Blueberry Sourdough Bagels
Blueberry Sourdough Bagels
These blueberry sourdough bagels are naturally sweet with swirls of blueberry in every bite! They’re soft on the inside, a little chewy, and bake up beautifully. If you aren’t yet a blueberry bagel fan, this recipe will make your heart swoon. All you need is fresh or frozen blueberries! Then add your favorite cream cheese or butter for the perfect breakfast.
This week I was craving a REAL blueberry sourdough bagel. Something healthy with my morning coffee. And while I never really liked blueberry bagels growing up, as soon as I started making them from scratch, I became obsessed. The naturally sweet blueberry flavor, the pretty purple color, and the soft texture – it’s hard to want anything else!
Most blueberry bagels use artificial flavoring, blue dyes, and artificial ingredients which I’m not about. For my recipe, I used organic frozen blueberries but fresh blueberries work too! I just warm them up in the oven for a few minutes until there puffy and then use a fork to mash them.
If you need a full step-by-step tutorial on how to make homemade sourdough bagels check out this blog post.
✨Health Benefits of Sourdough Bagels✨
Sourdough bagels are unlike all other types of bagels because they go through a long and slow natural fermentation with wild yeasts and lactic acid bacteria (LAB). This ancient, 6,000-year-old tradition has remarkable health benefits. A long and slow sourdough fermentation transforms wheat and other grains easy to digest because it degrades gluten, removes anti-nutrients, and breaks down FODMAPs and starches. Sourdough foods are also chock full of fiber, prebiotics, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, making it an all-around microbiome superfood.
What I do to Make These Blueberry Sourdough Bagels Healthy
Most blueberry bagels use artificial flavoring, blue dyes, and artificial ingredients which I’m not about. This recipe calls for clean ingredients and a natural fermentation with sourdough.
LET’S GET SPECIFIC:
Sourdough Fermentation. These bagels are naturally fermented with sourdough starter instead of a rapid fermentation with yeast. Unlike commercial fermentation, a long and slow sourdough fermentation with sourdough starter makes wheat and other grains easy to digest because it degrades gluten, removes anti-nutrients, and breaks down FODMAPs and starches. Sourdough is also chock full of fiber, prebiotics, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, making it an all-around microbiome superfood.
Organic, High-Quality Flour: I use a blend of organic (stone ground) whole wheat and white bread flour because it is richer in macronutrients like protein and fiber and micronutrients like vitamins and minerals.
Organic Blueberries: Most blueberry bagels use artificial blueberry flavoring, blue dyes, and preservatives to give the bagel that blueberry flavor and look. But for my blueberry bagel recipe, we’re going to use only real blueberries. Organic is always my preference too!
Clean, Simple Ingredients. Nothing artificial to make these blueberry sourdough bagels!
Nutrition Breakdown of One Blueberry Sourdough Bagel
Macro-Nutrients
- 198 Calories
- 6.9g Protein (14%)
- 5.7g Fiber (20%)
- 1.6g Sugar (3%)
Micro-Nutrients
- 1.9mg Iron (11%)
- 3.2mg Vitamin K (3%)
- 2.8mg Vitamin B3 (18%)
- 0.1mg Vitamin B2 (10%)
Sourdough Bagel Baking Schedule
This is what a typical bagel-making schedule looks like for me.
P.S. Temperature is one of the single most important factors that affect fermentation. The warmer your place, the faster your dough will ferment. So please use my schedule as simply a jumping-off point for your own.
Prepare sourdough starter
Either feed your sourdough starter the night before to prepare or if your sourdough starter is in the fridge be sure to feed it every 12 hours, 3 days before you plan to bake.
Day One
- 10 AM – Mix bagel dough, cover and let sit at room temp until it doubles in size (6-8 hours)
- 6 PM – Place dough covered in the fridge for an overnight fermentation (10+ hours). This step is to develop flavor and nutrition… it’s optional, but highly recommended.
day two
- 8 AM – Divide bagel dough, shape and cover with tea towel. Let it rise for 2 hours.
- 10 AM – Prepare boiling water and preheat oven.
- 10:15 AM – Boil bagels, add toppings and bake.
Ingredients for Blueberry Sourdough Bagels
Here’s what you’ll need to make blueberry bagels at home.
5 CORE INGREDIENTS
- Bread Flour: A high-protein flour is needed for bagel making. You can use a white or whole wheat bread flour. King Arthur has a great bread flour that is usually widely available. I use this stone ground partially sifted whole wheat flour. I recommend using a blend of white bread flour and whole wheat flour.
- Water: Preferably warm water is best! Warmer water helps kickstart fermentation.
- Sourdough Starter: Be sure you are using active sourdough starter (not discard).
- Organic Blueberries: You can use fresh or frozen blueberries. I usually use organic frozen blueberries because that’s usually what I have on hand.
- Sea Salt: Enhances flavor (and nutrition) by slowing fermentation.
ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS
- Olive Oil: Used to grease the bowl or plate where are bagel dough will rise.
- Eggs: You’ll brush your bagels with an egg wash prior to adding everything bagel seasoning.
- Cream cheese: I used my favorite probiotic cream cheese from Nancy’s
Equipment Needed for Sourdough Bagels
- Dough Mixer or Mixing Bowl (by hand): You can prepare the bagel dough with either a mixer or by hand. Kneading the dough by hand is essential to the bagel making process (and my favorite part).
- Dough Scraper: Used for dividing our dough.
- Baking Pan
- Baking Scale: ideal for accurate measuring of ingredients and to weigh dough balls after dividing to ensure they are similar in size.
Tips for Making Sourdough Bagels
What flour is best for this recipe?
A high-protein flour is needed for bagel making. You can use a white or whole wheat bread flour. King Arthur has a great bread flour that is usually widely available. I use this stone ground partially sifted whole wheat flour. I recommend using a blend of white bread flour and whole wheat flour.
How do I make just one Sourdough Bagel?
Ingredients for One Sourdough Blueberry Bagel:
- 100 g Bread Flour
- 37.5g Mashed, Warm Blueberries
- 25 g Water
- 25g Sourdough Starter
- 2g Sea Salt
Looking for other sourdough bagel recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Step-by-Step Sourdough Bagel Recipe
French Toast Sourdough Bagel Recipe
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Blueberry Sourdough Bagels
Description
These blueberry sourdough bagels are naturally sweet with swirls of blueberry, soft and chewy, and bake up beautifully! If you aren’t yet a blueberry bagel fan, this recipe will make your heart swoon. All you need is fresh or frozen blueberries. Add your favorite cream cheese or butter for the perfect breakfast.
Ingredients
BAGEL RECIPE
- 400g Bread Flour (Please see notes for hydration tips depending on the type of flour you use)
- 150g Mashed, Warm Frozen Blueberries (37.5%) (Frozen blueberries will add a richer blue color to your dough but fresh works too)
- 100g – 120g Water (25%)
- 100g Sourdough Starter (25%)
- 8g Sea Salt (2%)
ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS
- Olive Oil – Used to grease the bowl or plate where are bagel dough will rise.
- Eggs – You’ll brush your bagels with an egg wash prior to adding everything bagel seasoning.
Instructions
- WARM AND MASH BLUEBERRIES: Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350f. Warm frozen or fresh blueberries for 5-10 minutes or until blueberries are soft but have not fully burst. Using the back of a fork or spoon, mash the blueberries until they burst. Transfer everything (blueberries and juice) to a separate bowl to cool for 10-15 minutes. Mashed blueberries should be warm, NOT hot before adding to the dough.
- MIX DOUGH AND FIRST RISE: In a bowl or stand mixer, mix all ingredients together including the cooled mashed blueberries/juice. Place the dough hook on the mixer and mix the dough on the lowest speed for 3 minutes. Or mix by hand for a couple of minutes until a ball forms. Now, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough for 3-4 minutes or until the dough is smooth. Lightly grease a bowl and place the dough inside. Cover the bowl with a lid, plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 6 – 8 hours or until it doubles in size.
- OVERNIGHT RISE: Place your dough covered in the fridge for overnight proof. This is where your dough will develop flavor and L.A.B bacteria will get to work enhancing the nutrition of our dough. Remember, the longer we ferment the better for us it gets!
- DIVIDE AND SHAPE: Dump out and divide your dough into 8 pieces, you can eyeball it or weigh them out on a dough scale. If the dough is sticky, you can always add a little flour to your hands or dough before shaping (I usually do not need to). Shape each into a ball by pulling the corners up and over. Now, use your finger to poke a hole through the center of each ball and rotate the dough with two fingers to form a ring.
- FINAL (SHORT) RISE: Place your bagels on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let it rest for 1-3 hours or until puffy to the touch.
- BOIL BAGELS: Preheat oven to 450f. Fill a large, wide pot water and bring to a boil. Drop bagels in, 2-4 at a time, making sure they have enough room to float around. Cook the bagels for 1 minute on each side and remove with a slotted spoon; drain well. Place on baking sheets and brush with egg wash.
- BAKE + ENJOY: Bake bagels for 17-20 minutes or until golden brown on the outside. Layer on grass-fed butter or your favorite cream cheese and enjoy every nourishing bite.
Notes
If using a White Bread Flour, keep water at 100g until your dough feels dense and soft but not stiff.
If using a Whole Wheat Bread Flour, increase water to 120g (30%) or until your dough feels dense and soft but not stiff.
If using a 50/50 White Bread Flour and Whole Wheat Bread Flour, increase water to 110-120g (27-30%) or until your dough feels dense and soft but not stiff.
Comments
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I’m so happy you enjoyed them!! And thank you so much for your review. Stay in touch 💕
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Sarah M.
March 22, 2023
Absolutely delicious. We did a maple syrup wash instead of egg due to allergy & they were so good!
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Hi Sarah!! I’m so happy you liked them! And such a great tip with the maple syrup wash (also that just sounds incredible too).
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Awe yay! Happy for you to try! Just make sure you use active starter not discard.
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Brittany Logue
May 17, 2023
These are the best sourdough bagels I’ve made but they taste like a plain bagel to me and my 3 kiddos! We will have to try to find a way to boost the blueberry flavor and try again because they’re so delish!
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Awe Im so happy to hear this!! And thank you for letting me know 🙂 You can replace water with blueberries almost 1:1 (i.e. add 50g more bluebs and 50g less water)!
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Morgan
July 22, 2023
My dough was a bit sticky when kneading for the 3-4 minutes before putting in greased bowl. Is that okay?
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Hi Morgan! If it is too sticky add more flour! The type of blueberries can affect it. You should feel comfortable kneading it (it should be a stiffer dough). Add 50-100g more flour and then add 1-2g more salt (depending on the amount of flour you add).
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Madison
September 4, 2023
Super good sourdough bagels, but agree with Brittany on them not tasting like blueberry bagels. I even added 50g more frozen organic blueberry’s and 50g less water and they still tasted like plain sourdough bagels. Still good though, I wonder if maybe the sourdough just overpowers the blueberries?
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Hi Madison!! All blueberry bagels in stores or at bagel shops contain natural or artificial blueberry flavoring. Bagels with real blueberries will have a more subtle flavor! You can try add 30g crushed, freeze-dried blueberries to enhance the flavor though! Thank you so much for reviewing! And please stay in touch.
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Ellie
March 2, 2023
These are SO good! Chewy and soft, with a nice crust from the boil and egg wash! I definitely wanted more of a blueberry taste to these but I would adjust and make again!