Strawberry Bagels
These homemade strawberry bagels are a delightful twist on regular bagels. They are chewy, slightly sweetened, and delicately flavored with strawberries. Perfect for breakfast or brunch.
They’re delicious when paired with cream cheese, served fresh, or lightly toasted.
About these strawberry bagels
Juicy strawberries add flavor and moisture to the bagel dough, plus a very light purple hue. You can use frozen or fresh strawberries in this recipe, as they are cooked down before being added to the other dough ingredients.
Cooking the strawberries first reduces their liquid content and caramelizes the sugars slightly, enhancing their flavor (like in strawberry compote!) It also helps control the amount of moisture added to the bagel dough. This recipe is based on my favorite bagel recipe for blueberry bagels.
Bagels are typically made from lean dough, meaning no fat is added. They use a relatively stiff dough with low hydration, resulting in a chewy, thick bagel with less airiness than other yeast bread. Use high-gluten flour with a protein level between 11-13% for a classic chewy texture. Bread or strong all-purpose flour with a protein above 11% works well for homemade bagels.
The Ingredients
The simple ingredients for these delicious strawberry bagels are listed in the printable recipe card below. Here’s a brief overview of what you’ll need:
- Strawberries: Fresh or frozen strawberries work in this recipe.
- Warm water
- Active dry yeast or instant yeast
- Granulated sugar: Just a little to enhance the sweet strawberry flavor.
- Bread flour or strong all-purpose flour
- Vanilla extract – Just a hint to complement the strawberry
- Salt
- Honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar: For poaching. Poaching the bagels in sweetened boiling water before baking gives them a golden, chewy crust.
Equipment
This simple recipe can easily be made by hand, but for extra convenience, use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.
Method
Dice the strawberries and add them to a small saucepan over low heat. If you are using fresh strawberries, add in 1/2 a tablespoon of water too.
Stir occasionally as they heat up and start releasing their juices.
Once quite a bit of liquid has been released, turn the heat up to medium. Let them simmer, constantly stirring until their liquid has reduced by half.
Pour the berries and remaining liquid into a bowl and let it cool down until just warm.
Combine water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Allow the mixture to become foamy, then add the flour, vanilla, salt, and strawberry mixture.
Use a fork or switch the stand mixer to low speed to combine into a thick dough.
The dough should be very thick but also a slightly sticky dough. If it’s too sticky, add a little flour. If it’s too dry, add a tablespoon of water.
Knead or mix for about 8-9 minutes until smooth.
Form the dough into a ball, place it in a large bowl, and cover it with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
Bagel Shaping
Let the dough balls rest for 5 minutes, then use your thumb and index finger to create a hole in the center of each ball. Widen the hole by rolling the dough circularly around your fingers.
Punch down the dough and transfer it to a lightly floured surface.
Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape each into a ball.
Place the shaped bagels on a prepared sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
Let them puff out a bit for around 30 minutes while the oven preheats and a pot of water is brought to a boil.
Poaching
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and preheat the oven to 428°F/220°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Stir honey or brown sugar into the boiling water, then poach the bagels for 1 minute, flipping after 30 seconds.
Remove the bagels with a slotted spoon and let them drain. Place them on the prepared baking sheet.
Remove the bagels with a slotted spoon and let them drain. Place them on the prepared baking sheet.
Baking
Bake them in the oven for 20-24 minutes on the center oven rack until they turn a deep golden brown. If they’re baking unevenly or your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheet after 15 minutes.
Remove the bagels from the tray and let them cool on a cooling rack for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Storing
Store any leftover bagels in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Bagels also freeze well, which will prolong their shelf life.
Freeze them for 3 months, then thaw at room temperature in a toaster, microwave, or low-temperature oven.
Additions or substitutions
- Extra strawberry flavor. These are delicately flavored. Add a tablespoon of strawberry powder to the dough if you want a bigger strawberry hit. This is made from freeze-dried strawberries, and it gives a great natural flavor.
- Color the dough. For pink bagels, add a touch of food color to the dough or a little beet powder for natural color.
- Other fresh berries like blueberries or raspberries work well too! For raspberries, strain the fruit after cooking to remove the seeds.
- Whole-wheat – For whole wheat strawberry bagels, half the flour can be swapped for whole wheat flour.
- Mini bagels – You can make this mini size too, shape it into 12-14 mini bagels and reduce the bake time accordingly.
Enjoy them with cream cheese, sliced strawberries, strawberry jam or your favorite spread.
Related recipes
Strawberry Bagels
These homemade strawberry bagels are a delightful twist on regular bagels. They are chewy, slightly sweetened, and delicately flavored with fresh strawberries.
Ingredients
- 210g (1 ¼ cups) sliced strawberries, fresh or frozen
- 150g (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons) lukewarm water
- 1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast or instant yeast
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 440g (3 ½ cups) bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
Poaching
- 2 liters water
- 1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar
Instructions
- Dice the strawberries and add them to a small saucepan over low heat. If you use fresh strawberries, add 1/2 a tablespoon of water too. Stir occasionally as they heat up and start releasing their juices.
- Once much liquid has been released, turn the heat to medium. Let them simmer, constantly stirring until their liquid has reduced by at least half and the mixture has thickened. Pour the berries and remaining liquid into a bowl and let it cool down until just warm.
- Combine water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. If using active dry yeast, let this sit for around 5-10 minutes until it becomes foamy, if using instant yeast, this step can be skipped
- Add the flour, vanilla, salt, and strawberry mixture.
- Use a fork or switch the stand mixer to low speed to combine into a thick dough. The dough should be very thick but also slightly sticky dough. If it's too sticky, add a little flour. If it's too dry, add a tablespoon of water. It will all depend on how much water was reduced in the strawberries.
- Knead or mix for about 8-10 minutes until smooth.
- Form the dough into a ball, place it in a large bowl, and cover it with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
Bagel Shaping
- Punch down the dough and transfer it to a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Let the dough balls rest for 5 minutes, then use your thumb and index finger to create a hole in the center of each ball. Widen the hole by rolling the dough circularly around your fingers.
- Place the shaped bagels on a prepared sheet pan lined with parchment paper and let them puff out for around 30 minutes while the oven preheats and a pot of water is brought to a boil.
Poaching
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and preheat the oven to 428°F/220°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Stir honey or brown sugar into the boiling water.
- Poach the bagels for 1 minute, flipping after 30 seconds. Remove the bagels with a slotted spoon and let them drain. Place them on the prepared baking sheet.
Baking
- Bake them in the oven for 20-25 minutes on the center oven rack until they turn a deep golden brown. If they're baking unevenly or your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheet after 15 minutes.
- Remove the bagels from the tray and let them cool on a cooling rack for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 238Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 266mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 2gSugar: 5gProtein: 7g
This is an informational estimate only. I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist
How could you make these blueberry instead?! Would you still simmer the blueberries?
I have a blueberry version on the blog 🙂 https://bakingwithbutter.com/blueberry-bagel-recipe/
Just took these out of the oven. Couldn’t wait to try one. Recipe is well written . Baked up nice and high and light. My only comment would be that there is very little strawberry taste. Next time will add some dried strawberry powder. Will absolutely make again.
Ooh yes strawberry powder would be amazing h in these! Great idea!