Blueberry Bagels

These homemade Blueberry Bagels have a sweet blueberry flavor and toast up beautifully! You’ll love having fresh bagels for breakfast, and they take less than 2 hours to prepare.

Blueberry bagels from your ingredient bowl to your mouth in 2 hours? It’s possible, and yes, you should most definitely spend 2 hours of your life, preferably soon, making your own bagels.

If you don’t want it to be blueberry bagels, hope on over to my recipe for asiago everything bagels. They were amazing, and also done in 2 hours. And they had cheese melted all over the top of them, and cheese + bread makes me very happy.

But back to blueberry. Since I made bagels the first time, I’ve made them multiple times, mostly cause my housemates always ask for them. Something about homemade bread is just so comforting, and ripping into a bagel that just came out of the oven is an experience you need to have. Also, they only take 2 hours! And a whole bunch of it is rising time, so…why not make homemade bagels?

This recipe comes together quickly in a stand mixer. You could do it by hand, but you’ll be kneading for a while since this dough is a little drier. I recommend a machine. You combine all the ingredients, including instant yeast because no one likes to mess around with all that proofing business, and let the dough knead for a while – almost 10 minutes, adding more flour if necessary. Your dough may turn a pretty shade of purple. That’s supposed to happen.

Now, let the dough rise for about 20 minutes in a warm place or if you want to make these ahead of time, stick the dough in the fridge overnight to let it rise and continue tomorrow.

After the dough has risen, divide the dough, form your bagels, and give them a little swim in some boiling water. That gives bagels their signature chew, and the longer you boil, the chewier the crust will be. After they’re boiled, sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar and send them into the oven.

About 30 minutes later, you’re left with some beautiful blueberry bagels just begging to be slathered with cream cheese or butter and devoured.

We had a ton of baked goods around when these were made (I went a little crazy…) so I sliced them and stuck them in the freezer so they stayed good. They toasted up perfectly from the freezer, so these would be great to make ahead and have on hand, if they last that long.

It’s homemade bagel time. You should join in. Enjoy!

Blueberry Bagels

Save Print Author: Rachel Conners Ingredients

1¼ cups warm water (105°F to 110°F)
1 (1/4-ounce) packet instant dry yeast (2¼ teaspoons)
5 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup blueberries
1 large egg white

For the topping

¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions

Combine 2 cups bread flour, yeast, honey, salt, sugar and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Mix on low, slowly add 2 more cups of flour.
Mix on low until most of the loose flour has been worked into the dough and the dough looks shredded, about 2 minutes. Add the blueberries. Dough may get wet as they incorporate, add more flour as necessary. Increase the speed to medium low and continue mixing until the dough is stiff, smooth, and elastic, about 8 to 9 minutes more. Add more flour if necessary.
Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a large oiled bowl, and turn it to coat in oil. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let the dough rise in a warm place, until it is puffy and springs back when you poke it, about 20 minutes. It will not double in size.
While the dough rises, preheat the oven to 425°F. Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium low and let simmer. Cover until you’re ready to boil the bagels. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper greased with oil or cooking spray. Place a metal rack inside of a second baking sheet and set aside.
Turn the risen dough out onto a dry surface. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, about 3 ounces each, for smaller bagels, or into 8 pieces, about 4 ounces each for larger bagels. Roll each piece into a 9-inch-long rope, lightly moisten the ends with water, overlap the ends by about 1 inch, and press to join so you’ve created a bagel. As necessary, widen the hole in the middle so it is approximately the size of a quarter. Cover the shaped bagels with a damp towel and let rest 10 minutes.
After resting, stretch the dough to retain the quarter-size hole (the dough will have risen a bit) and boil the bagels, taking care not to overcrowd the pan (I could only boil 2 at a time). Make sure they have room to bob around. Cook for about 30 seconds on each side until the bagels have a shriveled look, then remove to the baking sheet with the rack in it. Adjust heat as necessary so the water stays at a simmer.
Stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Once all of the bagels have been boiled, whisk together 1 tablespoon water and the egg white until evenly combined. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the bagels. Arrange the bagels on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper about 1 inch apart and bake. Rotate the pan after 15 minutes and bake until the bagels are a deep caramel color and have formed a crust on the bottom and top, about 10 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes so the interiors finish cooking and the crusts form a chewy exterior.

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