Sourdough Pumpkin Bagels
My sourdough pumpkin bagels are soft, fluffy, and perfectly spiced! You can make them sweet or savory based on your cream cheese of choice! My original bagels were such a hit, I had to create a pumpkin version for fall. They've become one of our favorite fall breakfasts for Saturdays and Sunday mornings after church!
Ingredients
Bagels
- 1/2 cup fed sourdough starter
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 cup avocado oil (or 4 Tbsp melted butter)
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup milk
Water Bath
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp pure maple syrup
Instructions
Feed Your Starter
- BEFORE YOU GET STARTED: Feed your starter 4-12 hours before starting this recipe. I recommend feeding it a 2:1 ratio of unbleached flour to filtered water to get the same results as I do when you make this recipe.Example: Feed your ENTIRE sourdough starter jar 1 cup flour + 1/2 cup water and let the starter sit on the counter at room temperature until it's bubbly and has grown in the jar. Your starter needs to be active, bubbly, and a thicker consistency to begin this recipe.
Make Bagel Dough
- In a mixing bowl, add fed starter, pumpkin puree, avocado oil, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, maple syrup, and milk. Stir until combined.
- Add in flour and 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 2 minutes (by hand or with a stand mixer with a kneading hook attachment) it will be a little sticky, add flour to your workspace if needed but not too much.
- Place it back into the mixing bowl. Cover it loosely with a lid, plastic wrap, damp tea towel.
Bulk Rise
- Let dough sit on the counter at room temperature to bulk ferment for 12 hours or until dough has doubled or tripled in size and has air bubbles.
- OPTIONAL: Once the bulk fermentation is finished, you can place the dough in the fridge for up to 48 hours if you want more fermentation benefits or need more time before baking. You don't have to do this, it's optional!
Shape Bagels
- Turn dough out on to 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 a hole in the center, and finally use your hands to flatten it out into a bagel shape.
- Repeat this step until all six bagels are shaped.
Second Rise
- Place bagels on a parchment-lined sheet pan, about 2 inches apart. Loosely cover them with a dry kitchen towel or plastic wrap.
- Let bagels rise for 3-4 hours until they are puffy and have increased in size.
Water Bath
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- To continue the recipe, fill a large pot halfway with water and add baking soda and maple syrup. Stir to combine, and bring to a boil.
- Turn down the heat to medium and drop in 1-2 bagels at a time. Simmer for 30 seconds, then flip and let them simmer 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 bagels from the water bath with a spider strainer or slotted spoon, allowing excess water to drip off.
- Place bagels back on parchment-lined baking sheet, 1-2 inches apart. Use the spatula or spoon handle to remake the bagel hole if needed.
- Repeat until all bagels go through the water bath.
Bake Bagels
- Bake bagels for 20–25 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!
Notes
Please see blog post for all kinds of helpful tips and storage information.
Sourdough Baking Disclaimer
I regularly feed my sourdough starter a 2:1 ratio of unbleached flour to filtered water, this creates a 50% hydrated starter even when I use discard. If you feed your starter differently, results may vary due to a different hydration which will cause a different consistency.No matter how you feed your starter just ensure it’s a thick consistency when you use it for my recipes even if you’re using discard.
Did you make this recipe?
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This recipe was developed from scratch in my kitchen by me, Molly LaFontaine, and tested many times by my husband and me to ensure success. Just like all of my recipes on Plum Branch Home. They’re created with purpose, cherished in our own home, and developed with my experiences, trial and error, and skills. NEVER AI (artificial intelligence).
Here at Plum Branch Home we’re loving our families and serving God one recipe at a time!
Troubleshooting Help for Bulk Fermenting & Rising…
1. What to do if your dough isn’t doubling in size during the bulk ferment and/or 2nd rise:- If your dough doesn’t look like it’s doing anything halfway through the rises, you need to place it in a slightly warmer area.
- This can be in a turned-off oven with the light on and oven door open, or you can slightly warm the oven to about 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit, then turn it off and place your dough inside with the door shut.
- Never leave the oven on, even on the keep warm setting, with fermenting dough inside. Your dough, for both rises, needs to double.
- If your dough doesn’t double even in the warmer area, there is a problem with your starter. It is too weak to ferment the dough even in a warm environment.
- To fix this, you will want to leave your starter out on the counter for 2 days and feed it every 12 hours at a 2:1 ratio of unbleached flour to filtered water.
- For example, 1 cup unbleached flour + 1/2 cup filtered (or bottled) water.
- Make sure you’re using unbleached flour and filtered or bottled water to do this. If you don’t, it will affect your starter strength. Reverse osmosis water (or any water that uses salt in the filter) can make the starter weak.
- This will strengthen the cultures in your starter to give you fluffy baked bread and treats. After the 2 days, you can go back to feeding it like usual (once a week if stored in the fridge or once a day if stored on the counter). Be sure to use the 2:1 ratio feeding from here on out.