Overnight Sourdough Bagel Recipe

Soft, chewy, and super flavorful, bagels in the comfort of your own home. This sourdough bagel recipe produces the best sourdough bagels you could ever imagine.

I have become obsessed with baking using a sourdough starter because of the rich, sour, and complex flavor it adds to the baked product. This overnight sourdough bagel recipe is no exception to that amazing unique flavor.

While I love a classic bagel, the use of a sourdough starter takes the bagel from great to out of this world. 

If you’re just starting out with sourdough baking and want to try this recipe out, I suggest picking up some sourdough discard from a friend or a local bakery. This will ease your entrance into the sourdough baking world and provide a quality end product.

What You'll Learn In This Recipe

For the best crunchy and chewy bagels, the right ingredients and quantities are essential. Use my tips and suggestions to help you perfect your bagel-making.

Active Sourdough Starter: It's pretty obvious that to make a sourdough bagel, you’re going to need a sourdough starter. 

Sourdough starter (also referred to as levain), is a complex group of microbes that help leaven (rise) the bagels. 

Although store-bought baker’s yeast is also a leavening agent, it does not add any noticeable flavor to the dough. Sourdough starter adds a beautiful, complex, sour flavor. The unique flavor comes from what you use to feed the starter as well as the environment your starter survives in. 

Before you bake using your starter, you’ll need to feed it to make it bubbly and active. I feed my sourdough starter with a one-to-one ratio of flour and water (by weight). I typically use ½ rye flour and ½ whole wheat flour for my starter. My standard sourdough feeding is 50 grams water, 25 grams rye flour, and 25 grams whole wheat flour. 

The two best ways to tell if the sourdough starter is ready are: 

1. The starter has doubled in size 4 - 8 hours after a feeding.
2. There are many visible bubbles throughout the starter.

Molasses: Many bagel recipes use barley malt syrup, but I chose to use molasses instead because it is much easier for people to get their hands on. This ingredient enhances the recipe by adding a mild sweetness, and the sugar caramelizes during baking, giving that beautiful brown crust to the bagels. 

Water: Nearly all bread recipes have water involved. Water hydrates and forms the dough. Different breads and doughs have different levels of hydration. The higher the percentage of hydration, the more delicate the dough is for handling. 

This bagel recipe with sourdough starter has a low hydration percentage, about 30%.

Fine sea salt: Salt is in nearly all baking recipes. Salt is a flavor enhancer, making all the other flavors in the dough stand out. This is especially nice with sourdough because of that unique tangy flavor. Additionally, incorporating salt helps tighten the gluten net (making the dough stronger). 

In nearly all my baking recipes, I use fine sea salt because it distributes much more evenly than coarse salt. 

Coarse cornmeal: Cornmeal is needed to keep the bagels from sticking to the baking sheet after forming the dough. Additionally, it gives the bagels a nice crunchy texture after the bake. 

Toppings (optional): Everything seasoning, sesame seeds (black and/or white), poppy seeds, minced onion seasoning, Za’atar seasoning, flakey sea salt, and parmesan cheese are just some of the nearly endless options for bagel toppings. This is the best way to customize your homemade bagels to satisfy any of your cravings. 

I will warn you now that this recipe takes some time to make. Most of the time is spent waiting for the dough to rise and proof. However, you do need to plan ahead to properly prepare.

In order to make the sourdough bagels, here is the schedule I follow:

• Day 1 - 10:00 pm: Feed sourdough starter.
• Day 2 - 8:00 am: Mix bagel dough. Then, cover and allow to rise in a warm area until doubled in size, about 7 - 8 hours. The time it takes to double in size can vary depending on the climate and temperature of your house.
• Day 2 - 4:00 pm: Divide and shape bagel dough. Cover and allow the dough to proof overnight in the refrigerator for 12 - 18 hours.
• Day 3 - 8:00 am: Preheat the oven and baking stone. Boil the bagels.
• Day 3 - 8:30 am: Cook and cool the bagels.

Making any type of bread can seem intimidating. But, with this simple step-by-step guide, you'll get the help you need to feel confident baking sourdough bagels at home.

As with any baking recipe, you should always start with mise en place. This is a French phrase known throughout the culinary world, meaning 'to put in place.'

You'll first want to measure out all of your ingredients, and gather all of the kitchen tools that you'll use for this recipe. The best way to measure your ingredients accurately is with a kitchen scale. 

In addition to physically gathering all your ingredients, I always recommend reading through the recipe before starting, especially with baking recipes. This way, you get an idea of what you have to do throughout the recipe.

Now it's time to mix everything together. Begin by combining the wet ingredients (water, sourdough starter, and molasses). In a separate bowl, use a whisk to stir together the bread flour and salt.

One of the great things about this recipe is that you don't even need a stand mixer. You can mix everything together with a little muscle.

When you're first combining the wet and dry ingredients, it's helpful to use a bowl scraper. This will help keep your hands and fingers from getting sticky. Plus it’s great for making sure all the wet and dry ingredients are incorporated and nothing is sticking to the bowl. Once a shaggy dough has formed, you can use your hands.

Now it's time for one of the hardest parts- kneading the dough. This step takes approximately 15 minutes, during which you are helping with gluten formation.

To better understand what we are doing during this kneading process, an understanding of baking science will clarify the importance of gluten formation.

In order to activate the proteins (glutenin and gliadin) in the flour, water must be incorporated.  In addition to water, flour needs to be worked or kneaded for long periods of rest time to make the gluten elastic and therefore malleable enough to shape. For this bagel recipe, we're putting in some elbow grease to get the dough to the proper stage.

For those new to baking who are a bit intimidated by hand kneading, here are a few helpful steps that will ease your journey through the kneading process. After a shaggy dough is formed, it is pretty much a repeated process of pushing and folding. Push down on the dough, and don’t be shy to use all your strength. Fold the dough over itself from the corners. 

Repeat this process, and you will see the dough go from shaggy to solid in a few minutes. Sometimes, you will have to stretch the dough a bit before you fold it over onto itself. For this particular recipe, there's no need to be afraid of overworking the dough. This sourdough bagel recipe has very resilient dough, and it is better to err on the overworked side than the underworked side. 

There are many signs to look for in this bagel dough to show that you have kneaded long enough for proper gluten formation. Below is a list of those signs to look for after you've finished hand kneading for 15 minutes:

• The dough is flexible when kneaded
• The dough is bouncy to the touch

To be extra safe, grab a piece of dough between your fingers, stretch it, and see the web fibers that have developed. You should be able to pull the dough thin enough that light shines through. You want the dough to be able to stretch rather than tear. This is often referred to in the bread-making world as the windowpane test.

Bulk fermentation is the time that we allow the entire dough to rise. During this time, the sourdough starter is converting sugars into carbon dioxide and alcohol.

Bulk fermentation is crucial to making delicious bagels because it helps with the production of leavening gasses which allows our bagels to puff up and be airy when baking. It also helps to develop flavor and strengthen the gluten.

At this stage, you are looking for the dough to nearly double in size. This shows us that it has bulk fermented long enough. Depending on the time of the year and the temperature of your house, the time it takes the dough to double in size can vary. Generally, a colder environment will result in longer bulk ferment times- the opposite is true for a warmer environment. 

If your kitchen is very cold, my suggestion is to turn on your oven to 200ºF (93ºC). Once you have achieved the proper dough consistency, move the dough to a clean bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Then, allow the dough to rise on the top of the warm oven (not in the oven) until it’s nearly doubled in size.

Now that your dough has doubled in size, it's time to turn your dough into bagels.

Begin by punching down the risen dough. This releases some of the gas bubbles that formed during the bulk ferment stage. The reason we do this is to redistribute the yeast cells, so they can rise during the proofing stage that comes after this one.

To make 12 bagels, divide the dough into about 107 grams (3.77 ounces) pieces. I use a kitchen scale for this process to ensure they're all the same size. 

Once the dough has been divided, it is time to shape. Grab a ball of dough, and gently push through the center of the ball using both thumbs to make a hole. With the hole made, continue to use your thumbs to stretch the bagel out until it reaches about 4 inches (10 cm) across. If the bagels are made too small, they will end up closing during the boiling and baking process.

The best way to check the size of your bagel during this shaping process is to use a ruler.

Place your shaped bagels on a baking sheet with a thin layer of cornmeal underneath. The cornmeal will prevent sticking and add a lovely texture to the bagels when they bake. 

Throughout this process, you'll want to keep the bagels covered with a tea towel or plastic wrap, so the dough doesn't dry out.

It's time to allow the pre-shaped bagels to proof overnight in the refrigerator. The overnight proofing process that happens in a cold environment is iconic for making high-quality bagels. This step does three key things to the bagels. It adds lots of flavor, produces more leavening gasses, and strengthens the gluten.

Tightly wrap the bagels in plastic wrap before placing them in the refrigerator overnight. If you don't place the plastic wrap securely around the bagels, you'll end up with a hard, crusty dough when you take it out of the refrigerator.

I like to pull the plastic wrap around the top of the sheet pan, underneath the pan, then back around to the top. This ensures no air can get in.

After you've allowed your bagels to sit in the refrigerator overnight, you need to test them to make sure they're ready to go. Because you allowed them to proof overnight, this shouldn't at all be an issue.

To test that they're ready, you can fill a wide pot or dutch oven with lukewarm water. If it floats, the bagels are ready to go. Pat the bagel dry, and return it to the covered baking sheets until the water begins to boil.

If it sinks, allow the bagels to sit at room temperature, covered, until they float. Check every 15 minutes until they float. You only need to test 1 bagel out of the whole batch. 

Another iconic step in the bagel-making process is boiling the bagels before they're baked. The reason bagels are boiled is because it gives that iconic shiny and chewy exterior layer to the bagel. The longer you boil the bagel, the thicker and chewier the outside crust will be. 

The boiling time also affects the interior texture of the bagel. A longer boil will result in a more dense bagel. To achieve the texture that I prefer, I boil my bagels for about 30 seconds on each side, providing a chewy, but not too tough, texture. 

For the boil, bring the same water from the float test up to a steady boil. Once boiling, add in molasses 1 tablespoon at a time until the water turns a dark brown-black tea color. After the molasses is in, you can begin to boil your bagels. If the temperature of the water drops after adding molasses, allow it to come back to a steady boil before placing the bagels in the water. 

Add as many bagels as you can comfortably fit into the pot at once without them being on top of each other. Use a slotted spoon or a spider-strainer to flip the bagels. Take the boiled bagels, and place them on a wire rack to cool. 

While the bagels are still wet and a bit warm and sticky from the boiling process, dunk the tops into your toppings of choice to make any bagel flavor your heart desires. Here are some of my favorite flavor ideas:

• Everything seasoning: Use ¾ cup (126 grams) of everything seasoning blend. Immediately after the bagel has been removed from the water, gently dunk the top of the bagel into the everything seasoning.
• Sesame seeds: Use ¾ cup (96 grams) of sesame seeds. Immediately after the bagel has been removed from the water, gently dunk the top of the bagel into the sesame seeds.
• Poppy seeds: Use ¾ cup (84 grams) of poppy seeds. Immediately after the bagel has been removed from the water, gently dunk the top of the bagel into the poppy seeds.
• Sea salt flakes: Use 3 teaspoons (9 grams) of Maldon flakey sea salt. Immediately after the bagel has been removed from the water, gently dunk the top of the bagel into the Maldon flakey sea salt.
• Za'atar seasoning: Use ¾ cup (78 grams) za'atar seasoning. Immediately after the bagel has been removed from the water, gently dunk the top of the bagel into the za'atar seasoning.
• Cheddar cheese: Use 1 ½ cups (384 grams) finely shredded cheddar cheese. Immediately after the bagel has been removed from the water, top the bagel with 2 tablespoons (16 grams) of shredded cheddar cheese.
• Asiago cheese: Use 1 ½ cups (312 grams) finely shredded Asiago cheese. Immediately after the bagel has been removed from the water, top the bagel with 2 tablespoons (13 grams) of shredded Asiago cheese.
• Oatmeal: Use ¾ cup (108 grams) old fashioned oats. Immediately after the bagel has been removed from the water, gently dunk the top of the bagel into the oats.
• Cinnamon and sugar: Mix ½ cup (107 grams) firmly packed dark brown sugar, 6 tablespoons (45 grams) bread flour, 3 tablespoons (37 grams) granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons (42 grams) melted unsalted butter, and 3 teaspoons (8 grams) ground cinnamon in a small mixing bowl until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk 1 large (50 grams) egg and 1 tablespoon (14 grams) of water to make an egg wash. Immediately after the bagel has been removed from the water, brush the bagel with egg wash and top with cinnamon sugar mixture (about 1 tablespoon or 15 ml).

Once you've added on the topping flavors, it's time to bake. 

To get that nice browned, glossy top on your bagels, you'll need to have a high oven heat. I've found that using a baking stone helps get that crusty outer texture that we all look for in bagels. Make sure to preheat the baking stones for about 30 minutes, so they have enough time to properly heat up.

Be sure to rotate the baking stones around during the baking process. Most home ovens have hot spots, so rotating ensures that you will achieve an even crust on all of your bagels.

The bagels should take about 22 - 25 minutes to bake. Keep an eye on them (without opening the oven) to make sure they don't get too dark. Once out of the oven, allow the bagels to fully cool a wire rack before cutting into them. 

Even though it's tempting to slice into a hot, freshly baked bagel, give it time to completely cool on a wire rack. This ensures the internal structure can settle and evaporate any excess moisture.

From here you can eat them, or freeze them for later (something most people forget they can do). Check out these full bagel storage instructions. 

There are endless possibilities for how to use your sourdough bagels. Here are just a few of my favorite ideas:

• Top with butter or cream cheese for a simple breakfast.
• Make a breakfast sandwich with eggs, cheese, and bacon.
• For an easy lunch, use them as the base of an open-faced tuna melt.
• Top with Nutella and fruit for a sweet treat.
• Make bagel pizzas for a kid-friendly dinner.
• Add a smear of peanut butter and banana slices.
• Bagels and lox are a classic pairing. I layer cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers, red onion, and dill on mine.
• Don't forget about avocado toast. Add some smashed avocado, lemon juice, salt, and red pepper flakes for the perfect combination.