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Easy Sourdough Bagels (beginner friendly)

Sourdough bagels can be intimidating, even for an experienced baker. But really, they are EASY and so delicious. If you choose to, you can top these bagels with anything your heart desires after boiling! I love topping mine with dehydrated onions or flaky salt!
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Overnight Cold Proof & Bulk Fermentation 1 day
Total Time 1 day 50 minutes
Servings: 8
Course: Side Dish
Calories: 125
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 200 grams bread flour
  • 100 grams sourdough starter
  • 215 grams lukewarm water
  • 20 grams maple syrup
  • 12 grams salt
  • 1 tsp olive oil Any oil will work
  • 1 tsp baking soda for boiling

Equipment

  • 1 Mixing bowl
  • 1 Cookie sheet
  • 1 Digital Scale
  • 1 Bench Scraper or Dough Scraper A bench scraper is not required, but it will make shaping easier.
  • 1 Parchment paper (squares) If you can find the pre-cut squares, use those; if not, just cut 6 squares of parchment paper out.

Method
 

Preparing the dough
  1. In a bowl, on a scale, measure out your water and sourdough starter. Mix those together until they are completely combined, and you get a "frothy" mixture.
    100 grams sourdough starter, 215 grams lukewarm water
  2. Add in your maple syrup and salt. Mix together until fully combined.
    20 grams maple syrup , 12 grams salt
    3. If you don't want to use maple syrup, you can substitute it with honey or sugar. Use the same measurements for either one.
  3. Add in your bread flour and mix together until you get a shaggy dough. You'll need to mix this dough until there are no dry patches of flour left.
    200 grams bread flour
  4. Take your dough out of the bowl and knead it on the counter for 5-6 minutes. I like to do "slap and folds" for 5 minutes, and that really strengthens up the dough quickly.
Stretch and Folds
  1. Once you've kneaded the dough, place it in a greased bowl and cover it for 45 minutes.
    1 tsp olive oil
  2. After 45 minutes, remove the dough from the bowl and perform your 1st round of stretch-and-folds. You'll do 3 rounds every 30 minutes after the initial set.
Bulk Fermentation
  1. Once your series of stretches and folds is complete, cover your dough and let it rise on the counter (or in a warm place) for at least 6-8 hours. You want the dough to double in size.
Cold Proof in the refrigerator
  1. Once your dough has doubled in size, cover it tightly and refrigerate for 6-12 hours.
Shaping
  1. Grab your baking sheet/cookie sheet and prepare it for the shaped bagels by placing your parchment paper squares down on it. You'll need 8 squares.
  2. Remove the bagel dough from the refrigerator and punch it down in the bowl to deflate it. Remove the dough from the bowl and grab your digital scale.
  3. Separate your dough into 90-100 gram sections by placing each one on the scale for accuracy. Depending on how big you make them, you should get 6-8 from this recipe.
    4. If you don't have a scale, eyeball it - no big deal!
  4. Once your mini dough balls are separated, you begin shaping each one.
  5. Take your dough ball out onto a clean surface (you should not need water or flour here) and flatten it out.
  6. Fold each side in on itself until you get a ball.
  7. Turn it over and begin to perform push-and-pull motions to create tension at the top of your bagel ball.
    8. You can also just pull the outside in on itself and leave it at that; again, it's no big deal!
  8. Repeat this process for each one until they are all shaped.
  9. Using something to poke the hole, you'll need to do that for each bagel.
    10. I always use a wooden chopstick - it works perfectly! But, you can use the end of a spoon as well!
  10. Once you poke the hole, stick your finger inside it and, using both hands, make it bigger than you think it should be. Trust me, it will shrink during the 2nd rise.
Final rise
  1. Once each one is shaped and has holes, cover them with a cloth and let them rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours.
    2. You do not want air hitting them, so if you need to use something else to cover them, do so.
    The amount of time the final rise takes all depends on the temperature of the area they are resting in. I put mine in the oven with the light on only, or use my "proof" setting on my oven.
Boiling
  1. Once the final rise is complete, you'll want to boil 8 cups of water or fill a large pot with water about halfway.
  2. Add your baking soda to the water.
    1 tsp baking soda
    3. If you don't want to use baking soda, you can also use maple syrup. The same amount will do fine.
  3. Once your water is boiling, take your parchment squares with the bagel on it and place two at a time in the boiling water. Once it's submerged and floating, you'll be able to peel the parchment square off the bagel carefully.
    4. If you can only put 1 in at a time, that's totally fine.
  4. Boil on each side for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Baking the bagels
    If you want to add any toppings before baking, add them right after boiling. You can add any seasonings you like. Just make sure you watch them in the oven because certain toppings can burn faster than others!
  1. Once each bagel has been boiled and returned to the cookie sheet, preheat your oven to 425℉.
  2. Place your bagels into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
  3. Once they reach 208-210 degrees internally, they are done and ready to come out.
Cooling
  1. Once done, let your bagels cool on a cooling rack for about an hour before slicing. Enjoy!