Sourdough Bagels

Sourdough Bagels for all.

I cannot believe how long it has taken me to try and make these. They are so easy to make, truly simple and refined sugar free. They have that perfect crisp from the bottom getting crunchy in the oven. These sourdough bagels also are going to be easier on the gut because they ferment overnight. The longer the fermentation the more it breaks down excess gluten. So, win, win, win.

Sourdough Everything at the Table

This bread series I have tried to branch out and make new things besides just sourdough, I have made some yeast breads like brioche and the honey, milk buns. But my favorite way to make bread is using the sourdough. I prefer longer rise times. Like I said above it’s what makes sourdough one of the better breads for you.
With all that to stay, let’s move on to my links and where you can find me (more below).

I am now an Amazon affiliate so want to disclose that I do have links to products I use in case you guys are curious! Now here’s the part where I drop all my links to my socials for you. Appreciate you!

The first stop is always IG. IG is my stomping grounds, I am there most often to talk on my stories and respond to DMs and comments. So, if you ever want to get in touch with me, my DMs are a great place to go! Also, if you have a bread question hit me up.

Pinterest is the best place to save these recipes. You can put them in a folder and keep it all organized!

The final spot, where big things are happening… YouTube. I am starting long form content on there and will be doing tutorials on cooking. Super excited about this and would love to see you over there.

The Sourdough Bagel Inspiration

Since before I started this blog and I just had my Instagram and was sharing my sourdough bread, I have been asked to make and share a bagel recipe. To be completely honest I don’t really care for bagels. I have never seen the point of them. Dense dough balls is what they seem like to me.

Last week, when I wanted to start this bread series, I thought, ‘sh*t, I have to make sourdough bagels. The people want bagels’. After researched some recipes and finding that most recipes call for sugar, I was like, ‘I don’t love that.’ I don’t use refined sugar unless I’m making a dessert. I don’t feel like bread should have sugar in it. Raw organic honey is was I like to substitute most sugar for and it worked perfectly in this recipe.

So, I made long fermented, refined sugar free, sourdough bagels. I’m still practicing my shaping but there bagels are so good. I even love them. But I had to have my critic French husband try them.

Adrien loved them. “Perfect texture”, “Sour flavor, but not too sour” and “delicious Brit” . I call this a solid review. I hope you love these as much as much husband does.

What you may need:

• Mixing Bowls – I recommend using ceramic or glass. When using stainless steal the bread doesn’t always rise as easily because it stays cooler.
• Plastic Spatulas – These are the ones I have currently. It is always nice to have on hand.
• Big Pot – I don’t have one I love to recommend, the one I currently have is caraway, but I honestly think they are crap. So you need like a decently big one to boil the bagels in.
• Baking Tray – To bake the bagels after they boil. A basic one will do.
• Parchment Paper – A quality one is important, that is unbleached and natural. I use this one.
• Spider Strainer – I just ordered one of these because I haven’t had one for making bagels and you need one for fishing them out of the pot of water.
• Kitchen Scale – You must. If you are starting this sourdough journey, bite the bullet and get a scale.

Sourdough Starter?

So, if you don’t already have a starter you are going to need one. It is critical for the recipe and there is literally no way around it. You have a few options.
1. You can make your own, this can take up to a week to 9 days! It will take time and patience and a lot of trial and error if it’s your first time.
2. If you have a friend, acquaintance or co-worker who is already doing sourdough, you can ask them for a jar of discard. From here you can make this one your mother and keep it alive.
3. I also have my very own starter that I have had for 5 years, that I got from a homestead woman in Quebec Canada. It is extremely potent and has provided me with the best of sourdough.
I have dehydrated my starter at it’s most active moment and now sell it to help people in their sourdough journey. It comes with detailed instructions on how to rehydrate it. Hope this is helpful!! Get The Starter!!

The Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 150g Active Starter – link to dehydrated starter
• 250g Warm Water
• 500g Organic Bread Flour – I use Organic King Arthur
• 40g Organic Honey
• 10g Salt – I used Real Salt or Celtic Salt
• 20g Honey – For the boiling water

Method:

The Afternoon Before:

For activating starter, my method:

100g starter , 25g warm water , 25g organic bread flour

1. In the afternoon take your “mother” [the starter you always keep] out of the fridge and allow her to get to room temperature.
2. When your mother is at room temperature take a separate glass jar and pour 100g or starter into that jar. [Feed your mother as usual and allow to full activate before storing in the fridge].
3. In your new jar with starter, add 25g flour and 25g warm water. Mix well with a rubber spatula. Put a lid and then wait for it to reach peek activity. You will see a lot bubbles. [As pictured above].
   It could take 2-4 hours to reach it’s peek, depending on how cool/warm your house is.

The Night Before:

1. First we are going to add our warm water, followed by our active sourdough starter and honey.

2. Mix that together and then add flour and salt. Mix the dough with a spatula until decently combined. The dough will feel dry, that’s normal.

3. Continue by kneading the dough by hand for 5-10 minutes. When its finished it should be slightly sticky but completely combined. It should not be so sticky that it sticks to your hands.
4. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 45 minutes.

5. After the dough has rested we are going to stretch and fold 4 times. [How to do so is pictured above]. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise over night. 8-12 hours.

Morning of:

6. Over night the dough should have at least doubled in size. Push the dough down with your hand, scrape the sides of the bowl and plop the dough onto a floured cutting board.
7. Shape the dough into a rectangle/oval shape and lightly flour.

8. The objective here is to get 8-10 of the same size dough balls.
9. When you have your desired amount, now we are going to shape them into bagels.
10. Start by holding the dough ball in your hand and connecting one side of the dough to the other and move it in your hand while your index finger and thumb keep the hole shape. [Hope that makes sense].
11. Start placing your sourdough bagels on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

12. Now you are going to put all of your shaped bagels on the cookie sheet and cover with a damp kitchen towel. This is so they can rise for an hour without drying them out.

13. Close to when the bagels are done, we are going to add water and 20g of honey to a pot and bring it to a boil. Also, preheat the oven to 425f/218c.
14. We also want to prepare our “station”. I just used the same cloth I used to cover the bagels and place it to the left f my boiling pot and put a wire rack on top to catch the bagels and minimize the mess.

15. Once the water has reached boiling point, it’s time to boil our bagels, 3 or so at a time. Boil for 30 seconds each side then remove to the wire rack.

16. When you’re done cooking them all, transfer the bagels from the wire rack to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
17. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Check them at 20 minutes, if they aren’t starting to get a little golden, bake for the additional 5 minutes.

18. Remove your bagels from the oven and allow to cook on the baking tray for about 10 minutes.
19. You are done!! Enjoy these warm with fresh butter or cream cheese!!!

Storing?

These sourdough bagels freeze super well! Put them in freeze zip lock bags and enjoy within 3-5 months. As long as there is no freezer burn on them!
I packed mine up like this because I am gifting individual bags to my siblings!

Questions/Comments?

I hope you absolutely love these sourdough bagels and enjoy how easy they are to make! Recipes like this feel complicated but its actually incredibly simple!

Something I want to say that I love hearing from each and every one of you. So, please feel free to comment below if you have a question, or if you just want to say hi!

Don’t forget to share your creations on Instagram and tag me so I can see your delicious bagels!

Thank you so much for being here! I appreciate you all and your support!

Other bread to try!

Honey & Milk Rolls – Perfect for the holidays!
Sourdough Crackers – These are my favorite and so easy to make.
Homemade Pita Bread – A great recipe to have in your back pocket!

Homemade Naan Recipe

Pumpkin Muffins – Sourdough Discard Recipe