Sourdough Pumpkin Bagels With Cinnamon Crunch Topping
These golden sourdough pumpkin bagels are lightly spiced, soft, and chewy and topped with a crisp cinnamon-sugar crumb. I love adding on some green pepitas, too, for an extra crunch.
These bagels are such a cozy treat. The pumpkin puree gives them this subtle sweetness and a soft and moist texture. I make them over a period of two days. The slow ferment lets all the flavors really develop and I think it improves the texture.
The cinnamon crunch topping is one of my favorite parts. It’s a streusel topping made of brown sugar, butter, flour, and cinnamon. I add pepitas for extra crunch, but walnuts or pecans would work well, too! You can go with homemade or canned pumpkin puree. Pumpkin purees can vary—some are a bit wetter. If your dough feels too sticky, add an extra tablespoon of flour, or leave it as-is if you don’t mind a softer bagel. A slightly stickier dough makes them a little more soft so feel free to play around with the texture you like best!
A few notes
Bagels can sometimes darken too much on the bottom, especially on dark oven trays or parchment paper. Lining your pan with a silicone mat adds a bit of insulation, which helps keep the bottoms from over-browning.
Cut individual squares of parchment paper to proof each bagel. When it’s time to boil, you can lift each bagel by the paper and drop it into the water. The parchment will slide off after a second or two, and you don’t have to squash your bagels while trying to pick them up!
Shaping Bagels
There are many ways to shape a bagel, but here are some pictures of the process I used for this recipe.
- Roll a dough ball into a rectangle. Roll it up tightly into a cylinder from the long end and seal the edges by pinching them together
- Lengthen the cylinder into a 10-inch rope on a clean surface. Flatten one end of the rope to about 1-2 inches long. Bring the rounded end of the rope around to meet the flattened end. Carefully overlap the flattened end over the rounded end.
Baker’s Schedule
Day 1
- Feed your starter in the morning, or the evening before
- Mix the dough in the afternoon and knead until smooth.
- Proof at room temp until nearly doubled, then refrigerate overnight.
Day 2
- Shape the bagels in the morning and let rise until puffed.
- Boil each bagel briefly, top with cinnamon crunch topping, and bake
Enjoy!
More sourdough recipes
Sourdough Pumpkin Bagels with Cinnamon Crunch Topping
Equipment
Ingredients
Starter
- 25 g sourdough starter
- 50 g bread flour
- 50 g water
Bagel Dough
- 120 g water lukewarm
- 32 g soft brown sugar
- 180 g pure pumpkin puree
- 440 g bread flour
- all the sourdough starter 100g (around 1/2 cup)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin spice
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Cinnamon-crunch topping
- 100 g brown sugar
- 40 g pepitas
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp butter melted
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
Poaching
- 2 litres water
- 18 g honey or brown sugar
Instructions
- In the morning or the evening before, feed your sourdough starter.
- Once the starter is ready to go, add it to a large mixing bowl along with the rest of the dough ingredients and use a fork to combine it into a thick and rough dough.
- Tip the dough onto a clean work surface and knead it until it is smooth and strong. For optimal gluten development, the dough should be worked and kneaded for around 8 minutes. Take a break if you need it, it will get easier to knead if you let it rest for a bit. Alternatively, mix the dough in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment on low speed.
- Once kneaded, place the dough ball in a bowl and cover it. Let the dough rise in a warm spot until it has almost doubled.
- Once the dough has risen, place it in the refrigerator overnight or for up to 24 hours.
The next day
- Pull it from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it into a ball.
- Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces (a kitchen scale works well to ensure even bagels) and shape each dough into a smooth ball. Let these dough balls rest for 5 minutes.
- Use a rolling pin to roll a dough ball into a rectangle. Roll it up tightly into a cylinder from the long end and seal the edges by pinching them together. Then, lengthen the cylinder into a 10-inch rope on a clean surface. Flatten one end of the rope to about 1-2 inches long.
- Bring the rounded end of the rope around to meet the flattened end. Carefully overlap the flattened end over the rounded end. If needed, moisten the flattened end slightly to help it stick.
- Place the shaped bagels on individual small pieces of parchment paper. Loosely cover and let them rise for around 2 hours until puffy – the timing will depend on your room temperature.
- Meanwhile, make the crumb topping by mixing all the crumb ingredients in a small bowl to create a loose crumble.
Poaching and baking
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and once the water is boiling, stir in honey or brown sugar.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Line a baking pan with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Drop the bagels on their parchment paper squares in the boiling water , in batches one at a time. Remove the paper once the bagels are in the water.
- Let them poach in the water for 1 minute, flipping them after 30 seconds. Remove the bagels from the water using a slotted spoon and place them on the baking sheet.
- Pile on the crumble topping and gently press it into the bagels. It will stick on better once baked.
- Bake the bagels in the oven for around 25 minutes. If they are baking unevenly or your oven has hot spots, turn the oven tray around after 15 minutes of baking.
- Remove the baked bagels from the tray and let them cool to room temperature on a wire rack for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
