Pumpkin Bagels for a Halloween Breakfast

These pumpkin bagels look like they came straight from a bakery window, but the trick behind the shape is simple: kitchen twine. You tie each ball of dough like a little parcel, let it rest overnight in the fridge, boil it for a minute and a half and bake. When you snip the twine off, the ridges stay, just like a real pumpkin.

Inside, they’re proper bagels: a dense, tender crumb and a shiny, slightly chewy crust. Roasted pumpkin purée goes right into the dough, a little turmeric makes the color glow without any hint of curry, and a touch of cinnamon brings out that autumn flavor.

No pumpkin on hand? They work without it too, with just turmeric: same shape, same bright color. We explain how further down.

This isn’t a quick recipe, but almost all of the time is waiting. We give you every amount in grams (with cups and spoons in brackets) and explain why each step matters, so your pumpkin-shaped bagels turn out right the first time.

How We Make Them at Home, Step by Step

The Kitchen Twine Trick: How the Pumpkin Ridges Form

The pumpkin shape doesn’t come from cutting or molds. Each ball of dough is tied with cotton twine that divides it into 8 sections. As the dough rises in the fridge, in the pot and in the oven, it pushes against the twine and puffs up between each strand. That’s why the ridges come out so defined.

Three details make the difference:

The ball has to be tight and well sealed underneath. If it’s loose, the twine squashes it instead of drawing ridges, and if the base is open, it splits in the water.

To get there, fold the dough rather than rolling it on the counter: at 51% hydration it’s so dry that it slides instead of gripping. Flatten the piece into a disc, fold the edges into the center all the way around two or three times, and you’ll see the top go smooth and taut. All the folds end up together on the base: close it with small pinches until no creases show.

The knot goes on loose, with about 1 cm (⅜ in) of slack. It looks too loose, and that’s on purpose. The dough grows a lot, and if the twine is snug, it ends up cutting through.

The twine is rubbed with oil. 10 g (2 tsp) of sunflower oil worked between your fingers is enough for all 8 pieces. Without it, the crust grips the twine in the oven and tears when you pull it off.

Use 100% cotton kitchen twine (butcher’s twine) with no dye. Synthetic string can’t handle an oven at 230 °C (450 °F).

Why Bagels Are Boiled Before Baking

Boiling is what turns a bread roll into a bagel. In those 45 seconds per side, the starch on the surface sets into a thin skin. In the oven, that skin becomes the glossy, slightly chewy crust that makes a bagel a bagel.

What goes into the water matters too:

Baking soda raises the pH of the water, so the crust browns faster and deeper and gets more flavor.

Honey adds shine and a warmer color to the crust.

Keep the water at a gentle simmer, with small bubbles. A rolling boil knocks the dough around and blurs the ridges, which is exactly what you don’t want here.

Don’t Skip the Night in the Fridge

Between 12 and 18 hours at 4 °C (39 °F), covered. This is what gives the shine, the chewy crust and a more flavorful crumb, because a slow, cold rise develops flavors that two hours at room temperature never will.

It also makes the timing easy: shape them in the evening, bake them the next morning. To check they’re ready, do the float test: take one straight from the fridge and drop it into a glass of cold water. If it floats within 10 seconds, they’re ready. If it sinks, leave them at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes and test again.

Pumpkin, Turmeric and Cinnamon: What Each One Does

The pumpkin brings color, moisture and a gentle sweetness. On its own, though, its flavor is subtle: you need a lot of pumpkin before you really taste it.

The turmeric is there for the color. The purée gives a soft orange, and just 1 g of turmeric makes it much brighter. In that amount you won’t taste it, no curry flavor. It’s optional, but we recommend it.

The cinnamon is what makes people say “these taste like autumn”. It’s optional too, but we used it and we love it. Cinnamon can slow the rise a little, so go by volume (30-40% bigger) rather than by the clock.

Why only 85 g of water? Pumpkin purée is mostly water. Counting it as about 85% water, 200 g of purée brings around 170 g, so with the 85 g you add, the dough ends up as stiff as a classic bagel dough. Purées vary, which is why there’s 20 g of water held back: add it only if the dough doesn’t come together.

Roast the pumpkin, don’t boil it. Boiled pumpkin holds much more water and the numbers stop working. Roast it at 200 °C (390 °F) for about 45 minutes, until a knife slides in easily, and blend it. That’s all: for these bagels there’s no need to strain it or cook it down the way we do for our homemade pumpkin puree, which is made for recipes that need a very thick purée. If you do use a thicker purée, canned or cooked down, count on using the reserved water. Let it cool to room temperature before using it.

If you like playing with color in the dough, our blueberry bagels come out purple all the way through, colored only by the fruit 💜

No Pumpkin? Make Them with Turmeric Only

You can make exactly the same bagels without pumpkin. Leave out the purée, use 255 g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) of water and 1 g (⅓ tsp) of turmeric, and follow the same method. They come out bright yellow-orange, the pumpkin shape looks just as good, and the flavor is that of a classic honey bagel.

We’ve made them both ways and, inside, they’re nearly identical: the same tender crumb, the same gentle chew. The difference is on the outside and it’s subtle: with pumpkin the color is deeper orange and there’s a touch more sweetness. If you have pumpkin on hand, it’s worth it. If you don’t, you won’t miss it.

And if you skip both the pumpkin and the turmeric, you get our classic homemade bagels: the same dough, shaped round with a hole.

If Something Didn’t Turn Out Right

Raw in the middle. With no hole, the center takes longer to bake than a regular bagel. If you have a probe thermometer, the center should read 95 °C (203 °F). If yours came out underbaked, next time bake at 215 °C (420 °F) for 26 to 28 minutes.

This is what the inside should look like: baked all the way through, tender, with no damp or dense patches:

The ridges fell apart in the pot. The water was at a rolling boil. Turn the heat down until you only see small bubbles.

The twine stuck to the crust. It needed more oil, or it came off too soon. When hot, the crumb grips the twine: wait 10 minutes after baking, and if you feel resistance when pulling, give it 5 more minutes.

Too dark at 15 minutes. The pumpkin adds sugar, so these brown faster than plain bagels, and the bottoms darken first. Lower the oven to 210 °C (410 °F) and keep baking until they sound hollow when tapped underneath.

The dough looks cracked and won’t come together. Your purée was on the thick side. Add the reserved water 5 g (1 tsp) at a time, up to 20 g (4 tsp).

They’re taking longer to rise. Normal with cinnamon in the dough. Go by volume, not the clock: they’re ready when they’ve grown by 30-40%.

The stand mixer walks across the counter. This is a stiff dough, so it happens. Stop for 5 minutes and continue, or knead in two rounds of 6 minutes with a 5-minute rest in between.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pumpkin Bagels

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