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Homemade bagel filled with cream cheese, smoked salmon and baby greens on a green plate
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Homemade Bagels

Classic homemade bagels: a firm honey dough, a night in the fridge, a boil in honey and baking soda water and a hot oven. Glossy crust, dense and tender crumb.
Prep Time40 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Rising and fridge time13 hours 45 minutes
Total Time14 hours 55 minutes
8 bagels

Equipment

  • Stand mixer with dough hook Strongly recommended: this is a very firm dough
  • Pot, about 3.3 L (3½ qt) The wider the pot, the more you can boil at once
  • Spider strainer or a fine mesh strainer A slotted spoon works too
  • Baking sheet Lined with parchment paper
  • Kitchen scale
  • Probe thermometer Optional, to check 95 °C (203 °F) in the center

Ingredients

Dough

  • 500 g bread flour 13-14% protein (about 4 cups)
  • 255 g water at 20-22 °C (68-72 °F) (1 cup + 1 tbsp)
  • 6 g fresh yeast 0.2 oz; or 2 g (⅔ tsp) instant yeast
  • 10 g fine salt 1¾ tsp
  • 15 g honey 2 tsp
  • 10 g sugar 2½ tsp

Boiling water

  • 2000 g water 8½ cups
  • 27 g honey 1¼ tbsp
  • 5 g baking soda 1 tsp

For the baking sheet

  • 5 g sunflower oil 1 tsp, to brush the parchment

Instructions

The dough

  • Mix the dry ingredients. In the stand mixer bowl, with the dough hook, add the flour, salt and sugar. Mix for 20 seconds on speed 1.
  • Dissolve the yeast in the water. The fresh yeast and the honey in the water at 20-22 °C (68-72 °F), then add it to the bowl all at once. If using instant yeast, add it with the dry ingredients instead.
  • Knead on two speeds. 3 minutes on speed 1, until no loose flour remains, then 10 to 12 minutes on speed 2. Don't go above speed 2: with a dough this firm, the mixer walks and the motor strains. If that happens, stop for 5 minutes and continue. If you knead by hand, expect it to take considerably longer, with a rest or two along the way: this is a stiff dough.
  • Check the dough. It's ready when it pulls away from the bowl as a smooth, firm ball. It won't pass the windowpane test, and it doesn't need to. Final dough temperature: 24-25 °C (75-77 °F).
    Ball of bagel dough in the bowl right after kneading, before the first rise

Rising and shaping

  • Let it rise for 60 to 90 minutes, covered, at 22-24 °C (72-75 °F). It only grows by 30-40%.
    The same ball of bagel dough after 90 minutes, about 30-40% bigger
  • Divide into 8 pieces of 100 g (3½ oz) and shape each into a ball. Flatten each piece into a disc, fold the edges into the center several times, turning the dough as you go, until the surface feels tight, then turn it over with the folds underneath. Let them rest, covered, for 15 minutes.
  • Seal the base. Fold again, pressing firmly, and close the underside with small pinches until there are no cracks or creases left. A well-sealed base keeps the bagel from splitting in the water.
  • Make the hole. Push your finger through the center of each ball and stretch by turning the dough around your finger, like a ring, until the hole is about 4 cm (1½ in). It looks big, but it closes up as the dough grows.
    Eight raw bagels shaped with a hole in the center, on a wooden board
  • Transfer them to the baking sheet. Onto parchment brushed with the 5 g (1 tsp) of oil, spaced apart.

Overnight in the fridge

  • Refrigerate for 12 to 18 hours at 4 °C (39 °F), covered. This is what gives the shine, the flavor and the chewy crust, so don't skip it.

Boiling

  • Preheat the oven 30 minutes ahead. 230 °C (450 °F) with top and bottom heat, or 210 °C (410 °F) with a fan oven.
  • Put the water on. 2000 g (8½ cups) of water in a pot of about 3.3 L (3½ qt).
  • Add the honey when it boils. 27 g (1¼ tbsp), stirring until it dissolves.
  • Add the baking soda little by little. 5 g (1 tsp), over medium heat: on a rolling boil it can foam up all at once. Wait for the foam to settle and skim off what's left.
  • Take out only the batch you're boiling. Keep the rest in the fridge until their turn.
  • Boil for 45 seconds. Lower them in with the strainer (or a slotted spoon). You can boil as many as fit in your pot without touching, leaving a little room around them.
    Three homemade bagels simmering in a pot of water with honey and baking soda
  • Flip them and boil for another 45 seconds.
  • Drain and return them to the baking sheet. Let them drip over the pot for 5 to 10 seconds, then back onto the sheet in 3 rows (3, 3 and 2), about 4 cm (1½ in) apart.
    Boiled homemade bagels on a parchment-lined baking sheet, ready to go into the oven

Baking

  • Bake for 16 to 18 minutes at 230 °C (450 °F). All together, on the middle rack.
  • Check they're done. Deep golden, hollow-sounding when tapped underneath, or 95 °C (203 °F) in the center.
  • Lower to 210 °C (410 °F) if they darken too soon. If they're very dark at 12 minutes, continue at that temperature until they pass the previous step.
  • Let them cool on a rack. At least 20 minutes before splitting them: while warm, the crumb is still setting.

Notes

  • With a bigger pot you can use 3000 g (12¾ cups) of water, 40 g (2 tbsp) of honey and 8 g (1½ tsp) of baking soda.
  • The hole closes up a lot as the dough grows: stretch it to about 4 cm (1½ in) when shaping.
  • For seeds (sesame, poppy), add them right after the boil, while the bagels are still wet, and they'll stick.
  • For the lox bagel, the amounts and how to build it are in the post, below the recipe.