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These homemade Blueberry Bagels have a sweet blueberry flavor and toast up beautifully! You’ll love having fresh breakfast bagels, which 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, hop 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?
Let’s make Blueberry Bagels!
This recipe comes together quickly in a stand mixer. You could do it by hand, but since this dough is a little drier, you’ll be kneading for a while. 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. 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 beautiful blueberry bagels begging to be slathered with cream cheese or butter and devoured.
Do these Blueberry Bagels freeze well?
Oh yes, they do! We had a ton of baked goods around when these were made (I went a little wild…), so I sliced them in half, sealed them in an airtight bag, and stuck them in the freezer so they stayed good.
They toasted perfectly straight from the freezer, so they would be great to make ahead and have on hand if they last that long.
It’s homemade bagel time. You should join in, and once you try these out, let me know what you think in the comments below! Enjoy!
Blueberry Bagels
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups warm water, 105°F to 110°F
- 1 (¼ oz.) packet (2¼ teaspoons) instant dry yeast
- 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
Instructions
- Combine 2 cups bread flour, yeast, honey, salt, sugar, cinnamon 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.1 (¼ oz.) packet (2¼ teaspoons) instant dry yeast, 5 cups bread flour, 2 tablespoons honey, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 4 teaspoons granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1¼ cups warm water
- 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.1 cup blueberries
- 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. Brush the egg white mixture onto the bagels. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the bagels.¼ cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoons cinnamon, 1 large egg white
- Arrange the bagels on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper about 1-inch apart and bake for 15 minutes. You may need to do it in on two baking sheets. Rotate the pan after 15 minutes and bake for another 10 minutes or so, until the bagels are a deep caramel color and have formed a crust on the top and bottom. 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.
Can you substitute canned blueberries? If yes,do you include the liquid part also?
I’ve never tried but if you were to do so, don’t include the liquid! Drain them and dry them off before adding.
I’m an Aussie who could never understand how bagels could be so popular because the only ones I could buy here were like chewing rubber…. found this recipe and made my own… WOW! I’m now a bagel convert!! Thanks for that!
So glad you’re loving them, Lisa!
Rachel thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! These are so easy to make and taste delicious. My family keeps begging me to make more haha. Quick question, do you think would it be possible to make the dough evening, let it rest overnight, and bake it in the morning?
Hi Katie, if you keep the dough covered in the fridge, that should be totally fine. Enjoy!
Loved these! Was short on time, so made the dough and put it straight into the fridge. Came home six hours later to dough that had doubled. Shaped, boiled and baked the bagels and they were amazing. Family ate them toasted & spread with cream cheese. Heaven! Thank you x
So glad you loved them, Chaylee! Thanks for the feedback :)
I cant wait to try this recipe… I was wondering if this recipe allows for me to add flax seed meal and chia seeds, and if so, at what point can we add them and how much do u recommend? I would appreciate an answer as I plan to make your recipe and one with the chia and flax seed meal to see the difference. Thank You!! I also wanted to ask how long the bagels are good for?
Hi Valaree, the bagels are best the first day or two, or you can freeze them to help them last longer! I’ve never tried adding seeds so unfortunately I can’t confidently give a recommendation for how much to add, but I’d recommend soaking them first so they don’t dry out the bagels by absorbing too much of the liquid.
Hi Rachel, if I I leave the dough overnight in the refrigerator the next morning do I need to bring the dough up to room temp or start shaping
When it’s cold.thanks
Hi Tony, I’d recommend shaping while the dough is still pretty chilled and then letting them puff up a bit once they’re shaped.
Hi there! Can I use active dry yeast instead of instant dry yeast? What conversion would you recommend for that?
Hi Caroline, you can! Just make sure to activate it separately with the warm water & honey before using. You’ll use the same amount.
Mine don’t float, no bobbing around at all. is that right? Sink and stick to the bottom
They should float if they rose enough, how did the baked bagels turn out?
Can I use frozen blueberries?
Hi Jessica, yes that should be fine as long as they don’t have a ton of extra ice/water crystals! Sometimes frozen berries can tend to turn things blue. You can also thaw and drain before using to make sure they don’t add too much extra liquid.
I was wondering how long you can store these once baked?
Hi Lisa, you can keep them in an airtight bag for a day or two, and after that I like to slice and freeze any leftovers!