Whole Wheat Bagels

In our house we love bagels, but we're too cheap to buy them often. So one day I set out to learn how to make them. I have made them several times since and we LOVE them! I usually just leave them plain because we prefer them that way, but this time I dipped some in an "Everything" mixture, and some in poppy seeds. They were all good, but we are plain jane here and will probably just stick to plain in the future. I am a big fan of Allrecipes, and this is another recipe I adapted from that site; orignal can be found here.

In this picture I coated my "Everything" and my Poppy Seed bagels with a tad too much topping, so this picture is a good example of over-coating your bagels ;).

Plain, Everything, Poppy Seed

Whole Wheat Bagels

2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 1/2 cups bread flour OR all purpose flour if you add the gluten below
2 Tbs Wheat Gluten (if you used AP flour, leave off if you used bread flour)
2 Tbs white sugar
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 Tbs salt

1 Tbs white sugar
Boiling water


In large bowl, dissolve yeast and 2 Tbs sugar in warm water to soften and let proof for about 10 minutes. Add oil, wheat flour, 2 1/2 cups white flour, and salt. Mix thoroughly, adding more white flour as needed until the dough forms a ball and leaves the sides of the bowl.

Turn dough out on floured board and knead, adding small amounts of flour as necessary. Bagel dough should be pretty stiff. Work in as much extra flour as you can comfortably knead. Knead until smooth and elastic, 12-15 minutes.

Roll the dough into a ball, place it in a large oiled bowl, and turn to coat. Cover and let fully rise until an impression made with your finger remains and does not sink into the dough (about an hour).

Punch down and separate into three equal sized balls of dough. Divide each ball into 4 equal pieces. With each small ball of dough make a perfect ball and poke a hole in the center with your finger. Use both hands to gently stretch the hole in the middle of the bagel until it's about 2 inches across. The bagels will puff, making the hole shrink a lot so make the hole bigger than you would think.

Evenly place the bagels on 2 nonstick baking pans or lightly oiled baking sheets. Cover and let stand until puffy, about 20 minutes.

While bagels are rising, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Now fill a large saucepan 2/3 full with water, and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling add 1 Tbs sugar. When ready to cook, drop 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the boiling water. Boil for about 20-30 seconds on each side.

Carefully lift each bagel out with a slotted spoon or skimmer. Drain momentarily on a dish towel. Turn into a dish with topping, if desired (see my topping recipe below). Evenly space bagels on 2 nonstick baking pans or lightly oiled baking sheets.

Bake in a preheated 425 degree F oven until well-browned, about 20 minutes. If desired, turn bagels once after about 10 minutes to evenly brown both sides, though I only did this the first time and found it to really be unnecessary.

Eat immediately or store in a ziploc bag on your counter for up to a week. You can slice and freeze them to have an easy, quick snack to pop into the toaster at anytime!

Here is what I had on hand to make my "Everything" Bagel topping, you can add and substitute ingredients according to taste and what you have in your cupboard!

"Everything" Bagel Topping
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp dried minced onion
2 tsp poppy seeds
2 tsp flax seeds
1/2 tsp sea salt (or any large granule salt)