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Every week in 2024, you’ll find a new bagel recipe right here. Today, we’re walking through my ultra delectable everything bagel recipe – you’re sure to love it!

A pile of everything bagels on the counter.

The Only Everything Bagel Recipe You’ll Need

This year I’m sharing a new bagel recipe every single week. And I’m starting off with a bang with these everything bagels! With the best chewy-but-soft bagel texture ever and topped with the popular everything bagel seasoning, these are sure to be one of your favorites, too! 


In my quest to make this year the year of bagels, there are a couple of tricks I’ve learned that will make your everything bagel making experience so easy! Instead of tracking down barley malt that is found in typical bakery bagels, this recipe calls for brown sugar which is a fabulous (and accessible substitute). Second, you know I’m not one to recommend specialty tools, but an extra large cookie sheet + silicone mat so you can bake all of your bagels at once is so convenient and a spider strainer makes boiling your bagels a breeze by allowing the water to drip off quickly.

An everything bagel sliced in half.

Everything Bagel Ingredients

  • Warm water (105°F -113°F)
  • Dry active yeast – Can use instant yeast here, if you’d like. 
  • Brown sugar, packed – Most bagel places use barley malt in their bagels but that isn’t something that is super available so we are using brown sugar instead. 
  • Bread flour – USE BREAD FLOUR. I am usually an ‘all-purpose is fine’ queen but the bread flour really does make such a difference. The extra protein in the flour makes the bagels stay soft for days and gives it the perfect bagel texture.
  • Salt
  • Egg wash: 1 egg white + 1 tbsp water, whisked together
  • Everything bagel seasoning – You can grab this at your local grocery store in the spice section.
3 everything bagels horizontally stacked on the counter.

How to Make Easy Homemade Everyday Bagels

  1. In a small bowl, add the warm water, dry active yeast and brown sugar. Stir to combine and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the 4 1/2 cups of bread flour and salt. Stir to combine.
  3. Your yeast mixture should be bubbly and foamy. Add the yeast mixture to the dry ingredients.
  4. If using a stand mixer: use the dough hook and knead for 10 minutes, you will most likely need to add the extra 3 tbsp of flour to keep the dough workable but soft.
  5. If mixing by hand: start by stirring the dry ingredients into the yeast mixture until a shaggy dough forms. At this point, pour the contents onto a clean surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes. Add the extra 2-3 tbsp of bread flour as needed to keep the dough soft but workable. Knead by Pushing the dough, turning and folding it in half. Repeating this for 10 minutes.
  6. Once the dough has finished kneading, Allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes.
  7. Use a sharp knife or bench scraper to cut the dough into 8 equal sized pieces. (Cut the dough in half, then each half in half again and then once more)
  8. Shape your bagels. Take each portion of dough and knead into a tight ball. Once in a ball, press your thumb into the center of the ball and gently squeeze and pull the dough while rotating it around your thumb to create the bagel shape. Place onto a parchment or silicone lined 3/4 cookie sheet (this is just a larger cookie sheet). Repeat.
  9. Cover the cookie sheet with plastic wrap and allow the bagels to rise for 30 minutes.
  10. Preheat the oven to 425°F once the bagels have risen for 30 minutes.
  11. In a large pot, boil about 4 inches of water. Once the water is at a rolling boil, carefully drop the risen bagels into the boiling water one by one. You may have to do this in a few batches. Boil the bagels for about 1 minute, flip over to the other side and boil for an additional minute.
  12. Using a large slotted spoon or spider strainer to remove the bagels and return to the lined cookie sheet. Repeat.
  13. While the next batch of bagels are boiling, brush with the egg wash mixture and sprinkle the top with the everything bagel seasoning.
  14. Once all of the bagels have boiled and are topped with the everything seasoning, bake in the 425° F oven for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.
  15. Allow the bagels to cool for 10 minutes before cutting and enjoying.
  16. Store in a zip top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.
A pile of everything bagels on the counter. Across the bottom it says "6 Ingredient everything bagels - no mixer required"

Everything Bagel Recipe FAQs

How to store an Everything Bagel

Bagel
Store your bagels in an airtight zip lock bag at room temperature for up to 3 days (and honestly, a little bit longer).

What can I put in a bagel besides cream cheese?

If i’m being honest, I mostly just eat these plain (oops). You can serve these as the base for a killer breakfast (or lunch) sandwich, toasted with cream cheese or simply buttered. If you think of any outstanding combos, please do me a favor and let me know.

Other Breakfast Recipes You’ll Love

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5 from 10 votes

Everything Bagel Recipe

Every week in 2024, you’ll find a new bagel recipe right here. Today, we’re walking through my ultra delectable everything bagel recipe – you’re sure to love it!
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes
Rest Time: 28 minutes
Servings: 8 bagels

Ingredients

  • 2 cups warm water (105°F -113°F)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp dry active yeast
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar, packed
  • 4 1/2 – 4 3/4 cups bread flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • egg wash 1 egg white + 1 tbsp water, whisked together
  • 1-2 tbsp everything bagel seasoning

Instructions 

  • In a small bowl, add the warm water, dry active yeast and brown sugar. Stir to combine and set aside.
  • In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the 4 1/2 cups of bread flour and salt. Stir to combine.
  • Your yeast mixture should be bubbly and foamy. Add the yeast mixture to they dry ingredients.
  • If using a stand mixer, use the dough hook and knead for 10 minutes, you will most likely need to add the extra 3 tbsp of flour to keep the dough workable but soft.
  • If mixing by hand, start by stirring the dry ingredients into the yeast mixture until a shaggy dough forms. At this point, pour the contents onto a clean surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes. Add the extra 2-3 tbsp of bread flour as needed to keep the dough soft but workable. Knead by Pushing the dough, turning and folding it in half. Repeating this for 10 minutes.
  • Once the dough has finished kneading, allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes.
  • Use a sharp knife or bench scraper to cut the dough into 8 equal sized pieces. (Cut the dough in half, then each half in half again and then once more)
  • Take each portion of dough and knead into a tight ball. Once in a ball, press your thumb into the center of the ball and gently squeeze and pull the dough while rotating it around your thumb to create the bagel shape. Place onto a parchment or silicone lined 3/4 cookie sheet (this is just a larger cookie sheet).
  • Repeat with the remaining dough.
  • Cover the cookie sheet with plastic wrap and allow the bagels to rise for 30 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 425°F once the bagels have risen for 30 minutes.
  • In a large pot, boil about 4 inches of water. Once the water is at a rolling boil, carefully drop the risen bagels into the boiling water one by one. You may have to do this in a few batches. Boil the bagels for about 1 minute, flip over to the other side and boil for an additional minute.
  • Using a large slotted spoon or spider strainer to remove the bagels and return to the lined cookie sheet.
  • Repeat with the remaining bagels. While the next batch of bagels are boiling, brush with the egg wash mixture and sprinkle the top with the everything bagel seasoning.
  • Once all of the bagels have boiled and are topped with everything bagel seasoning, bake in the 425° F oven for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Allow the bagels to cool for 10 minutes before cutting and enjoying.
  • Store in a zip top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 299kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 682mg | Potassium: 89mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 0.3g | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 0.003mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg
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About Karli Bitner

This blog is a little glimpse into my kitchen, family & life. I hope you’ll giggle the days away with me and enjoy the craziness that goes on at my house. If you are Cookie obsessed like I am, check out my Sister Site, Cookies for Days.

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5 from 10 votes (1 rating without comment)

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27 Comments

  1. Love all your recipes. I made these bagels for the second time. They turned out better than my first try. Husband loves them. Why are mine not smooth on top when baked. They’re a little like crinkly creepy looking. They tasted really good though.

    1. It may be that bagels are a little over-proofed before the boil – try reducing rise time just a bit and see if that helps. It could also be that you’re boiling slightly too long. Experiment with pulling the bagels out of the boiling water a little bit sooner and see if that helps.

  2. 5 stars
    These are insanely good. This was my first time making bagels and now I’m convinced I could open a bagel shop because of how good they are haha! I love how quick and easy they are. I will forever make my own bagels now.

  3. 5 stars
    I’ve tried making bagels a few times now, but every time I go to take the plastic off to boil them, the dough sticks to the plastic and the parchment paper and they go flatter than a piece of paper. Any tips on how to fix that?

  4. I just made the Everything Bagels today with my granddaughter. I think they would have come out great except during the resting stage they stuck to both the parchment paper and the saran wrap. We had to peel them off to put into the boiling water. We to spray the paper and saran wrap next time. Everything else about the recipe was great. She was happy with them so I am too!

    1. Super excited to this bagel recipe, thank you for sharing. Question: If I have barley malt should I use it in place of brown sugar? Other recipes that I have used in the past says to add malt to the water bath just as it’s boiling.
      Thank you, Nicole

      1. You absolutely can! The brown sugar asks as a more accessible substitute for the barley malt, so if you have it by all means use it!

  5. I’ve made these a bunch of times – always great! This time I experimented with a couple of changes
    1 – I made 12 bagels instead of 8 just to make them a little smaller/make more for friends
    2 – I did an overnight proof instead so I could have fresh ones in the morning. I did up to step 9, then placed the shaped bagels in the fridge overnight ~10 hours. In the morning I boiled them (did 45sec on each side because they are smaller) and baked as normal. They came out great! Much easier morning.

  6. 5 stars
    This was my first attempt at homemade bagels ah they did not disappoint! I did struggle to keep the shape as I moved the proofed ones to the water,for the most part they kept their shape,but some were just alittle funky,but practice makes perfect,thank you for the recipe!