Easy homemade bagels
This recipe for easy homemade bagels makes a delicious soft and chewy bagel. Best of all, they’re so simple to do, they’re perfect for kids and beginner bakers to try.
Homemade bagels are a great recipe for kids and novice bakers to try. They’re really very simple when you know how and you get a deliciously chewy bagel which is 100% nicer than the bagels you buy in shops
My kids love bagels so we have them all the time at lunch, but these homemade bagels are a step above our usual shop bought ones.
I like baking bread with my kids as its really hands on. And with just a few simple ingredients and no special equipment you can rustle up something really really tasty.
Common questions about homeamde bagels
Do you have to boil homeamde bagels?
Boiling bagels is what gives them their distinctive chewy texture. When we first boiled them my kids thought it was a slightly strange thing to do but it’s a step that is well worth no skipping if you want a truly authentic bagel.
If you don’t boil your bagels before you bake them you can still enjoy them, but they won’t have quite the same bagel texture.
What flour is best flour for bagels?
You want your bagels to be nice and dense and chewy so to achieve that you’ll need to use a strong bread flour. You won’t be able to achieve quite the right texture with a plain flour.
Are bagels vegan?
Yes. This bagel dough is very simple and just includes flour, yeast, salt, sugar and water. Unlike some other bread recipes there are no eggs or butter so it’s safe to make if you’re vegan.
Can you flavour homemade bagels?
It’s very easy to take this plain bagel recipe and add your own flavour/toppings.
Once you’ve boiled the bagels, you can brush the top with egg then add some sesame seeds, poppy seeds or even grated cheese.
How can kids help to make homemade bagels?
Like any bread recipe, these bagels are a great bake for kids to get involved in.
Kids can help measure and mix the ingredients then knead the dough. My kids always enjoy kneading bread – it’s a great hands on job for them to do.
Another brilliant hands on job for kids to do is to shape the bagels. It’s easier than you think and a job my kids really enjoyed.
How do you shape homemade bagels?
Shaping bagels really isn’t very difficult and is a great job for kids to do. Once you’ve made round bagel shapes, either use your finger or an oiled chop stick to make the hole in the centre.
To expand the hole simply twizzle them round to expand the hole until it is a few cm (or ½ inch) across.
What other easy bread recipes for kids can i make?
If your kids enjoyed making these bagels they might also some of our other easy bread recipes for kids including:
Finger rolls
Easy white bread recipe
Soda bread
English muffins
Breadsticks
Brown bread
Soft bread rolls
Shaped dinner rolls
Homemade garlic focaccia
Useful equipment
You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make these homemade bagels
Digital scales
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Baking tray
Wire rack
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Ingredients
450g (3 ½ cups) strong white bread flour
4 tbsp caster sugar
1 x 7g sachet of fast action dried yeast
2 tsp salt
300ml (1 ¼ cup) water
How to make easy homemade bagels
Activate the yeast
Mix 100ml of the water with the yeast.
Measure out 100ml of warm water. If you have digital scales the easiest way of doing this is just to use the ml setting. You need the water to be warm but not hot. It should feel a nice comfortable temperature to hold your finger in.
Put the warm water in a small bowl and get your kids to add the sachet of yeast, and one table spoon of caster sugar. Stir is in then leave it for about 10 minutes until it has turned frothy.
Make the bagel dough
While the yeast is activating in the water get your kids to measure out the flour and the salt, and add them to a large mixing bowl.
When you add the salt, make sure your kids use their finger to level the top of the tea spoon so you add just the right amount.
Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the frothy yeast/water mixture. Get your kids to start mixing it in. Add a further 200ml of warm water, mixing all the time until it starts to come together into a ball of dough.
Knead the bagel dough
Get your kids to tip the bagel dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Bring the dough together then get your kids to knead it with their hands. Knead the dough for around 10 minutes until it looks smooth and feels soft and elastic.
If you’ve never kneaded and dough before it’s really just a case of pulling and stretching the dough, bringing it back together again, and keep repeating.
My kids really enjoy kneading, especially as they feel the texture changing and becoming smoother the more they do it.
I normally use the dough hook on our free-standing mixer to give kneading dough a head start, but this is quite a tough dough so thought I’d save the machine and do it by hand.
Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it and leave it somewhere warm for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
Make the bagels
Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C Fan / 425F and grease/oil a baking tray.
Tip the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface and get your kids to ‘knock it back’. That just means punch the air out of the dough and is a fun job for kids!
Divide the dough into six equal sized pieces (or eight pieces if you want slightly smaller bagels).
Take a piece of dough and shape it into a ball. We made balls, then tried to smooth down the top by turning them round on our work surface.
To form the holed bagel shape, lightly oil a chop stick if you have one, or just use your finger if you dont. Poke it through the middle of your bagel, then move it round to expand the hole until it is a few cm (½ inch) across. The hole will close up a bit when you bake it so don’t make them too small.
Set them aside on your baking tray while you shape the rest.
Cook the bagels
Heat some water in a large pan and add 3 table spoons of caster sugar. Boil the bagels for 30-45 seconds on each side. Don’t do them all at once,so you don’t run out of space. The longer you boil them, the chewier they’ll be.
Once you’ve boiled the first batch, remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and put them back on your baking tray while you do the rest.
Don’t be put off by the look of the bagels after you’ve boiled them. My kids thought they looked really weird and a bit slimy but this is what gives them their lovely chewiness.
Bake the bagels
Bake the bagels in your preheated oven for about 25 minutes. Turn them once half way through so they cook evenly on both sides.
The bagels are ready when they’ve turned a nice golden brown colour. Remove them from the oven, leave them to cool for a few minutes, serve and enjoy.
Easy homemade bagels
Equipment
- Digital scales
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- baking tray
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 450 g (3 ½ cups) strong white bread flour
- 4 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 x 7g sachet of fast action dried yeast
- 2 tsp salt
- 300 ml (1 ¼ cup) water
Instructions
Activate the yeast
- Mix 100ml of the water with the yeast.
- Measure out 100ml of warm water. Put the warm water in a small bowl and add the sachet of yeast, and one table spoon of caster sugar. Stir is in then leave it for about 10 minutes until it has turned frothy.
Make the bagel dough
- While the yeast is activating in the water measure out the flour and the salt, and add them to a large mixing bowl.
- Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the frothy yeast/water mixture. Add a further 200ml of warm water, mixing all the time until it starts to come together into a ball of dough.
Knead the bagel dough
- Tip the bagel dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Bring the dough together then knead it with your hands. Knead the dough for around 10 minutes until it looks smooth and feels soft and elastic.
- Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it and leave it somewhere warm for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
Make the bagels
- Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C Fan / 425F and grease/oil a baking tray.
- Tip the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface and 'knock it back'. (That just means punch the air out of the dough.)
- Divide the dough into six equal sized pieces (or eight pieces if you want slightly smaller bagels). Take a piece of dough and shape it into a ball.
- To form the holed bagel shape, lightly oil a chop stick if you have one, or just use your finger if you dont. Poke it through the middle of your bagel, then move it round to expand the hole until it is a few cm (½ inch) across. The hole will close up a bit when you bake it so don't make them too small.
Cook the bagels
- Heat some water in a large pan and add 3 table spoons of caster sugar. Boil the bagels for 30-45 seconds on each side. Don't do them all at once,so you don't run out of space. Once you've boiled the first batch, remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and put them back on your baking tray while you do the rest.
- Bake the bagels in your preheated oven for about 25 minutes. Turn them once half way through so they cook evenly on both sides.
- The bagels are ready when they've turned a nice golden brown colour. Remove them from the oven, leave them to cool for a few minutes, serve and enjoy.
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Hey,
Great to see your recipe. Your bagels look really good when baked too. I notice you used sugar in your recipe and that they were aimed at children. Using barley malt syrup can add a great flavour without adding too much sugar and is a good alternative. Also did you ever try proving the dough overnight?
Thanks
Jon
Thanks. I’ve never used barley malt syrup, as I prefer to use ingredients I have to hand in the store cupboard. Maybe next time I see it at the supermarket i’ll get some and try it.