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Garlic Parmesan Bagels pack the perfect punch of flavor, without being too in your face. Go ahead and bookmark this recipe – it’s about to revolutionize the way you feel about bagels.

A garlic parm bagel on a small plate with additional bagels scattered around.

These Garlic Parmesan Bagels Hit the Spot

Savory in all of the right ways, these homemade Garlic Parmesan Bagels are a fantastic addition to your breakfast (or lunch) rotation. Here’s why we love them: 

  • Parmesan Garlic Bagels are appropriate for any meal. They’re amazing on their own, topped with an egg at breakfast, turned into a sandwich for lunch or doctored into a pizza for dinner.
  • They’re astonishingly quick and easy to make! Don’t let the idea of making bagels from scratch scare you off – from start to finish, you can be sinking your teeth into these in 1.5 hours (including rise time!). 
  • The garlic + parmesan combo is *amore.* Aka, it is subtle enough that you don’t have to stress about your breath all day without compromising on flavor. 
A pile of garlic parmesan bagels with a block of parm cheese.

What You’ll Need to Make Homemade Bagels with Garlic + Parmesan

  • Warm water – The temperature of your water can make or break the activity of your yeast! Aiming for a temp between 105° F- 113° F will help your yeast get nice and bubbly. 
  • Dry active yeast
  • Brown sugar – This replaces a common (and difficult to acquire) bagel ingredient in a smashing way. 
  • Bread flour – Regretfully, you do need the bread flour here. All-purpose will not yield soft & tender bagels. 
  • Salt
  • Dried minced garlic – Hello, star of the show! I just grabbed this from the spice aisle of my local grocery store. 
  • Dried parsley
  • Shredded parmesan cheese – We want actual shredded cheese here. Please don’t use the bottled powdered kind.
A pile of homemade bagels with garlic and parmesan. One bagel is ripped in half and stacked.

How to Make Homemade 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, salt, minced garlic, parsley and 1/2 cup of the shredded parmesan cheese. Stir to combine.
  3. Once your yeast mixture is bubbly and foamy, add the yeast 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 in a bit of extra flour to keep the dough workable but soft.
  5. If mixing by hand, stir 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 for 10 minutes.
  6. Once you are finished kneading, allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes.

Shaping and Baking Bagels

  1. 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).
  2. Shape your bagels by taking each portion of dough and kneading it 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).
  3. Repeat with the remaining dough.
  4. Cover the cookie sheet with plastic wrap and allow the bagels to rise for 20-30 minutes.
  5. Preheat the oven to 425°F once the bagels have risen.
  6. 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.
  7. Using a large slotted spoon or spider strainer, remove the bagels and return to the lined cookie sheet.
  8. Repeat with the remaining bagels. While the next batch of bagels are boiling, top the boiled bagels with shredded cheese.
  9. Once all of the bagels have boiled and are topped with shredded cheese, bake in the 425° F oven for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.
  10. Allow the bagels to cool for 10 minutes before cutting and enjoying.
  11. Store in a zip top bag in the fridge for up to 4 days. Enjoy!
A garlic parmesan bagel on a square of parchment paper on the counter.

Why isn’t my yeast activating?

If your yeast is not bubbly and foamy after a few minutes, it is not active and will not cause your bagels to rise. 

There are a few reasons why your yeast may not have activated. 

  1. The water temperature was off. If your water is too cold or too hot, your yeast will not rise. Target water that is between 105° F- 113° F for happy yeast. 
  2. Your yeast may be old! 

In either of these scenarios, toss the flat yeast mixture out and try again.

Homemade Bagel Tips

There are a couple of things that make baking homemade bagels much easier! First, I recommend grabbing an extra large cookie sheet + silicone mat so you can bake all of your bagels at once. Necessary? No. But highly convenient. Second, this spider strainer is a must for boiling your bagels. A slotted spoon will get the job done, but this spider will allow the water to drip off of the bagels so much easier & quicker.

Aerial view of homemade garlic parmesan bagels on the counter. The bagel in the middle is on a small plate. Across the top it says "garlic parm bagel recipe"

Obsessed with Bagels?

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5 from 1 vote

Garlic Parmesan Bagel

Garlic Parmesan Bagels pack the perfect punch of flavor, without being too in your face. Go ahead and bookmark this recipe – it’s about to revolutionize the way you feel about bagels.
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Rise Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 8 bagels

Ingredients

  • 2 cups warm water (105° F- 113° F)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp dry active yeast
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 4 1/2 cups bread flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried minced garlic
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded parmesan cheese, divided

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, salt, minced garlic, parsley and 1/2 cup of the shredded parmesan cheese. Stir to combine.
  • Once your yeast mixture is bubbly and foamy, add the yeast to the dry ingredients.
  • If using a stand mixer, use the dough hook and knead for 10 minutes, you will most likely need to add in a bit of extra flour to keep the dough workable but soft.
  • If mixing by hand, stir 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 for 10 minutes.
  • Once you are 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).
  • Shape your bagels by taking each portion of dough and kneading it 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 20-30 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 425°F once the bagels have risen.
  • 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, remove the bagels and return to the lined cookie sheet.
  • Repeat with the remaining bagels. While the next batch of bagels are boiling, top the boiled bagels with shredded cheese.
  • Once all of the bagels have boiled and are topped with shredded cheese, 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 in the fridge for up to 4 days. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 262kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 584mg | Potassium: 80mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | 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 1 vote

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2 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    yeast should be 1.5 tsp not tbsp.

    Bagel purists will scoff, but these are as good as you’ll get at your local grocery store bakery.

    The last recipe i tried used an 18 hour raise time! These are as good and made them in an hour.

    1. Hi Dan! I do recommend 1.5 Tbsp of yeast for this recipe. I’m glad you liked these bagels – I also love the quick rise time!