The Easiest Homemade Bagel Recipe
Homemade bagels are one of the greatest joys to have in the morning alongside a coffee or tea. They are so incredibly easy to make, have a wonderful fluffy texture and are coated with fragrant spices. Bagels can be enjoyed either simple or turned into a breakfast bagel sandwich. Add some cream cheese and your breakfast will go from zero to holy-moly in a few seconds.
What's the best thing about homemade bagels, you ask? Well, they're so easy to make! The ingredients to make this recipe can be found in everyone's pantry/cupboard.
How to Make Super Cute Bagels
For anyone visiting my corner of the internet, SugarYums, you might have noticed I am slightly obsessed with everything cute. However, if you didn't know that yet, have a look at my other cute bakes. When I started to experiment with bagels, the natural idea that came into my head was.... beagle bagels. I love bagels and I absolutely love beagles (and all doggos in general), so this was perfect!
These homemade bagels not only taste delicious, but are some much fun to make with kids. They are guaranteed to make even the fussiest eater want to dig in and enjoy this cute beagle bagel.
Assembling them is not very difficult, and you will see below the steps on how to achieve this look. All you need is a little bit of patience, a splash of food colouring and great energy!
The Bagel Dough
Unlike most baked goods, bagels are made using super simple ingredients that can be found in most pantries. There are only 5 ingredients in the plain bagel.
Water - Needs to be lukewarm, at 32 deg C if we want to be exact.
Yeast - Any type of yeast will work: fresh, dried or fast-action. I like to use the latter, as it always gives great results. Just ensure the yeast is still active.
Flour - Most types of flour can be used, but the best candidate is bread flour (or strong white). I sometimes like to use a mixture of wholewheat and bread flour, to add more fibre goodness.
Sugar - Again, you can use most types of sugar, but the most common are white and brown sugar. This recipe calls for a small quantity of sugar, as we want to keep it on the healthier side. Sugar will feed the yeast and help it bloom much better.
Salt - A cook's best friend. Salt will add a lot of flavour to the bagel. You will need two types of salt for this recipe: fine salt for the dough and coarse or flaked for the spice on top. I commonly prefer pink Himalayan salt or sea salt.
Preparing the Dough for Your Homemade Bagels
The dough for homemade bagels is very easy to prepare and calls for no special technique or finesse in handling. Bagels are as straightforward to make as they are to eat.
Let's get started!
Keeping the bagels simple
This decorative steps are completely optional, as the recipe can also be used to make simple bagels. The difference is that the decorated bagels cannot be boiled and will be only baked.
If you're stopping here, simply shape your proved dough into balls and poke a hole through the middle. You will then boil each bagel for 1 minute on each side, then sprinkle the seasoning over the top. The simple bagels will be then baked for 20 minutes at 220C (or 200C with fan).
Making the Bagels into Cute Beagles
Now this is where we start being creative and have some fun with it. As I've already mentioned, we will only be baking these bagels. Boiling the decorated bagels will make the head and ears detach, making it difficult to hold shape.
Please remember to cover the remaining dough whilst you're shaping each bagel. Simply cover with some cling film to avoid it drying.
Baking the Bagels
Whilst you're working on assembling the beagle bagels, pre-heat your oven to 220C or 200C with fan. As mentioned previously, we will be baking the bagels directly, without boiling.
Before baking, brush the bagels with some egg mixed with a little milk, then sprinkle the seasoning on top. Feel free to experiment with the seasoning and try any variations: paprika, salt, pepper, cheese, herbs etc.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the bagels are a lovely golden brown colour.
After baking, the bagel will become quite golden-brown in colour, so we will need to do some quick touch ups. Using some white food colouring, paint the snout to look more like a beagle. This finishing touch will make it stand out and look absolutely adorable.
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Recipe
Beagle Bagel
Ingredients
Beagle Bagel
- 300 g water, lukewarm (1 ¼ cups)
- 300 g bread flour (2 ⅓ cups)
- 200 g wholewheat flour (1 ⅔ cups)
- 10 g instant dry yeast (2 tsp)
- 25 g sugar (2 tbsp)
- 6 g salt (1 tsp)
New York Style Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon white sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon black sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon salt flakes
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Extra
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- egg wash
- 1-2 drops white & black food colouring
Instructions
- Add the yeast over the water (tepid), add sugar and mix. Let it bloom for 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl add the flour and salt, mixing well to combine.
- Pour in the bloomed yeasty mixture, and combine until the dough sticks together.
- Tip it onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 8-10 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and not sticky.
- Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with cling film and let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Divide the dough into 6 parts. Divide each part into one larger (¾) and one smaller (¼) piece.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (390°F) fan-assisted.
- Shape each of the larger (¾ size) pieces into a bagel. To do this, make it into a ball, then slightly press it between your palms to flatten it, then poke a hole in the middle using your index finger and thumb.
- With the remaining smaller pieces (¼ size), prepare to make the beagle head, ears and tail. Colour a very small part with black food colouring for the eyes and nose.
- To start assembling the beagle bagel, use a walnut sized piece to form the head, slightly elongating the snout.
- For the ears, make two triangles, and attach them to the head using a bit of water.
- Attach a small strip of dough in the middle of the head and over the snout. For the eyes and nose, make 3 x small balls, and attach them on the head to form the eyes and nose.
- For the tail, take a small piece of dough and make it into a thin strip. Attach at the back of the bagel.
- Place on a lined baking tray, cover with a baking sheet and let rise for 15 minutes.
- Brush with some egg wash, then sprinkle the New-York style seasoning. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden-brown in colour.
Notes
- I recommend using a kitchen scale in grams for more accuracy. The cups used for the conversion are standard US customary cups (1 cup flour = 136g). There are many different types of cups across the globe, which is why I strongly recommend using grams instead.
Lizzy says
Omg these look sooo cute! 😍 I can't wait to try the recipe for myself! Although I'm not sure they're going to be as pretty 😂😂
Hanelore says
Oh yay, thank you so much 😍 I'm sure they'll be great, let me know if you have any issues making them!
Adrienne says
Saw this post on Foodgawker. Very creative!
Hanelore says
Thank you so much Adrienne, I'm glad you like them!