Breakfast Dessert Light Bites & Snacks Recipes

Sourdough Cinnamon and Sultana Bagels

When I presented seeded multigrain sourdough bagels to my brother, the first thing he said was that I needed to make cinnamon and raisin sultanas. So grateful(!) but I took the constructive criticism and made this recipe for him.

I’ve adapted the Margot Bakery sourdough bagel recipe. It’s a great recipe, however, I could never fit 12 bagels onto my baking sheets, and the volume of dough was too large for my stand mixer! I also wanted to incorporate more wholemeal flour as a way of increasing the fibre content. I also didn’t have the malt syrup, so for anyone who wishes to make vegan bagels, swap the honey back out for the original malt syrup.

You could of course do the more traditional approach of cinnamon and raisin bagels, but I have always preferred sultanas over raisins. Other fruits that would work well in this recipes include dried blueberries, cranberries or cherries.

The bagels are best eaten fresh on the day, although still delicious if left for a day or two. A great way to capture that freshness is to slice the bagels in half and then freeze. This way they are ready to pop straight into the toaster from the freezer and are ready to be eaten within minutes.

Makes 12 bagels

Ingredients

For the leven

  • 35g 50:50 strong white: strong wholemeal flour
  • 115g 50:50 strong white: strong wholemeal flour
  • 25g granulated sugar

For the dough

  • 20g honey or malt syrup if making vegan
  • 180g strong white flour
  • 180g strong wholemeal flour
  • 400g plain flour
  • 12g salt
  • 10g ground sweet cinnamon
  • 120g sultanas

Extras

  • Vegetable oil
  • 50:50 mix plain flour: rice flour
  • 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Sourdough Cinnamon and Sultana Bagels

Method

  • The morning before making the bagels, refresh your starter with 35g 50:50 strong white: strong wholemeal flour and 35g water. Mix and leave for 10-12 hours.
  • The night before making the bagels, in a large jar mix 70g of the refreshed starter mixture, 115g 50:50 strong white: strong wholemeal flour, the sugar and 70g water. Leave for 10-12 hours.
  • The next day, mix all the remaining ingredients, 425g water and 250g of the refreshed starter. Knead the dough on a medium setting of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, frequently scraping down the sides and hook, for around 8-10 minutes. Alternatively, you can work the dough by hand, but it will be sticky so resist the urge to add extra flour. Knead for 10 minutes.
  • Lightly grease a 3l container. Transfer the dough, cover and allow to rest at room temperature for 3 hours.
  • Line 2 large baking trays with baking parchment and dust with 50:50 rice and plain flour.
  • Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and roll out into neat balls. Try to tuck any sultanas into the dough to prevent burning when baking.
  • Place 6 balls evenly spaced out onto a tray and cover with lightly oiled clingfilm. Leave to rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
  • Peel back the clingfilm, take one ball and make a hole in the centre of the ball. Using two fingers, stretch the ball into a bagel shape using a winding motion. Redust the parchment with 50:50 rice and plain flour and place the bagel back down.
  • Repeat for the remaining 5 balls on the baking tray.
  • Starting back with the first bagel, repeat the winding stretch to open the bagel back up.
  • Cover back up with the oiled cling film and leave to prove at room temperature for 3-6 hours depending on the temperature of the room; in warmer weather prove for a shorter period of time.
  • Transfer to the fridge overnight for up to 24 hours.
  • The next day remove the bagels from the oven and allow to return to room temperature.
  • Preheat the oven to 220°C fan/240°C convection, place a tray in the bottom of the oven, and bring 2l of water to the boil in a large pan.
  • Once the water is boiling add the bicarbonate of soda.
  • Boil the bagels in batches of up to 3 depending on the size of your pan for 30 seconds.
  • Remove and allow to dry slightly on a wire rack before transferring to a clean baking sheet lined with baking parchment, allowing space for them to expand in the oven.
Boiled bagels ready for baking
  • Once all the bagels are boiled, boil 200ml water.
  • As quickly as possible, place the trays of bagels into the oven and pour the boiled water into the tray at the bottom of the oven.
  • Close the door to trap as much steam as possible. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 20°C and bake for 15 minutes.
  • After 15 minutes, remove the tray of water and if your bagels are on split levels, rotate your trays around for even cooking. Bake for a further 8-9 minutes.
  • Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Per bagel: 205kcal/ 1.2g fat/ 0.2g saturated fat/ 41.2g carbohydrates/ 3.1g fibre/ 6.6g protein

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