These Roasted Red Pepper Bagels may be a slightly unconventional bagel ... but they are FULL of flavor, and make fantastic sandwiches!
In figuring out what we wanted to do with them, I had the idea to come up with a roasted red pepper bagel recipe for my husband.
He’s been on an omelette breakfast sandwich kick lately, and I figured this would be a nice flavor base for those.
The recipe development came together quickly and easily, and the house was soon filled with the most ridiculously amazing aroma as the dough was rising.
AUGH!
I miss gluten, and I’ve got to say - I almost did something really dumb, that day. The smell was intoxicating!
“The red pepper is flavorful and nice, without being overpowering, I love it!
The herbs involved are subtle - you probably won’t be able to pick it out as ‘there is basil and garlic in this’, but it just makes for a more complex flavor.”
He added that it’s nice to have a really flavorrful bagel like this, as he finds it convenient to make breakfast.
From his point of view... when you have more flavour in the bagel itself, you can use a really plain cream cheese, or just make a super basic omelette.
When he has a more basic flavour bagel, he tends to go more all-out when making his omelettes for his breakfast sandwiches.
This bagel recipe is definitely going into regular rotation for him, and we’re sure you’ll love it as well!
Ingredients
This recipe uses a few basic ingredients, all of which should be easy to find in almost any grocery store.
A few notes about what you’ll need:
All Purpose Flour
I use all-purpose flour, as that’s what I tend to have on hand.
Bread flour will also work.
I wouldn’t substitute whole wheat flour for any more than about ⅓ of the flour, without adding a bit more water.
Roasted Red Pepper Puree
This recipe uses a cup of red pepper puree, which you can sometimes find as a commercial product. Generally speaking, you’re going to want to make your own.
You can roast your own red peppers and puree them - you may need a little water or olive oil to get them smooth, but don’t go too wild with it!
Otherwise, you can do what I do and just puree a jar of Roasted Red Peppers - shown above. This size jar was PERFECT for the amount needed.
I pureed the peppers in a mini food processor, using some of the liquid to thin it out as it went.
Easy - and WAY cheaper than buying and roasting the red peppers myself, these days!
Everything Else
Rounding out this recipe, you will need:
Honey
Granulated Sugar
Large Egg
Active Dry Yeast
Dried Basil
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Salt
... I just don’t have anything to add, as far as these ingredients go!
Optional Ingredients
There are two ingredients that are optional, but nice to include:
Corn Meal - We like to scatted it over the baking pans, to bring a bit of texture and crunch to the bottom half of the bagels.
Totally optional, though - feel free to put the drained, boiled bagels directly onto the parchment lined baking pans.
Parmesan Cheese - We like a little freshly grated Parmesan over the tops of at least some of the bagels, right before baking.
Due to the nature of that cheese and the baking process, there’s no worry about it later melted in your toaster oven.
How to Make Roasted Red Pepper Bagels
The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through:
Measure warm water into a glass measuring cup or bowl. Stir in yeast and sugar, allow to stand for 10 minutes – it should get very bubbly.
Pour in yeast mixture and pepper puree, 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, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.
We divided the mixture into 10 equally sized balls, for smallish bagels – but you can make them larger by dividing into6 or 8 equal sized pieces.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil - with the honey added to it - while you form the bagels.
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 20 minutes.
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 a lined baking sheet.
Sprinkle each bagel with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Bake for 35-37 minutes (small) or 40-45 mins (large), until golden brown.
Best served hot!
Serving Roasted Red Pepper Bagels
These bagels are great fresh out of the oven, or toasted.
Plain cream cheese is great, but consider using other types of savory cream cheese blends - roasted garlic, veggie, caramelized onion, or herb cream cheeses all work really well with this bagel.
Also? Sandwiches.
Pile a split bagel with all of your favourite cold cuts, sub sauce, etc. SO good!
Pizza Bagels
Brush the tops of uncut bagels with a little tomato sauce, top with cheese and Italian seasoning.
Broil
Bagel Pizzas
Split bagels in half.
Spread each cut side with pizza sauce, top as you would any other pizza, bake or broil until cheese is melted.
More Bagel Recipes
Looking for more fantastic bagels to make? Here are some great options!
Banana Nut Bagels
Blueberry Bagels
Chai Bagels
Everything Bagels
Garden Veggie Bagels
Gluten-Free Bagels
How to Make Bagels
Jalapeno Cheddar Beer Bagels
Marble Rye Bagels
Mini Bagels
Montreal Bagels
Pretzel Bagels
Pumpernickel Everything Bagels
Rainbow Bagels
Red Velvet Bagels
Roasted Garlic Asiago Bagels
Rye Bagels with Caraway Seeds
Seeded Whole Wheat Flax Bagels
Smoky Cheese Bagels
Whole Wheat Spinach Bagels
... and a few seasonal / holiday options, too:
Christmas Bagels
Gingerbread Bagels
Heart Shaped Bagels
Hot Cross Bagels
Maple Pumpkin Spice Bagels
Paska Bagels
Share the Love!
Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you post it to Bluesky, be sure to tag us - @CelebrationGen. We're also on Pinterest, so you can save all your favourite recipes to a board!
Also, be sure to subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense. Well, the published nonsense, anyway!
Finally, if you love this recipe, please consider leaving a star rating and/or a comment below, and maybe even sharing this post on social media!
Roasted Red Pepper Bagels
Equipment
- 2 Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- ¾ cup warm - not hot - water
- 4 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
- 1 tablespoon Granulated Sugar
- 3 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoon Dried basil
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Onion powder
- 1 cup Roasted Red Pepper Puree
- ¼ cup Honey
- 1 Large Egg
- Parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
- Measure warm water into a glass measuring cup or bowl. Stir in yeast and sugar, allow to stand for 10 minutes – it should get very bubbly.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt, basil, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Pour in yeast mixture and pepper puree, 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 10 equally sized balls, for smallish bagels – but you can make them larger by dividing into6 or 8 equal sized pieces.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and bring a large pot of water to a boil with the honey, while you form the bagels.
- 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 20 minutes.
- 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 a lined baking sheet.
- Whisk egg together with 1 tablespoon of water, brush over the tops and sides of each bagel.
- Sprinkle each bagel with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
- Bake for 35-37 minutes (small) or 40-45 mins (large), until golden brown.
Notes
Nutrition
Leave a Reply