Sourdough Cinnamon Crunch Bagels (better than Panera)

These sourdough cinnamon crunch bagels have cinnamon sugar sprinkled throughout the dough and caramelized on top. They’re my version of the beloved Panera Bread cinnamon crunch bagels but so much better! With the addition of sourdough, you’re getting a delicious flavor and gut benefits.

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When I first started developing these recipes, I wanted to make sure I could balance the sugar. I didn’t want these bagels to be overly sweet. So I created a balance of cinnamon and sugar to go inside the dough and on top.

My husband and I love bagels for breakfast, especially topped with cream cheese. When I asked him what his favorite was: my original sourdough bagels, sourdough pumpkin bagels, or these sourdough cinnamon crunch bagels. He said hands down, these cinnamon crunch ones! 

Tips

• Make sure your sourdough starter is fed 4–12 hours before making these bagels. I would feed it a 2:1 ratio of flour to water.
• If you don’t have a sourdough starter, it’s super simple to make one! Grab my free guide so you can make your own starter at home.
• If your home is cooler than 70 degrees, let your dough bulk ferment for 12 hours instead of 10.
• Use a spider strainer or slotted spoon to get the bagels out of their water bath.
• Use avocado oil; it makes a huge difference in the texture.
• Don’t skip over the kneading process or shorten it.
• Make sure you add both honey and baking soda to the water bath. Don’t skip this step.
• To ensure an even coating of cinnamon sugar topping, dip the bagels instead of sprinkling the topping on.

Ingredients

Bagel Dough

• fed sourdough starter (feed 4-12 hours before using)
• water
• avocado oil (or 4 Tbsp melted butter)
• all-purpose flour
• ground cinnamon
• cane sugar
• salt

Water Bath

• medium-large pot filled half way with water
• baking soda
• honey

Cinnamon Crunch Topping

• ground cinnamon
• cane sugar

Tools You May Need

• mixing bowl
• bench scraper 
• unbleached parchment paper
• baking sheet
• spider strainer

How to Make Sourdough Cinnamon Crunch Bagels

Step #1 – Make Bagel Dough

In a mixing bowl, add sourdough starter, water, and avocado oil. Stir until combined.

Add in the flour, cinnamon, sugar, and salt. Mix until combined. Depending on your starter hydration it may be shaggy, so use your hands to finish combining it into a dough ball until all the flour is incorporated.

Knead the dough for 3 minutes (by hand or with a stand mixer with a kneading hook attachment). Add flour to your workspace if needed.

Place dough back into mixing bowl. Cover loosely with a tea towel, lid, or plastic wrap.

Step #2 – Bulk Rise

Let the dough bulk ferment on the counter for 10–12 hours. The dough should double in size during this time and have visible bubbles. 

Step #3 – How to Shape Sourdough Bagels

Turn the dough out on the counter (no flour needed) and cut into six even pieces.

Shape each piece into a ball, push your thumb through the middle to create the bagel shape whole, and finally use your hands to flatten it out into a bagel shape. 

Repeat this step until all six bagels are shaped.

Step #4 – Second Rise

Place bagels on a parchment-lined sheet pan, about 2 inches apart. Loosely cover them with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap.

Let bagels rise for 3-4 hours until they are puffy and doubled in size. 

At this point, you can either proceed with the recipe or place the covered sheet pan in the fridge for up to 24 hours until you’re ready to continue the recipe.

Step #5 – Water Bath

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 

In a small bowl stir together the cinnamon crunch topping ingredients: cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.

Fill a large pot halfway with water and add baking soda and brown sugar. Stir to combine, and bring to a boil.

Turn down the heat to medium and drop in 1-2 bagels at a time to boil for 30 seconds, then flip and let them boil for another 30 seconds. (If the bagels were in the fridge, they may not float right away; just nudge them after the first 30 seconds before flipping.)

Remove the bagels from the water bath with a spider strainer or slotted spoon, allowing excess water to drip off.

Immediately place the wet bagel down into the bowl of cinnamon crunch topping you made earlier. This will coat the top of the bagel with cinnamon sugar. You can coat both sides but I recommend only doing the top so the bottom doesn’t get too hard when baking.

Then use a spatula to get it out of the mix and place the uncoated side down on the sheet pan.

Once on the pan, use the end of the spatula to gently remake the hole in the center. 

Repeat until all bagels go through the water bath. Place bagels 1-2 inches apart on the parchment-lined baking sheet pan.

Step #5 – Bake Bagels

Bake bagels for 20–25 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

Storage Instructions

Store these bagels at room temperature for 2-3 days. On day 3, you will begin to see a little moisture from the sugars. After 2-3 days, you can place any leftover bagels in the fridge for the rest of the week. You can also freeze these bagels baked for up to 3 months.

Reheating and Toasting

Reheating or toasting bagels is super simple. Just cut the bagel in half and place them in your toaster or toaster oven until golden brown.

If you don’t have either of these, you can do this on a sheet pan in your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the crumb side of the bagel slices on the sheet pan. Heat until a desired golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. 

Serving

You can serve these bagels with regular cream cheese or brown sugar cinnamon cream cheese. I’ll leave the recipe for that below. 

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cream Cheese

• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine all 3 of these ingredients in a bowl and spread on your pumpkin bagel.

FAQs

 

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More Sourdough Breakfast Recipes You’ll Love

• Sourdough Pumpkin Bagels
• Best Sourdough Bagels
• Sourdough Cinnamon Brown Sugar Scones
• Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
• Sourdough Honey Buns (better than Little Debbie’s)

If you try this recipe and love it, come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @plumbranchhome