These homemade gingerbread bagels are a fabulous addition to your Christmas morning breakfast - or any seasonal brunch gathering!
Today I’m sharing another homemade bagel recipe: my seasonal gingerbread bagels!
These are easy to make, and will quickly fill your kitchen with the delicious aroma of gingerbread.
I made a batch last week as a fun Christmas morning breakfast for my husband - Nothing says “Merry Christmas!” like delicious bagels fresh from the oven, right?
These bagels are fantastic with cream cheese, but don’t stop there!
Your taste buds may be more about adding Homemade Lemon Curd, always a fantastic accompaniment for gingerbread anything!
You know, like my Gingerbread Scones or my Gingerbread Muffins, for that matter!
Anyway, whatever your favorite topping may be, these gingerbread bagels may just end up part of your holiday traditions in the coming years - SO good!
Ingredients
This recipe uses really simple ingredients, that you’re likely to have on hand if you’ve been doing some holiday baking:
For the bagels themselves, you’ll need:
All-Purpose Flour
Dark Brown Sugar
Molasses
Active Dry Yeast
Ground Ginger
Ground Cinnamon
Ground Cloves
Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Large Egg
Salt
It’s what I use to give a nice crunchy, crystallized topping to sweet baked goods, like my Gingerbread Scones, Banana Nut Bagels, and Homemade Apple Turnovers.
Sometimes I'll sprinkle some over an unbaked Pie Crust, after brushing on the egg wash.
Love the stuff!
How to Make Gingerbread Bagels
The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through.
Make the Gingerbread Dough
Measure warm water into a glass measuring cup or bowl, stir in molasses until well combined. . Stir in yeast, allow to stand for 10 minutes – it should get very bubbly.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, spices, and salt. Pour in yeast mixture and vanilla, stir well to combine.
Alternatively, use a stand mixer with a dough hook for about 7 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.
Once dough is fully kneaded, place in a greased bowl (I use a bit of non-stick spray on it), cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.
Form and Bake the Bagels
Once dough has doubled, punch it down, and divide it out.
We divided the mixture into 8 equal sized balls, for medium-large bagels – but you can make them smaller or larger by dividing into 6, 10, or 12 equal sized pieces.
There are two main ways of forming bagels – with roll each lump of dough into a thick “snake” and secure the ends together, or roll each lump into a smooth ball before poking a finger though.
Once you have a hole made, stretch the ring of dough out a bit to enlarge the hole.
Personally, I prefer the latter.
As you bagels are resting, preheat oven to 350F, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the molasses, and stir well to combine.
Turn heat down a little, allowing water to simmer rather than boil. 2 or 3 at a time, drop your bagels into the simmering water, allow to cook for 1 minute, then flip each and allow to cook for another minute.
Drain well, place on lined baking sheets.
Whisk egg together with 1 tablespoon of water, brush over the tops and sides of each bagel. Sprinkle generously with coarse sugar.
Bake for about 40-42 minutes if doing 8 bagels, or 35-37 minutes (small - 10/12 bagels) or 40-45 mins (large, 6 bagels), until golden brown.
Leftovers
Once cooled to room temperature, bagels can be transferred to an airtight container and stored in the fridge for up to a week (or on the counter for a few days).
Note: The cold bagels can be difficult to cut, I recommend warming slightly in the microwave before cutting.
More Christmas Treats
Looking for more inspiration for your holiday goodies tray? Breakfast, sweet snack or dessert, here are a delicious recipes for you!
Candied Orange Slices
Candy Cane Biscotti
Christmas Bagels
Creme de Menthe Nanaimo Bars
Easy Gingerbread Muffins
Eggnog Muffins
Eggnog Pie
Eggnog Pudding
Eggnog Sticky Buns
Festive Easy Fudge
Fruitcake Cookies
Gingerbread Scones
Gluten-Free Candy Cane Cookies
Gluten Free Fruitcake
Gluten-Free Fruitcake Cookies
Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies
Keto Candy Cane Cookies
No-Bake Gingerbread Pie
Noelles
Pecan Pie Cookies
Peppermint Patties
Traditional Eggnog Mousse
Share the Love!
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Homemade Gingerbread Bagels
Equipment
- 2 Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 ¼ cups warm - not hot - water
- ⅓ cup Molasses
- 4 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
- 3 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
- ½ cup Brown sugar packed
- 2 ½ teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground cloves
- 2 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
Assembly:
- ¼ cup Molasses
- 1 Large Egg
- Coarse sugar
Instructions
- Measure warm water into a glass measuring cup or bowl, stir in molasses until well combined. . Stir in yeast, allow to stand for 10 minutes – it should get very bubbly.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, spices, and salt. Pour in yeast mixture and vanilla, stir well to combine.
- Dump dough out onto a floured surface, knead until soft and elastic, 5-10 minutes.
- Alternatively, use a stand mixer with a dough hook for about 7 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.
- Once dough is fully kneaded, place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.
- Once dough has doubled, punch it down, and divide it out.
- We divided the mixture into 8 equal sized balls, for medium-large bagels – but you can make them smaller or larger by dividing into 6, 10, or 12 equal sized pieces.
- There are two main ways of forming bagels – with roll each lump of dough into a thick “snake” and secure the ends together, or roll each lump into a smooth ball before poking a finger though. Once you have a hole made, stretch the ring of dough out a bit to enlarge the hole. Personally, I prefer the latter.
- Once you have all of your bagels formed, set them on a baking sheet to rise for another 10 minutes.
- As you bagels are resting, preheat oven to 350F, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the molasses, and stir well to combine.
- Turn heat down a little, allowing water to simmer rather than boil. 2 or 3 at a time, drop your bagels into the simmering water, allow to cook for 1 minute, then flip each and allow to cook for another minute.
- Drain well, place on lined baking sheets.
- Whisk egg together with 1 tablespoon of water, brush over the tops and sides of each bagel. Sprinkle generously with coarse sugar.
- Bake for about 40-42 minutes if doing 8 bagels, or 35-37 minutes (small - 10/12 bagels) or 40-45 mins (large, 6 bagels), until golden brown.
Video
Nutrition
Doug
Marie
These are wonderful. Can you tell me why my bagels sink to the bottom before they float?
Doug
Marie Porter
Might have needed some more rise time/warmer place.