Whole Wheat Bagels

I've been wanting to get my bagel recipe perfected. I have several recipes I've used at various times. Some use a pre-ferment stretching the process out to two days. Other recipes were mostly white flour and I wanted to use whole grains.

I've been making bagels every Saturday for the past couple weeks and think I have it down perfect. At least, Ed says these are good enough to continue as a Saturday tradition! He is one person (and my children count for four more) that isn't complaining about my baking binges!


You can use white flour if you prefer. You'll probably use slightly more than five cups of flour if using white flour.

Bagel dough is just a basic bread dough which contains no fat and is rather stiff. The uniqueness of a bagel is placing them in boiling water before baking. This stops some of the yeast action which makes for the chewy texture that we love in a bagel.

I've almost completely stopped using extra gluten in bread doughs but I do still add a little to bagels. But it is optional. 

We like to split the bagels, butter them and place on a baking sheet under the broiler for a few minutes. It is a fast way to toast bagels for the whole family. Add cream cheese and you have a yummy breakfast! We also love bagels as the base of an egg, ham and cheese sandwich. Mmmm!


Whole Wheat Bagels


2 1/4 cup warm water
2 T honey
2 tsp yeast
5 cups flour
1 T vital gluten (optional)
2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes. Mix dough, adding more flour if needed. The dough should be easy to handle and not too sticky. Knead for 10 minutes.

Place dough in a greased bowl and allow to raise until double (about an hour). An alternate method is to place the dough in a covered bowl in the refrigerate overnight. This helps develop the flavor of the dough - plus makes less work on the day you plan to bake.

After the dough is risen, (or when you take it from the refrigerator) divide in 12 balls (or smaller if you wish) You may also add any additional ingredients at this time such raisins and cinnamon. (more information at the bottom)

I form bagels by rolling the dough in a smooth ball then pushing my fingers through the center and stretching. The center hole will need to be rather large since when the bagel rises, the hole will decrease.


Cover the bagels with plastic wrap or a damp towel and allow to rest for about 20 minutes. If the dough is cold, it may take slightly longer. You don't want them to over rise. To test if the bagels are ready, drop a bagel in a bowl of cold water. They are ready to bake when the bagel floats. There is no need to test them all. When one bagel "floats" they are all ready.


While the bagels rest, prepare your boiling water. In a large pan, place about 2 quart of water and 1 T baking soda. Bring the water to boil. Drop your bagels in the boiling water. Depending on the size of pan, you can boil several bagels at a time. They should immediately float. Boil for one minute. About half way through, I turn the bagels over.

Remove bagels from water and place on a baking sheet. Bagels are notorious for sticking to the pan. I like to use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. If you have neither, grease the pan well. They won't rise much in the oven, so you can place the bagels close together.


If you wish, sprinkle bagels with sesame seeds or poppy seeds before baking. You also may brush with a beaten egg white for a shiny look, though I usually don't. Bake bagels at 450 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

For cinnamon raisin bagels - For one batch of bagels, use 1 cup of raisins and 1 tsp of cinnamon. I usually divide the dough in half and only add 1/2 cup of raisins to half the batch. After raising the first time, I roll the dough out thinly and sprinkle on the raisins and cinnamon. Roll up tightly and knead briefly to incorporate the raisins. Divide and shape into bagels and proceed according to the recipe. Some of the raisins will fall out of the bagels as you boil them but I have found if raisins are not falling out, I haven't added enough raisins!

After baking, a yummy touch is to brush the bagels with butter and dip the tops in cinnamon sugar. It dries into a yummy crust - but it is also messy so I don't often take the time for this step and it is still good!


Hope you try them! Right now, this is my favorite recipe on this blog - and that is saying a lot since I have shared LOTS of favorite recipes!