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2024 is my year of bagels and I’m going to be honest – I don’t know if I’ll ever top these ultra fun & yummy rainbow bagels.
These Rainbow Bagels are SO fun!
I have never had more fun making (or eating) a bagel than I did with these rainbow bagels. The perfect happy, fun way to start the day, these ultra colorful bagels are sure to make you smile with their appearance alone. But then when you take a bite?? You’re going to be grinning from ear to ear all day.
Everything is better when it is rainbow (like these rainbow donuts), but these bagels? They have a plain bagel flavor making them the perfect base for anything you’d like to make. If you’re wondering if I frosted a few just to test it out, you’d be right (and they were DELISH)!
The trick to making these homemade colored bagels is to COLOR THE YEAST WATER. I know it seems counterintuitive and I know you think it would be easier to color the dough once it’s made. It’s not. I tried it that way and kneaded for *over an hour* and the dough turned out so ugly. But when you color the yeast water you get the prettiest colors and the finished bagels are gorgeous and so fun.
Homemade Bagel Ingredients
- Warm water (105° F- 113° F)
- Dry active yeast – You can use instant yeast here, if you’d like.
- Brown sugar – This is a great (and more accessible) substitute to barley malt that is found in commercial bagels.
- Bread flour + extra as needed
- Salt
- Food Coloring – You’ll want 4 different colors!
How to Make Rainbow Bagels
- In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup of warm water, 1 heaping tsp dry active yeast, 1 scant tsp of brown sugar and 5-6 drops of the food coloring color of your choice. Stir and allow the mixture to sit while the yeast activates.
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 cup of bread flour and 1/2 tsp of salt.
- Once the yeast mixture is foamy and bubbly, add yeast to the flour mixture.
- If using a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and knead for 10 minutes, adding up to an additional 3 tablespoons of flour as needed to keep the dough soft yet workable.
- If kneading by hand, mix the wet and dry ingredients until a rough dough forms. Turn out the dough onto a clean surface and knead by hand for about 10 minutes, using a push, turn, and fold technique. Add an extra 2-3 tablespoons of bread flour as necessary. (You may want to wear gloves if kneading by hand. 🙂 )
- Remove the dough and cover to keep the dough from drying out.
- Repeat steps 1-5 three additional times until you have a total of four different colors of dough.
Shaping your bagels
8.Once you have 4 different colors of dough, shape each color into a long, flat rectangle. Stack the colors on top of each other. Cut the rectangle in half and then stack on top each other, giving us double the layers.
9. Cut the Rectangle into 8 equal strips.
10. Working with one strip at a time, twist and pull the dough long while wrapping the dough around your hand. Roll the dough onto the counter while still around your hand to help seal the ends together.
11. Place on a parchment or silicone lined large cookie sheet.
12. Repeat with the remaining portions of dough.
13. Cover and allow the bagels to rise for 30 minutes.
14. In a large pot, bring about 4 inches of water to a rolling boil.
15. Preheat the oven to 425° F.
16. Boil each bagel for about 1 minute on each side and then place back on the prepared baking sheet.
17. Once all of the bagels have been boiled, bake at 425° F for 15-17 minutes.
18. Allow the bagels to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting for easier handling.
19. Top with your favorite cream cheese and enjoy!
Rainbow Bagels FAQs
Store your bagels in an airtight zip lock bag at room temperature for up to 3 days (and honestly, a little bit longer).
I love to try different flavors of cream cheese and if I’m being honest, I put frosting in these fun rainbow bagels once. But if you’re not feeling quite that adventurous, you can try your hand at breakfast or lunch bagel sandwiches – they’re killer.
More Homemade Bagels
Rainbow Bagels
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup warm water (105° F- 113° F), (We will use this measurement 4 times so you’ll need a total of 2 cups of water)
- 1 heaping tsp dry active yeast , (We will use this measurement 4 times so you’ll need a total of 1 1/2 tbsp of yeast.)
- 1 scant tsp brown sugar , (We will use this measurement 4 times so you’ll need a total of 1 tbsp of brown sugar.)
- 1 cup bread flour + extra as needed , (We will use this measurement 4 times so you'll need a total of 4 1/2 cups of bread flour)
- 1/2 tsp salt , (We will use this measurement 4 times so you’ll need a total of 2 tsp of salt.)
- 4 colors food coloring
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup of warm water, 1 heaping tsp dry active yeast, 1 scant tsp of brown sugar and 5-6 drops of the food coloring color of your choice. Stir and allow the mixture sit while the yeast activates.
- In a larger bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 cup of bread flour and 1/2 tsp of salt.
- Once the yeast mixture is foamy and bubbly, add it to the flour mixture
- If using a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and knead for 10 minutes, adding up to an additional 3 tablespoons of flour as needed to keep the dough soft yet workable.
- If kneading by hand, mix the wet and dry ingredients until a rough dough forms. Turn out the dough onto a clean surface and knead by hand for about 10 minutes, using a push, turn, and fold technique. Add an extra 2-3 tablespoons of bread flour as necessary. (You may want to wear gloves if kneading by hand. 🙂 )
- Remove the dough and cover to keep the dough from drying out.
- Repeat steps 1-5 three additional times until you have a total of four different colors of dough.
- Once you have 4 different colors of dough, shape each color into a long, flat rectangle. Stack the colors on top of each other. Cut the rectangle in half and then stack on top each other, giving us double the layers.
- Cut the Rectangle into 8 equal strips.
- Working with one strip at a time, twist and pull the dough long while wrapping the dough around your hand. Roll the dough onto the counter while still around your hand to help seal the ends together.
- Place on a parchment or silicone lined large cookie sheet.
- Repeat with the remaining portions of dough.
- Cover and allow the bagels to rise for 30 minutes.
- In a large pot, bring about 4 inches of water to a rolling boil.
- Preheat the oven to 425° F.
- Boil each bagel for about 1 minute on each side and then place back on the prepared baking sheet.
- Once all of the bagels have been boiled, bake at 425° F for 15-17 minutes.
- Allow the bagels to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting for easier handling.
- Top with your favorite cream cheese and enjoy!
