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Pumpkin Bagels for a Halloween Breakfast
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Pumpkin Bagels

Homemade pumpkin bagels tied with kitchen twine so they bake into little pumpkins. Roasted pumpkin purée in the dough, turmeric for color and a touch of cinnamon, a night in the fridge, a quick boil in honey water and a hot oven.
Prep Time50 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Rising and fridge time13 hours 45 minutes
Total Time15 hours 10 minutes
8 bagels

Equipment

  • Stand mixer with dough hook Strongly recommended: this is a very stiff dough
  • Pot, about 3.3 L (3½ qt) The wider the pot, the more you can boil at once
  • Spider strainer or a medium 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)
  • 200 g roasted pumpkin purée roasted and blended (see notes). No pumpkin? See notes
  • 85 g water at 20-22 °C (68-72 °F) (⅓ cup)
  • 20 g water, reserved only if the dough won't come together (4 tsp)
  • 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
  • 1 g ground turmeric ⅓ tsp; optional but recommended: brightens the color with no curry taste
  • 3 g ground cinnamon 1 tsp; optional

Boiling water

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

Shaping and baking

  • 8 pieces cotton kitchen twine 80 cm (24 in) each
  • 15 g sunflower oil 1 tbsp: 10 g for the twine, 5 g for the parchment
  • 8 short cinnamon sticks or rosemary sprigs, optional

Instructions

The dough

  • Mix the dry ingredients. In the stand mixer bowl, with the dough hook, add the flour, salt, sugar, turmeric and cinnamon. Mix for 20 seconds on speed 1.
  • Add the liquids and the purée. Dissolve the fresh yeast and the honey in the 85 g (⅓ cup) of water at 20-22 °C (68-72 °F) and add it to the bowl together with the pumpkin purée. 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 stiff, 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.
  • Adjust the water if needed. At 5 minutes of kneading, if the dough looks cracked and won't come together, add the reserved water 5 g (1 tsp) at a time, up to 20 g (4 tsp). How much you need depends on how thick your purée is.
  • 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 pumpkin bagel dough

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%. Go by volume, not the clock: the cinnamon can make it take a little longer.
  • Divide into 8 pieces of about 105 g (3¾ 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.
    pumpkin bagel dough balls
  • 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 is what keeps the ball from splitting in the water.
  • Oil the twine. Run the 8 pieces of twine, 80 cm (32 in) each, through your fingers with 10 g (2 tsp) of oil. This stops them sticking to the crust in the oven.
  • Tie each ball into 8 sections. Center the twine on top of the ball, bring it down the sides and cross it underneath. Turn the ball 90° and cross again: you'll have 4 sections. Repeat, turning 45°, to get 8, then bring both ends back up to the top.
  • Tie it on top, without pulling it tight. The dough is going to grow, and tight twine cuts into it.

Overnight in the fridge

  • Refrigerate for 12 to 18 hours at 4 °C (39 °F), covered. This gives the shine 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.
  • Prepare the baking sheet. Line it with parchment, brush it with 5 g (1 tsp) of oil and set it next to the pot, with the strainer (or slotted spoon) and a timer.
  • 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, knot side up. 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.
    boiling pumpkin bagels
  • Flip and boil for another 45 seconds.
  • Drain and transfer to the baking sheet. Let them drip over the pot for 5 to 10 seconds, then place them knot side up in 3 rows (3, 3 and 2), about 4 cm (1½ in) apart.

Baking

  • Bake for 20 to 22 minutes at 230 °C (450 °F). All together, on the middle rack.
    pumpkin bagels on the baking sheet
  • 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. The pumpkin makes them brown faster than plain bagels, starting with the bottoms. If they're very dark at 15 minutes, continue at that temperature until they pass the previous step.

Finishing

  • Let them cool for 10 minutes. While hot, the crumb grips the twine.
  • Remove the twine. Snip the knot with scissors and pull slowly from one end. If you feel resistance, wait 5 more minutes.
  • Push a cinnamon stick into the center. It's decorative and optional: remove it before eating.

Video

Notes

  • Use 100% cotton kitchen twine with no dye. Synthetic string can't handle the oven temperature.
  • With no hole, the center takes longer to bake than a regular bagel. If yours come out underbaked, next time bake at 215 °C (420 °F) for 26 to 28 minutes. With a thermometer, the center should read 95 °C (203 °F).
  • 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.
  • For the purée, roast the pumpkin at 200 °C (390 °F) for about 45 minutes, until a knife slides in easily, and blend it. For these bagels you don't need to strain it or cook it down like our homemade pumpkin puree: roasted and blended is enough, because the water in the dough is adjusted to it. Don't boil it: boiled pumpkin holds much more water. If your purée looks watery, a few minutes in a pan is all it needs. If you use a thicker purée (canned, or cooked down like ours), the dough may need some or all of the reserved water. Always 100% pumpkin, never pumpkin pie filling, which already has sugar and spices.
  • Turmeric is optional, but it makes the color much brighter, and in this amount it doesn't taste of curry.
  • The pumpkin adds sugar, so these brown faster than plain bagels. Check them at 15 minutes.
  • No pumpkin? Leave out the purée and use 255 g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) of water and 1 g (⅓ tsp) of turmeric.
  • The cinnamon stick is decorative: remove it before eating.