• Home
  • Cooking
  • Frugal Living
  • Home Management
  • Homeschooling
  • Real Life

The Happy Housewife™ :: Cooking

Where Martha Meets Real Life

  • Menu Plan
  • Recipes
  • Meal Planning
  • Food
    • Food Talk
    • Real Food
  • Kitchen
    • Kitchen Tips
    • My Kitchen
  • Archives

Homemade Bagels

by Toni Herrbach

  • Share
  • Pin
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

homemade bagels

Homemade bagels are easy to make and delicious. I put off making them for 3 years and when I finally started making them, I couldn’t believe how much better they tasted!

We love bagels at our house, my kids would eat them all day if they could. When I realized how easy, healthy and inexpensive making homemade bagels was, I was sold!

When I shared that I was making bagels every week I received many questions on how to make bagels. Hopefully, this post will answer those questions.

The cost of making homemade bagels is under $2 for 13 large bagels. Compare that with the supermarket prices or Panera, and you can see that making your own is a great deal.

This is a modified version of the recipe from the Bread Becker’s Recipe Collection.

Print Recipe

Homemade Bagels

Author: Toni Anderson

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cup warm water
  • 2 tablespoon honey
  • 2 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 5 cups flour you can use all white, half white/half wheat, or all whole wheat
  • 1 tablespoon gluten
  • 2 teaspoon instant yeast

Instructions

  • Combine water, honey, and salt.
  • Add part of the flour, yeast and gluten, mix well.
  • Continue to add flour until you have a slightly sticky dough, kneed for about 10 minutes.
  • Let dough rise until it has doubled.
  • This is the time to add any extras if you so desire. You can mix in onions (for onion bagels), assorted seeds or nuts, cinnamon and sugar, it is up to you. I kept these bagels plain for the pictures.
  • After the dough has risen (and you've added your extras if you want), divide into 11-13 balls. I can usually get 13 bagels out of this recipe, but today I only got 12.
  • After you have divided your dough, take the balls and put your thumbs through the middle of the ball. You will make the bagel shape by doing this. You need to work the hole to a pretty large diameter (almost 2 inches) because the hole will shrink when they rise.
  • Allow the bagels to rest (covered) for 20 minutes. It is best if you watch the time on this. You won’t ruin your bagels if they rest for 25 or 30 minutes, but 20 minutes is ideal.
  • While the bagels are resting, start boiling a pot of water on the stove.
  • Add honey or sugar (about 1/3 cup) to the water (I have no idea why you do this but every recipe I have tried recommends this step).
  • After the bagels have rested and your water is boiling drop the bagels (one or two at a time depending on how big your pot is) into the boiling water.
  • Boil for one minute. Let me repeat this, boil for one minute. Do not over boil. Your bagels will fall apart. You can under boil them, but do not over boil.
  • After a minute remove from the water with a slotted spoon and place on greased cookie sheet.
  • After the bagels are boiled you can brush them with an egg wash (one egg white and about 3 Tbs of water) but it isn’t required. The egg wash gives the bagels that shiny look. These bagels were not brushed with egg.
  • Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes. You can flip them if you think they are getting too brown on the bottom, but they won’t be as pretty.

Homemade Bagels at The Happy Housewife

More Homemade Bread Recipes to Try:

  • Homemade English Muffins
  • Homemade Sweet Cornbread (Whole Wheat)
  • Homemade Sweet Whole Wheat Bread
  • Homemade Tortillas
  • Homemade Whole Wheat French Bread Rolls
  • Homemade Yeast Cinnamon Rolls

See all of The Happy Housewife recipes here.

Comments | 37 comments

« Paleo Fish Tacos with Spicy Cabbage Slaw
Crispy Baked French Fries »

Comments

  1. Joy says

    at

    Ignorance speaking here. Do you use the KitchenAid mixer to knead the dough?

    Reply
  2. The Lazy Organizer says

    at

    I’ve had bagels on my to-do list for years. Thanks for making it look so easy! We love bagels and I hate paying for them. I wonder if they would work with my sour dough starter.

    Reply
  3. BarbaraLee Malikowski says

    at

    Dd and I like the french tst flavored ones. I wonder how you could make them taste that way? What is gluten?

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      at

      I think you’d just add cinnamon to your flour and vanilla to your wet ingredients.

      Gluten is the part of wheat that allows dough to get stretchy. You can also buy gluten as a separate ingredient to boost the elasticity of your dough recipes.

      Reply
  4. rachel says

    at

    I just wanted to add that i also make bagels from “scratch” but i use my bread machine to mix/knead & complete the first rise. The cookbook that came along with it years ago includes a bagel dough recipe. Then i just take the dough out, divide, roll into a ball, & make a hole. Then while they are on the baking sheet, they rise again for 30 min before the boil/bake process. I agree that they are very yummy & they get gone fast around here. The convenience of the bread machine is great because it can get the “long” part of the process done for me while i am cooking dinner & be waiting for me to afterwards! If i can do it, anyone can because i am NO BETTY CROCKER!

    Reply
  5. rachel says

    at

    I forgot to add one more thing….
    My sister & I also save money by making batches of muffins, waffles, & pancakes & freezing them to use throughout the weeks. It is a great time & money saver & so easy to pop the muffin in the microwave for 10 secs for breakfast or the waffles/pancakes into the toaster like a regular ‘eggo’ waffle. They are quick, cheap, easy, & best of all- Yummy!

    Reply
    • Jen says

      at

      How do you freeze your waffles? Mine turn out flat.

      Reply
      • danette says

        at

        you dont cook your waffles all the way, just till they start getting a little color. Let them cool completly and then freeze. When you are ready for them just put in toaster.

        Reply
  6. Suezque says

    at

    Yum! I am glad I stumbled onto your site here! I LOVE bagels, but can’t find “healthy” ones. Now I can make them at home to suit my needs! And fresh too! MMM!!! Thanks! 🙂

    Reply
  7. The Lazy Organizer says

    at

    I had to come back and tell you that I made these today. I used my sour dough starter instead of yeast. It worked and they were amazing! I can tell we are going to be making these every week. Thanks again for the great instructions!

    Reply
  8. The Lazy Organizer says

    at

    Toni, I haven’t posted any of my new recipes yet but i will. I have been learning about using sour dough at Breadtopia. It is so much healthier than regular quickrise breads using yeast so I’m trying to use it with everything I bake.

    You can try making your own starter but it may not work so it’s best to get a start from someone who already has some or you can order one from Breadtopia. I got mine from a friend. Let me know if you get one and I can tell you more about how I use it.

    Reply
  9. Becky says

    at

    I’ve always wanted to try bagels, and now I can! I’m going to try it tomorrow! Thanks!

    Reply
  10. Lisa @ Crazy Adventures in Parenting says

    at

    Can you do this without gluten? I was planning on making these and *just now* realized it calls for this, and I don’t have it?

    Reply
  11. Beth Ann says

    at

    Just a question…I’ve never been a big bread maker. Can I make this without a mixer and knead with my hands?

    Reply
    • TheHappyHousewife says

      at

      Yes, you can knead with your hands.
      Toni

      Reply
  12. Jen H says

    at

    Made my first attempt to make bagels tonight and it didn’t go very well. My dough didn’t rise to double the size. I used RapidRise yeast and I don’t know if that made a difference or not…and I didn’t have any gluten?? Do you need to use bread flour or would unbleached white whole wheat flour work? I may not have given it enough time (waited about 1 hr). Any suggestions? I plan to try it again over the weekend.

    Reply
    • TheHappyHousewife says

      at

      Hmmm, I would try bread flour, gluten and maybe letting it rise a little longer. You could also try kneading the dough a little longer to work the yeast into the flour. You might also try half white/ half whole wheat. Dough is so weird, it varies depending on temperature, humidity, type of yeast… etc…. Keep trying, I am sure you will have success.
      Toni

      Reply
  13. Rachel says

    at

    Yummy! Thanks for the recipe! My kids eat a lot of bagels too! We’ll have to try these.

    Reply
  14. Tara says

    at

    Thanks for recipe! Can’t wait to try it!

    Reply
  15. Lori M. says

    at

    These look yummy! Where would I find gluten in the grocery? Would this be in the baking aisle? And how does it come? In a box, bag, jar?? I have no clue 😉

    Reply
    • TheHappyHousewife says

      at

      It is usually in the baking aisle and it comes in a small box about the size of a paperback book.
      Toni

      Reply
  16. Mayra says

    at

    Ohh this was a mess for me…..but it was my fault! I’m new in baking and I’m sure that I did not knead enough and did not let it rise correctly. Anyway I went the whole way and baked them….there were not bad completely…a little bit hard but with good flavor. I need either a goid mixer or a good bread making machine. I’ll let you know the results.

    Reply
  17. Rachel says

    at

    Yum! love them! two thumbs up!

    Reply
  18. Denna says

    at

    So we want to try these but have a gluten-free kiddo and no sodium adult…Is there any possible way to still make these???
    thanks in advance

    Reply
    • Janet says

      at

      You need the sodium as it keeps the yeast from getting out of control, Gluten is a protein that helps control the rise of the product you are baking. If you want bagels don’t give them to the sodium restricted adult. Don’t give the kiddo with the gluten-free problem. Sorry.

      Reply
  19. Anne Marie says

    at

    I love homemade bagels. I make them a little small to cut calories. They’re so much better than the kind at the grocery store and the house smells wonderful.

    Reply
  20. Beth D says

    at

    can you add blueberries or other things to these bagels???

    Reply
  21. Rebekah says

    at

    Definitely going to try these! Just Pinned them..thanks!!

    Reply
  22. Sophie says

    at

    I made these today and they turned out great! Thanks for making me feel like I could actually do it! In addition to these, I did Baked Oatmeal, the Cinnamon Brown Sugar Muffins and some Pumpkin muffins. I think these bagels will get added to my weekly list.

    Reply
  23. Heidi says

    at

    Do you think these would freeze well?

    Reply
  24. Trezabek says

    at

    I can’t wait to try the homemade bagels. Do you have to use gluten? One of my kids has a gluten allergy.

    Reply
  25. Amber says

    at

    I just stepped out of my old bagel recipe and tried this recipe. I omitted the gluten simply because I was out of it at the moment, and this is our new favorite bagel recipe. We made plain ones as we always do with a first time recipe, but will be making additions in the next batch… Thank you for sharing your bagel magik.

    Reply
  26. Daisha says

    at

    Do you flip the bagels over when you boil them?

    Reply
    • Toni Anderson says

      at

      You can, but it isn’t necessary.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Thirteen Delicious Blogger-Tested Recipes [Fifth Edition] « Five J’s says:
    at

    […] Homemade Bagels. This is another great recipe from Toni. Check out her post for step-by-step pictures for this […]

    Reply
  2. Batch Cooking Update « The Dutton Summit says:
    at

    […] Bagels […]

    Reply
  3. Bulk Cooking Day is Back « The Dutton Summit says:
    at

    […] Apple Pies Whole Wheat Tortillas Blueberry Crumb Muffins Butterhorns Whole Wheat Waffles Whole Wheat Bagels Lazy Granola Green Cakes Cream of Mushroom Soup x 4 Cut up all onions – store in 1/2 cup […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




STAY UPDATED!

Get every article delivered to your inbox!

CONNECT WITH ME

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Get a FREE Trial

Simplify your busy life with eMeals

Latest Posts

  • How to Cut Warm Brownies – So they don’t fall apart
  • Reconstituting Frozen Mashed Potatoes
  • Easy Black Bean Soup
  • Hot Chocolate Mix
  • Crockpot Beef Tips Sliders
  • Can You Freeze Pumpkin?
  • Homemade English Muffins

Save on Groceries!

Print Free Coupons

Favorite Recipes

  • Apple Butter Stuffed French Toast
  • Butternut Squash Soup
  • Cranberry Cheese Ball
  • Gluten Free Zucchini Bread
  • Meatloaf Cupcakes
  • Roasted Almonds with Pumpkin Pie Spice & Honey
  • Whole Chicken in a Slow Cooker

STAY UPDATED!

Get every article delivered to your inbox!

FEATURED

Pantry inventory worksheets

Frugal Pantry Inventory Check List

5 Simple ways to menu plan

5 Simple Ways to Menu Plan

CONNECT WITH ME

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

CATEGORIES

ARCHIVES

Copyright © 2025 · Tasteful theme by Restored 316

Privacy Policy

HOME | CONTACT | ADVERTISING & PR | DISCLOSURE | PRIVACY POLICY

© 2025 – TheHappyHousewife.com. All rights reserved. | Design by Joy @ Five J's Design | Site maintenance by Klong Designs