ByElien Lewis
This blueberry bagel recipe makes amazing homemade bagels. They’re chewy bagels, lightly sweet, and a pretty purple. Made with frozen or fresh blueberries. This blueberry bagel recipe has been updated as of March 6, 2024.
Fresh bagels are perfect for breakfast or brunch, and adding blueberries to the bagel dough makes this recipe extra special. The blueberry flavor is very mild in these bagels. You can add dried blueberries to the dough if you want it more pronounced.
They’re delicious when served with cream cheese, fresh or lightly toasted.
Blueberries in bagels – Cooked or not cooked
Juicy blueberries bring color, flavor, and moisture to the bagel dough. In this recipe, you can use frozen blueberries or fresh blueberries.
I initially cooked and reduced the berries before adding them to the dough. This has had mixed results with readers who sometimes cooked it too much, so the blueberries became too syrupy or dry. I now cook the berries on very low heat, for just a very short time just to release their juices – no further than that. This gives a more intense purple color to the bagels than adding them to the dough as is.
However, retesting these two options shows there’s only a very slight difference in the end result, so if you want to skip the cooking of the berries, go right ahead! Below is a side by side of a dough made with cooked berries vs. not cooked berries.
The bagel dough
Bagels are usually made from lean dough. This means it’s a dough where there is no fat added to it. They use quite a stiff dough, too, with low hydration. The end result is bagels that are a bit chewy and thick, and less airy than other yeast bread.
A good bagel should have a decent amount of toothsome chew to it. Use high-gluten flour for the classic chewy texture – this is a flour with a protein level between 11-13%.
This is best done with bread flour.Someall-purpose flours have a protein level of over 11% in which case you can use that sort of all-purpose flour for these bagels too.
The ingredients
Find the ingredient amounts for these delicious blueberry bagels listed in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is a rundown of what you will need.
- Blueberries. Fresh or frozen blueberries work in this recipe.
- Warm water
- Active dry yeast or instant yeast
- Granulated sugar – just a little to enhance the sweet blueberry flavor.
- Bread flour or strong all-purpose flour
- Salt
- Vanilla extract
- Optional dried blueberries – for extra blueberry flavor.
- Honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar. For poaching. Poaching the bagels in sweetened boiling water prior to baking gives them a golden and chewy crust. The added honey or other sugar gives them a beautiful golden sheen with no need for egg wash.
Equipment
This simple recipe can easily be made by hand, though for extra ease, use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.
Method
- Cooking the blueberries – This pre-cooking step is optional, but it intensifies the color of the bagels. If skipping it, simply add whole blueberries (fresh or thawed) to the dough when mixing.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, add the blueberries. Let the berries heat up, stirring occasionally until they release their juices. Take it off the heat and let them cool down.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine water, yeast, and sugar and stir. Add in the flour, salt, blueberries, and vanilla.
- Add in the flour, salt, blueberry mixture, and vanilla. Use a fork or switch the stand mixer onto low speed, to combine it into a thick dough. The dough should be very thick but also slightly sticky.
- Keep it kneading or mixing for around 10 minutes foroptimal gluten development.
Rising
- Once the dough is kneaded and strong, form it into a ball. Place the dough ball into a large oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
- Punch the dough down and pull it from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface.
- Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces (a kitchen scale works well to ensure even bagels) and shape each piece into a ball. Let these dough balls rest for 5 minutes.
- Use your thumb and index finger of both hands to push a hole into the center of each ball of dough, then roll the dough ball around your fingers in a circular motion to widen the hole. Aim for a large hole as it will shrink back in size once it sits.
- Place the shaped bagels on a prepared sheet pan lined with parchment paper and let them puff out a bit, for around 30 minutes while the oven preheats and a pot of water is brought to a boil.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and preheat the oven to 428°F/220°C and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Once the water is boiling, stir in honey or brown sugar.
- Dust any excess flour off the bagels and drop them in the boiling water one at a time. Boil 2-3 bagels at a time.
- Let them poach in the water for 1-minute total, flipping them after 30 seconds. Remove the bagels from the water using a slotted spoon. Drain the boiled bagels on a wire rack and continue with the rest of the bagels.
Baking
- Place the bagels on the lined baking sheet. Bake them in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until deep golden brown. If they are baking unevenly or your oven has hot spots, turn the oven tray around after 15 minutes of baking.
- Remove the baked bagels from the tray and let them cool on a cooling rack for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
- The bagels will initially feel hard as they come from the oven but will soften as they cool to room temperature.
Storing
Store leftover bagels in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Bagels freeze very well too which will prolong their life. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen bagels at room temperature, in a toaster, microwave, or low-temperature oven.
Related recipes
Try these sourdough bagels or cinnamon raisin bagels, pumpkin bagels,or strawberry bagels next! Or check out these blueberry recipes:
- Blueberry galette with puff pastry
- Classic blueberry pie with frozen blueberries
- Brioche donuts with blueberry jelly
Blueberry Bagel Recipe
Yield: 8
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Additional Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
These chewy blueberry bagels are lightly sweet and a beautiful deep purple. Add 1/2 cup of dried blueberries or freeze-dried blueberries to the dough for extra blueberry flavor.
Ingredients
- 185g (1 1/4 cups) fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed
- 135g (1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon) lukewarm water (plus more as needed)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast or instant yeast
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 440g (3 1/2 cups) bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
Poaching
- 2 litres water
- 1 Tbsp honey or brown sugar
Instructions
- Cooking the blueberries–This pre-cooking step is optional, but it intensifies the color of the bagels. If skipping it, start the recipe at step 2, and add whole blueberries (fresh or thawed) in step 3.In a small saucepan over low heat, add the blueberries. Let the berries heat up on low heat, stirring occasionally and pressing them down until they become super juicy. Don't let the liquid reduce. Take it off the heat and let it cool down.
- Combine water, yeast, and sugar and stir in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. If using active dry yeast, let this sit for around 5-10 minutes until it becomes foamy, if using instant yeast this step can be skipped.
- Add in the flour, salt, blueberries, and vanilla.Use a fork or switch the stand mixer to low speed to combine it into a thick dough. It should be very thick and slightly sticky. If the dough is too dry, add a tablespoon or two of water as needed.
- Keep it kneading or mixing for around 10 minutes foroptimal gluten development.
- Form the dough into a ball once it is kneaded and strong. Place the dough ball into a large oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
- Deflate the dough and pull it from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface.
- Cut the dough into eight equal pieces (a kitchen scale works well to ensure even bagels) and shape each piece into a ball. Let these dough balls rest for 5 minutes.
- Use both hands’ thumb and index finger to push a hole into the center of each ball of dough, then roll the dough ball around your fingers in a circular motion to widen the hole. Aim for a large hole, as it will shrink back in size once it sits.
- Place the shaped bagels on a prepared sheet pan lined with parchment paper and let them puff out a bit for around 30 minutes while the oven preheats and a pot of water is brought to a boil.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and preheat the oven to 425°F/220 °C. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Once the water is boiling, stir in honey or brown sugar.
- Dust any excess flour off the bagels and drop them in the boiling water one at a time. Boil 2-3 bagels at a time.
- Let them poach in the water for 1 minute total, flipping them after 30 seconds. Remove the bagels from the water using a slotted spoon. Drain the boiled bagels on a wire rack and continue with the rest of the bagels.
- Place the bagels on the lined baking sheet. Bake them in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until deep golden brown. If they are baking unevenly or your oven has hot spots, turn the oven tray around after 15 minutes of baking.
- Remove the baked bagels from the tray and let them cool on a cooling rack for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
Updated recipe
I initially cooked the berries down before adding them to the dough. This has had mixed results with readers who sometimes cooked it too much, so the blueberries became too syrupy or dry. I now cook the berries on very low heat for a very short time to release their juices – no further than that. This gives the bagels a more intense purple color than adding them to the dough. (See the post for a picture.) This means the added water in the recipe has been decreased since the blueberries aren't reduced. The original recipe used 160g of water.
Retesting these two options shows a very slight difference in the result, so if you want to skip the cooking of the berries, go right ahead!
Extra blueberry flavor
The blueberry flavor in these bagels is very mild. Add 1/2 cup of dried blueberries or freeze-dried blueberries to the dough for extra blueberry flavor.
*The cup sizes given are US cups. Please note that these are smaller than metric cups, for best results use grams.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 227Carbohydrates: 47gFiber: 2gProtein: 7g
