This homemade easy vegan bagel recipe is the perfect batch for your weekend brunch. It tastes the best fresh out of the oven. It tastes the best fresh out of the oven. Pair it with your favorite cream cheese or try my super easy Vegan Whipped Chive and Onion Cream Cheese recipe.
New York Style Bagels
The first city that I ever lived in as an adult was New York City and I think it ruined bagels for me. Now that I’m a west coaster, it’s hard to find a shop that sells fresh bagels so I decided to make my own. New York style bagels are known for its dense chewy texture and is typically boiled in warm water with barley malt. It is also usually accompanied with an egg wash and some sort of assortment of seeds. The egg wash creates a crisp brown layer at the top to allow for the seeds to stick. I like to use a variety of seasoning ingredients including everything but the bagel, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds.
Make it vegan
The key to making homemade vegan bagels is the vegan egg wash made of dairy free milk, maple syrup, and flax seed meal. This mixture keeps the seeds sticking to the bagels while serving. I’ve tried an egg wash with nonstick spray and it just doesn’t work.
Substitutions
Barley Malt – traditional New York style bagels call for barley malt. Since my pantry is already full I like to substitute with maple syrup or honey if you’re vegetarian or plant-based.
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Fluffy Pop Up Bagels
Pin this RecipeEquipment
- Stand Mixer
- medium pot or sauce pan
Ingredients
Bagel & Water Bath
- 1 packet fast rising active dry yeast
- 520 g bread flour
- 1.5 cups warm water
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey sub maple syrup if vegan
"Egg" Wash
- 1/2 cup dairy-free milk
- 1 tbsp flaxseed meal
- 1 tsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Mix the warm water and active dry yeast together in a small bowl. Cover and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Mix the flour, sugar, and yeast mixture together in a stand mixer with the dough hook. Keep the mixing setting at low so that you're not over mixing. The dough is ready once you press it with your thumb and the dough starts to slowly rise back. For me it took 15 minutes.
- Spray the dough and bowl with some non-stick spray or add a bit of oil. Make sure the dough is covered on all sides with the oil. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 45 minutes – 1 hour. The dough is ready once it's at least doubled in size. I like to let my dough rise in the oven with the lights turned on for a little bit of warmth.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and sprinkle some flour onto a flat surface. Punch the dough so that it releases some air and knead the dough until it forms a ball. Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces.
- Roll a piece of dough into a ball and then use your thumbs to create a hole in the center so that it forms a bagel shape. Gently stretch out the dough to get to your desired shape. Pro tip: I find that it doesn't need to be perfectly shaped, once it bakes you won't notice all the imperfections. Repeat for the rest of the pieces.
- Preheat the oven to 425℉
- Whisk the non-dairy milk, flaxseed meal, and maple syrup together to create the "egg" wash.
- Set up your seasoning station: in a small bowl or plate pour out your seasoning of choice. If you're looking for a bagel that is packed full of seasoning then pour out lot (at least 1/4 cup).
- Fill a medium pot with 2 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Mix in the honey to create the water bath.
- Add the bagel into the water bath and cook for 30 seconds on each side, 1 minute total.
- After the bagel cooks immediately dump the bagel into the "egg" wash making sure it is covered on all sides. Then dump the bagel into the seasoning mix and coat the bagel with seasoning. If you want less seasoning then you can opt to sprinkle the seasoning on.
- Place the bagel on a baking tray and repeat the water bath and seasoning for the rest of the bagels. Pro tip: I prefer to do each bagel one by one or max two at a time so I can ensure the bagels are cooked properly and well coated.
- Bake the bagels for 20 minutes, flipping them halfway and rotating the tray. Let the bagels cool for 10 minutes before tearing into them with your favorite smear.
