The Best Homemade Soft and Chewy Bagels (Boiled or Steamed)

If you are looking for a really good homemade bagels recipe that is soft and chewy, you gotta try this recipe out. They can be boiled or steamed before baking the bagels. The bagels can be made with leftover yogurt whey too if you are looking for ideas to use up your yogurt whey from making Greek yogurt.

I know..I know..I’ve been on a baking spree almost every other day for real. Ever since my mom comes, I’ve been baking lots of bread, bagels, muffins, you name it. She likes homemade bread and alike! I love soft and chewy bagels and this recipe really does it for me. Nothing beats good homemade bagels like this.

My successes in making my own Instant Pot Greek yogurt don’t help much with baking more bread because I want to use up the leftover yogurt whey (the yellowish cloudy liquid) from straining Greek yogurt. It’s all good. No regrets! Read on people 😉 Using the acid whey gives the bagels a bit of that “tang” as if you are using buttermilk in the recipe.

Read this Easy Thick Creamy Instant Pot Greek Yogurt post for more ideas on using leftover yogurt whey.

Related Post: Easy Guang Bing / Foochow Bagel / Kompia (Oven or Air-Fryer)

The Best Homemade Soft and Chewy Bagels (Boiled or Steamed)

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 14 minutes mins

Proof the dough 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 59 minutes mins

Servings 8 large bagels

4.9 from 11 reviews

REVIEW & RATE PRINT

Ingredients

0.5x1x2x

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ 500 g bread flour plus more as needed
• ▢ 40 g sugar
• ▢ 9 g instant yeast
• ▢ 300 g water or liquid whey. Add more as needed. See notes
• ▢ 6 g fine sea salt
• ▢ 30 g cooking oil

For boiling bagels (option 1):

• ▢ 2 litre water
• ▢ 60 g honey or barley malt syrup

For boiling bagels (option 2):

• ▢ 2 litre water
• ▢ 20 g non-diastatic malt powder
• ▢ 15 g sugar

Egg wash: (optional- the topping sticks better)

• ▢ 1 egg beaten

Ideas for toppings:

• ▢ White sesame seeds
• ▢ Black sesame seeds
• ▢ poppy seeds
• ▢ coarse salt

Instructions

 

Make the dough:

• Place all ingredients in a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough-hook attachment. Knead the dough at low speed for 8 minutes. You may need to stop and reposition the dough several times.
  
• Knead until the dough is smooth and stretchy. Add more liquid if it's too dry or add more flour if it's too wet. Bagels dough are usually at a stiffer side compared to regular bread dough, but shouldn't feel dry
  

Do a windowpane test:

• Pinch off a small amount of dough and then slightly flatten and very gently try to stretch the dough. If it's stretched and light can go through the stretch, the dough is done kneading. If the dough tears when you stretch, you need to knead the dough a bit more in the mixer. A well-developed gluten will also produced chewier bagels
  

Proof the dough:

• Lightly oil the bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap coated with cooking spray and let it proof at a warm place until it doubles in size, about 1 hour or longer depending on the temperature.
  
• Once the dough is done proofing, preheat oven to 425 F (220 C) for conventional oven, 400 F (200 C) for convection oven
  

Two ways to shape the bagel:

• Method 1: Punch the dough down and divide into 8 equal pieces (roughly about 4 oz each).
  
• Pat the dough out into a 1/4-inch thick rectangle and starting from the long end, roll up into a tight log and then roll back and forth to lengthen the dough into about 14 inches long
  
• Hold 1 end of the log in your palm and then loop the other end around your hand, overlapping by about 2 inches.
  
• Press and roll onto the work surface to seal. This is important or your bagel will "unroll" when you boil them later.
  
• Reposition the bagel so the seams side is on the bottom of the dough is evenly distributed in a circle. Repeat with the remaining dough
  
• Method 2 (lazy method-I prefer this method): Punch the dough down and divide into 8 equal pieces (roughly about 4 oz each). Pat the dough with your palm and then pull the edge towards center to form a dough ball. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
  
• Use a chopstick or your thumb to punch through the middle of the dough to make a hole and gently stretch it to resemble a bagel. Repeat with the remaining dough balls
  

Rest the bagels:

• Lined a large baking pan with a parchment paper. Lightly oiled the surface and place the shaped bagels on top and let them rest for 15-20 minutes at a warm place while you prepare the water bath or the steamer
  

Option 1: Boil the bagels:

• Bring about 2 quarts of water to a boil in a shallow pot, at least about 1 1/2-inch deep. Add honey for option 1 or non-diastatic malt powder and sugar if doing option 2. This helps to brown the bagels nicely when you bake them.
  
• I lightly oiled my fingers and then gently pick up the bagel and lower it to the boiling water. Boil 2-3 bagels at a time (they expand) for about 60 seconds on each side. If you like the bagels really chewy, boil for 2 minutes on each side.
  
• Remove the bagels with a slotted spoon and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, seam sides down.
  
• Sprinkle the wet bagels with desired toppings immediately so they stick to the bagels. If you wish to do the egg wash, follow the instruction on how to do the egg wash below
  

Option 2 : Steam the bagels

• Bring the water in a steamer to a boil over high heat. Wrap the lid with a cloth to prevent water condensation dripping back to the bagels creating “burn” spots. Line the steamer with a parchment paper or silicone mat. Lower the heat to medium and steam for about 2 minutes. Remove the bagels from the steamer and place it back on a baking sheet. If you want to add toppings, proceed to the egg wash step, otherwise, proceed to baking step
  

If you choose to do egg wash:

• Brush the bagel with egg wash and then sprinkle with toppings. I prefer this method now because the toppings do not come off after baking
  

Baking:

• Baked in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown

Cooling:

• Remove from the oven and let them cool on a cooling rack

RECOMMEDED TOOLS

digital kitchen scale

Kitchen Aid Standmixer

Baking sheets

Marv’s Recipe Notes

Depending on humidity and the flour you use, you may need to add more liquid, but start with the amount stated on the recipe.

Recipe is adapted from allrecipes with some modifications

*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*

Nutrition Facts

The Best Homemade Soft and Chewy Bagels (Boiled or Steamed)

Serving Size

 

1 plain bagel no topping

Amount per Serving

Calories

321

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

5

g

8

%

Saturated Fat

 

1

g

6

%

Trans Fat

 

0.02

g

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

2

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

3

g

Cholesterol

 

23

mg

8

%

Sodium

 

329

mg

14

%

Potassium

 

86

mg

2

%

Carbohydrates

 

59

g

20

%

Fiber

 

2

g

8

%

Sugar

 

13

g

14

%

Protein

 

9

g

18

%

Vitamin A

 

35

IU

1

%

Vitamin C

 

0.04

mg

0

%

Calcium

 

30

mg

3

%

Iron

 

1

mg

6

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Did you make this recipe?Let me know how you like this recipe and consider rating it! Tag me @whattocooktoday I’d love to see your photos/videos on Instagram

TO BOIL OR STEAM THE BAGELS BEFORE BAKING

When you boil the bagels before baking, it gives the bagels a nice chewy texture that most people like in bagels. A friend asked me about steaming the bagels instead of boiling before baking and I was intrigued to try it out. Here’s what I’ve noticed:
Boiled bagels are more “wrinkly” compared to the steamed bagels.After baking, the steamed bagels have more shines and smoother too.

Taste and texture-wise, the steamed bagels seems chewier compared to the boiled version, but that could be because I didn’t boil mine for too long, only about 20-30 seconds. The boiled bagels seem to expand a bit bigger than the steamed bagels.

If you want shinier and smoother bagels, try steaming them instead of boiling. Actually, steaming the bagels makes them even chewier (if that’s what you like)

USEFUL TIPS TO MAKE GOOD SOFT CHEWY BAGELS

1. USE BREAD FLOUR
Bread flour is high in gluten and it is highly recommended to make bread and bagels. It gives you a nice chewy texture.
2. GOOD KNEADING
I recommend using a stand mixer with a dough hook to knead the dough. I feel like it’s a lot of work trying to knead the dough to a windowpane stage manually by hand.
3. BOIL OR STEAM THE BAGEL
-Boiling/steaming the bagels will give you a nice chewy outer crust. Steaming seems to produce a chewier bagel
-Steaming the bagels gives the bagel that nice shine to the bagels. Steaming makes the bagels less “wrinkle”
-Boiling/steaming the bagels also helps to maintain the bagel’s shape when you bake them.

MAKE-AHEAD BAGELS (FREEZE NOW, BAKE LATER)

1. Follow the recipe directions below until boiling/steaming the bagels
2. Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper. Place the boiled/steamed bagels on top, not touching each other and freeze until firm, about 1 hour, it won’t be completely frozen yet
3. Transfer to a freezer-safe bag and they can be kept frozen for up to 2 months
4. When ready to bake, thaw bagel in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper inside the refrigerator the day before you plan to bake, about 24 hours
5. On the day of baking, remove from the fridge and let stand for about 15 minutes and then add sprinkle and bake as directed in the recipe card.

HOW TO STORE HOMEMADE BAGELS

Make sure the bagels have completely cooled down before you store them with any of the methods below.
ROOM TEMPERATURE: Store them in an air-tight container or individually wrap them with cling wrap and put in the bread box if you have one and they can be kept for about 3 days.
REFRIGERATOR: Wrap them individually and can be kept in the fridge for up to one week.
FREEZER: Keep them in a freezer bag and they can be kept for 3 months.

HOW TO REHEAT FROZEN BAGELS

You don’t need to thaw the bagels. Turn on oven to 400 F. Lightly wet the bagels with some water. Wrap the bagel in a foil, with a small vent, place the frozen bagels on a baking sheet and put inside the cold oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. This time is just a guide, it depends on your oven. You need to experiment with the time. You will have a fresh bagel with a crispy crust.

These bagels are chewy and have that subtle sweetness that everyone loves in a really good bagel. The family highly approves of this bagel. You gotta try it out for sure!

DID YOU MAKE THIS HOMEMADE SOFT CHEWY BAGEL RECIPE?

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