I used to think making bagels was. . . hard. Complicated. Took all day. I wanted something that tasted amazing, but didn’t require a ton of time in the kitchen. After fiddling around with plain bagels, we were blown away by how much better they tasted than store-bought ones. A few more tries, critiquing and some spices, and these sourdough discard cinnamon raisin bagels are something you’ll always find around here. Why? They’re delicious, of course. But I love how they use up quite a bit of sourdough discard, and can be made in under 3-4 hours. Most of that time is rising time for the dough, so you aren’t really revolving around bagel-making day.
What ingredients will I need for sourdough discard cinnamon raisin bagels?
Keep in mind that we are using instant yeast because the sourdough discard does not have the capability of leavening anything.
- All-purpose flour
- Warm water
- Sourdough discard
- Instant Yeast
- Honey
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Raisins
Step by Step Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add all of the ingredients except for the raisins. Knead for about 30 seconds to combine everything, then add in the raisins and knead for another 2 minutes. The dough should pull away from the bowl and slap the sides of the bowl. If it doesn’t, the dough is probably too wet and you need to add bit more flour. If its too dry, add some water.
Place the dough in a large oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm spot to rise till doubled in size, around 1-1.5 hrs.
Once the dough has doubled in size, cut out 8-10 small squares of parchment paper. As you roll out and shape each bagel, you are going to place each of them on a piece of parchment paper. This step may seem unnecessary, but its a game changer if you want perfectly round bagels hitting the boiling water. Imagine if you placed all your bagels on one sheet of parchment paper. Once they had risen, you would have to peel each bagel off and then place it in the water. The bagel deflates when you touch it and looses it’s shape.
Shape the Bagels
Pull out a ball of dough that’s about the size of a tennis ball. If its sticky, just roll it in a bit of flour. Roll it out to a length of 8 or so inches, then wrap around your hand and twist the ends over and under each other. Place onto a square of parchment paper. Repeat until you’ve used all your dough. You’ll probably get 8-10 bagels.
Once you have shaped all the bagels, slide them onto a cookie sheet and cover them with a dish towel in a warm place for half an hour for that final rise.
Boiling the Bagels- get that perfect chewy crust
Get 2-3 quarts of water boiling in a large pot and add a tablespoon each of brown sugar and baking soda. Grab a parchment paper square with a bagel on it and place it – bagel side down – into the boiling water. The paper will easily peel off as soon as the steam hits it. Boil the bagels for a minute on each side. Tip* As the bagels come out of the boiling pot, place them on a wire cooling rack so that the water can drain off. If you were to place them on a solid cookie sheet, the water pools in the center of the bagel and makes it mushy- even after they bake in the oven.
Once you’ve boiled all the bagels, place them on a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake them in the oven at 425 F for 20-25 minutes.
Once they’re out of the oven, place them on a cooling rack. As soon as they’ve cooled, I like to throw them in the freezer because they store super well, and you can have fresh tasting bagels if you just defrost one before toasting. Enjoy!
Bagels have a way of looking complicated while in reality they really aren’t. It may look a bit overwhelming but as soon as you’ve given it a couple tries, you’ll get it down pat. And once you get it down pat, you’ll wonder why you didn’t learn to make them before.
Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Raisin Bagels PRINTABLE Recipe
- 1 cup warm water
- 4 tsp yeast
- 1½ cups sourdough discard
- 2 tbsp honey, (heaping)
- 2½ tsp salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1½ cups raisins
Making the Dough
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment; add water, yeast, discard, honey, salt, flour and cinnamon. If you are using a Kitchen Aid mixer, turn it on level 2 and knead for about 30 seconds to combine everything. Then add the raisins and knead for another 2 minutes
The dough should pull away from the bowl and slap the sides as it goes around. Bagel dough is unique- it should almost be a bit spongy. If it doesn't pull away from the sides of the bowl, add a bit more flour. If it's too dry, add some water.
Take the dough out of the mixer and place it into a large greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp dish towel and let it sit in a warm spot until doubled in size. This usually takes around 2 hours.
Shaping the Bagels
Cut out 8-9 little squares of parchment paper. You will be placing each bagel on a piece for their final rise. This step may seem unnecessary, but its a game changer if you want perfectly round bagels hitting the boiling water. Imagine if you had to pull a bagel off of the parchment paper and then place it in the water. The bagel deflates when you touch it and looses it's shape.
Once the bowl of dough has doubled in size, pull out handfuls of the dough and roll into balls that are about the size of a tennis ball. You will get 8-9 dough balls. The dough may be a bit sticky, so you can roll the dough balls around in a bit of flour.
Roll out each dough ball to a length of 8 or so inches, then wrap around your hand and twist the ends over and under each other. Place onto a square of parchment paper. The pictures above will really help demonstrate!
Once you have all the bagels shaped and on the parchment paper squares, slide them all onto a cookie sheet and place in a warm spot for about 30-45 minutes for that final rise!
Boiling the Bagels
Get 2-3 quarts of water boiling in a pot on the stove. Add a tablespoon of brown sugar and a tablespoon of baking soda to the pot. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, pick up a parchment paper square with a bagel on it and place into the water- bagel side down of course! The parchment paper will easily peel off as soon as the steam hits it. Boil the bagels for 1 minute on each side, then place them on a cooling rack so the water can drain off the bagel. If you were to place the bagel on a solid surface, the water pools in the bagel hole and makes it mushy- even after baking in the oven. Preheat your oven to 425℉
After boiling all the bagels and letting them sit on the cooing rack for just a minute, place them on a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until they're nice and brown.
Pull from the oven and let them cool before toasting. Enjoy!
Did you enjoy this recipe? If you did, I’d be thrilled if you left a review!
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