The Best Blueberry Bagels Made with Sourdough Starter

Slightly sweet, new york style blueberry bagels are perfect for breakfast! This blueberry bagel recipe calls for sourdough starter for the best flavor. Try them with a little bit of butter or some cream cheese.

Blueberry Bagels with Sourdough Starter

Our blog has a few sourdough starter recipes, but our Sprouted Rye Sourdough Starter is my favorite. This is the best starter for making these blueberry sourdough bagels.

If you’d like to try another type of starter or a quick 2-day starter option, check out our Easy Sourdough Starter Recipe with Sourdough Starter Feeding Instructions.

I know many people can struggle with sourdough starters in the beginning, so if you’re new to the practice and have questions visit this blog: The Most Common Sourdough Starter Problems and How to Fix Them.

Types of Flour for Sourdough Blueberry Bagels

I make so many fun bread products with my sourdough starter these days. I’m most impressed with these bagels. When making sourdough bagels, you want to use bread flour.

I only use bread flour for this recipe (all-purpose flour will work, but use bread flour for a true bagel texture). I have not tried this with whole wheat flour. I think using whole wheat flour will result in too dense bagels and a little too chewy.

If you’re into experimentation, totally give it a try, and let me know how it turns out in the comments!

Sourdough Blueberry Bagel Recipe

It may seem like bagels are a tough product to make, but I promise it’s easy. It’s effortless if you have experience working with sourdough.

You start with a big, relatively dry dough ball. The dough will be of less hydration than a traditional sourdough loaf. Then you’ll let the dough rise for a few hours, stretching and folding once.

Next, you’ll divide the dough into 8 to 12 equal pieces (depending on the size bagel you are looking for; more pieces mean smaller bagels) and shape each piece just as you would a loaf.

Next, you’ll allow the small dough balls to rise for one hour and then finally shape them into bagels.

After shaping, the dough goes into the fridge overnight. In the morning, each bagel gets dipped into boiling water, then gets a sprinkle of toppings (optional) before baking.

Not too difficult, right? In the recipe, I explained the hand technique I used to shape bagels. Check the photos in our Sun-Dried Tomato and Herb Sourdough Bagels recipe if you need a visual.

Blueberries for Blueberry Bagels

Please do not use frozen blueberries in this recipe. Frozen berries can add too much moisture to the dough.

You have a few options for blueberries in this recipe:

• Organic fresh blueberries
• Organic freeze-dried blueberries
• Organic whole dried blueberries

More Recipes

• Sun-Dried Tomato and Herb Sourdough Bagels
• Homemade Sourdough Bagels New York Style
• Homemade Cultured Butter with Lemon and Herbs

The Best Blueberry Bagels made with Sourdough Starter

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Slightly sweet, new york style blueberry bagels are perfect for breakfast! This blueberry bagel recipe calls for sourdough starter for the best flavor. Try them with a little bit of butter or some cream cheese.

• Author: Kaitlynn Fenley
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 8 bagels
• Category: Breakfast & Brunch
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

• 6 Cups Bread Flour
• 1 Cup Sourdough Starter
• 1 1/4 Cups Water, Cold
• 2 Teaspoons Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Raw Honey
• 2 Cups Blueberries, fresh

For the Boiling Water Bath

• 1 Tablespoon Baking Soda
• 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup

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Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the starter, flour, salt, honey, blueberries and cold water.
2. Knead the ingredients together until a uniform dough ball forms. Fresh blueberries will burst and release more liquide to help the dough come together as you knead.
3. Cover the bowl with a towel and rest the dough for about 1 hour at a warm temp.
4. Using a spray bottle filled with water, mist your clean countertop. Wet your hands and wet the top of the dough ball with the spray bottle. Turn the dough out onto the wet counter surface. Scrape out the bowl and rinse the inside of the bowl really well. Leave the bowl wet.
5. Gently stretch out the dough on the wet counter into a rectangular shape.
6. Stretch the top of the dough over the bottom, side over side, and bottom over top. and roll it up into a dough ball. Place the dough back in the bowl with the seam side down. Let the dough rest for 1 to 2 hours.
7. Do another wet stretch and fold at this point and let the dough rest for another 1 to 2 hours. 
8. Next, lightly sprinkle some flour on the surface of your counter. Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on the floured surface.
9. Stretch the dough into a rectangle that’s a little bigger than a sheet of paper. Be gentle with the dough!! You don’t want to flatten it. Just lightly pull the sides until it’s a rectangle about the size of a sheet of paper.
10. Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8 even squares. 
11. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle flour on top of the parchment paper.
12. Grab a single square, and fold in the corners of the dough over each other, forming a small round dough ball. Place the dough ball on the floured parchment paper. Repeat for the other squares.
13. Lightly sprinkle the top of the dough balls with flour. Cover the dough balls with a towel and let them rise for 1 to 2 hours.
14. Flour your hands and pick up a dough ball. Place it in your right hand. Using your thumb on the top of the dough ball and middle finger on the bottom, squeeze a hole through the center of the dough ball. Bring your index finger and ring finger through the hole in the dough to touch your thumb.
15. Use your other hand to guide the donut-shaped dough through your right-hand palm and fingers that are held in a circular shape. This is how you create a nice bagel shape.
16. Place the shaped bagels back on the floured parchment paper. (lightly sprinkle more flour if you need to)
17. Let the shaped bagels proof at room temperature for 2 hours.
18. Place the bagel dough in the refrigerator for a final proof of 12 hours.
19. After 12 hours, preheat your oven to 450° F. 
20. If using toppings (such as poppy seeds) Gather your toppings and add them to small bowls for easy use.
21. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add in the baking soda and the maple syrup. 
22. Using a slotted spoon, place each bagel in the boiling water for about a minute or two, flipping half way. 
23. Remove the bagel from the water, place it back on the parchment paper, and sprinkle on toppings (optional). 
24. Repeat for the remaining bagels.
25. Place the bagels in the oven. 
26. Bake for approximately 20 minutes* until golden brown. Rotate the bagels at 10 minutes for even baking. 
27. Remove and allow to cool for 30 minutes. 

Notes

• While kneading, you can add 1/4 to 1/2  cup more water to the dough to help it come together.
• If you want to use frozen blueberries, defrost them and drain off the excess liquid first.
• You can add 1/2 tsp instant yeast to the dough in step one to speed up the whole process. Adding instant yeast should cut all of the time directions in half.
• Bake time may vary. I usually bake for 35 minutes. You can check the bagels every 5 minutes to ensure you do not overcook them.

Kaitlynn Fenley Author, Educator, Food Microbiologist

Kaitlynn is a food microbiologist and fermentation expert teaching people how to ferment foods and drinks at home.

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