixer with dough attachment(or a large bowl ), place the bread flour, yeast, granulated sugar and salt. Make sure that the salt is not side by side or in direct contact with the yeast. Use a handheld whisk to combine well.
  3. Wet Ingredients: Add alternately half of the 3/4 cup water and slightly melted butter, and mix on low-speed with the regular hook attachment for about 30 seconds. Change to dough hook and continue mixing until combined. Raise the mixer speed to medium and kneed for about 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic, but soft and slightly sticky. If the dough is too wet, add 1-2 tbsp flour.
  4. First Rest Period: Let sit for 15 – 30 minutes in a warm place. If you have time, you can leave it as long as 1 hour.
  5. Portion and Shape the Dough: Take the dough out of the bowl, and form it into a ball. Divide the dough into 4 -5 pieces. Form into a ball, and using the palm of your hand, flatten the dough about 4 inches diameter. Use your thumb to create a hole in the center and work through the hole to make it larger, about 2-inch in diameter. You can use cookie cutter to create a hole, but I like doing i using my thumb to avoid any leftover dough. You can also use a cookie cutter as a guide to measure the size of the bagel.
  6. Second Rest Period: Let sit for 20 minutes in a warm place. You will notice that the hole in the center will almost close as it rise and bake, this is fine. You can fix it after baking.
  7. Egg Wash: Brush top and sides with egg wash, then sprinkle with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, everything bagel or powdered Parmesan cheese. Do it one at a time so that the egg wash is still wet for the toppings to stick.
  8. Bake
    *** for medium size (4 pieces) – bake 18 minutes or until the top turns brown *** for large size (3 pieces) – bake 20 – 23 minutes or until the top turns brown
  9. The hole in the center will be almost close once the baking is done. To fix this, simply use your fingers to expand the hole again. I use chopsticks to to do this, I simply use it to circle around the hole to make it it visible again

Video

Notes

  1. Bread can be made without stand mixer. Use a large bowl to mix the ingredients and manually knead the dough in a floured surface until it comes together.
  2. As the bread bakes and puff-up, the hole in the center will close. When you remove the bread from the oven, push down your finger in the middle to create the hole again.
  3. I like using only the egg yolk for the egg wash as it gives stronger brown color on top as the bagel bakes. You can also use the entire egg if you want, it will give lighter brown color but with shinier top.