Hi readers! I’m soooo excited to share one of my absolute favorite bloggers in the world with you, Tracy from Sugarcrafter! 
When Tracy sent me her guest post, I was eating a bagel (whole grain with honey walnut cream cheese from Panera to be exact. Gingerbread bagels don’t come out until November) and I got so insanely excited I choked on my bagel. Really I did, true story. Why was I excited you ask? Because of what Tracy made for her guest post!!! Gingerbread Bagels! Now how perfect is that?! I can’t wait to try out her recipe and I hope you’ll try it out too.
Hi there! I’m Tracy from Sugarcrafter, and I’m thrilled to be guest posting on Lindsey’s blog today. I’m a huge fan of Lindsey and her recipes, and I feel like we’re kindred spirits because we both have a passion for baking, and because we both like to blog recipes with step-by-step photos in the hopes that we can help both novice and skilled bakers alike. And of course, I also love bagels. Like her, I could probably eat one every day for breakfast, preferably toasted and with a light spread of vegetable cream cheese…yum. Anyway, as the wheels started turning in my head as to what I might bake up for her, I was going over all of the possibilities – cakes, brownies, cookies, bars – but instead, I kept finding myself coming back to bagels. A quick search on her blog, and I realized with a gasp that she didn’t have a single bagel recipes on file! Right then, I knew exactly what I’d be making. And, I wasn’t going to make just any old bagels – I’d make gingerbread bagels, of course!
Now, I have to confess that I’ve never had a gingerbread bagel from Panera (although they’re certainly on my list to try when they come back in season), so I’m not sure whether these taste similar to Panera’s bagels or not. But, I can say that they are delightfully spiced and perfect for fall, so I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I topped mine with a bit of spiced sugar (granulated sugar with a bit of cardamom and cinnamon mixed in) after boiling and before baking for a little extra spice. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. Makes 12 regular bagels or 24 mini bagels.
The Sponge
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 4 cups bread flour
- 2 and 1/4 cups room temperature water
The Dough
- 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for kneading
- 2 and 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp molasses
- 2 tsp malt powder
For Boiling and Baking
- 1 Tbsp baking soda
- Cornmeal
First, make the sponge. Add the flour to a large mixing bowl, and then add the yeast. Stir in the water until the mixture is smooth.
Cover it and let rise for about 2 hours. The sponge will about double in size, and it will be bubbly.
Next, make the dough. Mix the additional yeast into the sponge. Add 2 cups of the flour, the salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, honey, molasses, and the malt powder. Stir until you have incorporated everything into the dough, and then add the last 1/2 cup of flour. The dough will stiffen. Now, move the dough to the counter and knead. It’ll take about 10 minutes for the dough to acquire a smooth yet firm quality. If the dough seems too dry, wet your fingertips and work some water into the dough. If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour. The dough should be smooth and pliable when you are done.
At this point, divide the dough. The recipe will yield 12 regular or 24 mini bagels. I made 12.
Cover the dough with a damp cloth for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and spray the parchment with cooking spray. Shape the bagels by poking a hole in the center of the dough and gently working it out with your thumb, so that the hole is about an inch in diameter. Place each bagel on the pan and spray them (lightly) with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and let them rest another 20 minutes.
Next, use the “float test” to see if the bagels are ready to go in the refrigerator. Fill a small bowl with cool water and drop one of the bagels in. If it floats within 10 seconds, return it to the pan (pat dry), cover, and place the bagels in the refrigerator overnight. If the bagel does not float, keep checking back every 10-20 minutes or so until it does.
The next day, get a large pot of water boiling on the stove and preheat the oven to 500 degrees. When the water is at a rolling boil, add the baking soda. Drop the bagels a few at a time into the boiling water, and let boil for 1 or 2 minutes per side (the longer they boil, the chewier they will be).
Sprinkle the parchment paper with cornmeal, and then place each bagel back on the paper using a slotted spoon to drain. Top with the spiced sugar mix if desired.
When all of the bagels are ready, place the pan in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees. Bake 5-10 minutes longer before removing the pan. Place the bagels on a cooling rack and cool about 15 minutes.
Awww what a fun idea!
Love y’all!
wow these are perfect, in any possible way..and I can’t believe that you made gingerbread bagels, Very well done Tracy. Lindsey thank you for sharing her with us today! Have an awesome day ladies!
YUM! Now I’ll be craving gingerbread bagels all day long. Which, I’m not complaining about…
Awesome guest post!
Wow- these look wonderful! I have never had a gingerbread bagel before. I love bagels though, so I am definitely going to have to try them this season! What a great guest post!
Ok I have never had a gingerbread bagel…ever. And I’ve never made homemade bagels. That is definitely something I’m going to have to fix really soon. These sound delish!
I love making my own bagels! Gingerbread ones sound heavenly, and I can’t wait to try them out. So fun to see you over here, Tracy!
I love this. Anything gingerbread is a-okay in my book, and well, I adore Tracy more than cupcakes. Bagels truly are SO easy to make. Once you get going, you’re surprised by just HOW easy. One thing I do a bit differently than Tracy, I find using a metal slotted flat spatula makes flipping and removing the boiled bagels from the water much easier. I’m less prone to drop them back in the water.
Oh my gosh, this wins the cute prize for the day. And can you believe I’ve never tried to make bagels?
How perfect that you made Gingerbread Bagels for Lindsey, her fave. Your tutorial was very helpful, in case I decide to make them, and your bagels look so good. A great guest post:)
Lindsey,
Thank you for introducing Tracy to us. he’s a great guest blogger.
We’re crazy about homemade bagels!! Gingerbread are new, though. I can’t wait to try these, Tracy!
Perfection! These are so great for fall/winter breakfasts!
Those look amazing! I’m a huge fan of both gingerbread and pumpkin bagels, and I’m super excited that the seasonal flavors are rolling into stores. Yum!
Oh hell, I’m making these. State.
*stat
I love Tracy, so happy to see her guest posting here. I’ve never had a gingerbread bagel either but now I absolutely must!
Great recipe. Well done.
I love bagels – and I’ve never made them. You make it look so easy Tracy – and I’m sure it’s not. Thanks for sharing your recipe, and thanks Lindsey for introducing us
Yum!! How awesome to see a recipe for gingerbread bagels in early September. I’ve never had a Panera gingerbread bagel either, but I am sure these would rival those!
Tracy, these look so darn good. That list of spices is making me salivate.
These are beautiful and I bet that Lindsey LOVED that you made these! I’m sure they were delicious!
Love this! These bagels sound so awesome. Yum!
Love the step by step pictures, because bagels have always slightly frightened me. Your pictures are giving me confidence . . . a confidence that will hopefully end in an actual batch of these treats!
What a labor of creativity. Love ‘em!
so fun that she made these! And they look really good – perfect for fall baking
How perfect! I have been wanting to make bagels lately and I love this flavor
Pumpkin would have to come first in my kitchen though!
This looks absolutely delicious and not very scary to make! I will have to try this soon
I’m heartbroken. I’ve just learned that Panera is not doing the gingerbread bagel this year. I’ve been patiently waiting all year for it. So I need to satisfy my fix on my own. I will definitely try these….but they’re not the dark color of the Panera Gingerbread bagel.
I just found out today too that gingerbread bagels will not be on the menu this year. This great bagel lesson has taken some of the “despair” out of the season!
I made these this morning. They’re very tasty. I had trouble incorporating the molasses into the flour and sponge, which gave my bagels a “marbled” look. Serving them with cinnamon and sugar cream cheese. Almost makes up for not having Panera bagels this season! Thanks for sharing!
Just made these and they turned out PERFECTLY! Yay! My first bagel success in the 3 recipes I have tried, thank you!