Best Sourdough Bagels (soft, easy, small batch recipe)
My sourdough bagels recipe makes soft and fluffy bagels with easy steps that anyone can follow. You don't have to be a pro baker to make bagels at home from scratch. One bite of a sourdough bagel will have you swearing off the premade selections at the grocery store. They really are that good!
Ingredients
For the Bagels
- 1/2 cup fed sourdough starter (fed 4-12 hours before using)
- 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup avocado oil (or 4 Tbsp melted butter)
- 2 tsp raw honey
For the Water Bath
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp raw honey
Instructions
Before You Begin Prepare Your Starter
- Feed your starter 4-12 hours before starting this recipe. I recommend feeding it a 2:1 ratio of flour to water. It needs to be active and bubbly to begin this recipe.
Step #1 – Make Bagel Dough
- In a mixing bowl, add sourdough starter, water, avocado oil, honey, and salt. Stir until combined.
- Add in flour. 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 a mixing bowl. Cover loosely with a damp tea towel, lid, or plastic wrap.
Step #2 – Bulk Rise
- Let the dough bulk ferment on the counter at room temperature for 12 hours. The dough should double in size during this time and have visible bubbles.
Step #3 – Shape Bagels
- Punch down the dough to deflate air bubbles.
- 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 dry kitchen towel, a second sheet pan, 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.
- Fill a large pot halfway with water and add baking soda and honey. Stir to combine, and bring to a boil.
- Turn down the heat to medium and drop in 1 bagel at a time to boil for 30 seconds, then flip and let 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.
- Place the bagel back onto the parchment-lined sheet pan. You can use the end of the spatula to gently remake the hole in the center of the bagel if it's caved in a little.
- Repeat until all bagels go through the water bath. Make sure the bagels aren't touching on the baking sheet pan.
Step #5 – Bake Bagels
- Bake bagels for 20–25 minutes.
- Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!