Homemade Overnight Bagel Recipe: New York Style (2024)

This overnight bagel recipe is by far the easiest. And it’s a quick recipe. I recommend doubling and freezing the leftover bagels. Top the bagels with cheeses like asiago cheese and Parmesan cheese, sprinkle Everything Bagel Seasoning, your favorite bagel toppings, or enjoy them plain. My family gets so excited when they see me making bagels. These golden brown, chewy bagels do not last long in our house.

Jump to Overnight Bagel Recipe

The best overnight bagel recipe!

We love to eat bagels for breakfast with cream cheese, make a breakfast bagel sandwich, or even eat them for lunch with deli meat and good cheese. There is no scheduling for rise time and shaping. The rise happens overnight. The next morning toss the bagels in a brief kettle bath while the oven preheats, bake for around thirty minutes, and we have fresh New-York-Style bagels. And the house is filled with a lovely aroma, a pleasant smell to wake the family.

Simple Ingredients Breakdown for Overnight Bagel Recipe

• Warm water: The warm water helps the dry yeast dissolve and become active.
• Dry Yeast: The yeast is the leavening agent in the bagels.
• Bread Flour: This high protein flour gives this bagel the classic chewiness of a New York Bagel.
• Sugar: Because it tastes better. I have tried to leave the sugar out, but the difference is noticeable, so I have cut it down as low as possible without sacrificing taste.
• Salt: Because we all love the flavor!
• Melted butter or coconut oil: I apologize for breaking the baking rules. A little bit of fat, like butter or oil, adds flavor and produces a softer crumb. These bagels are prepared for young children, and I need them to be chewy but not too chewy. However, please feel free to leave it out.

Why are bagels boiled?

Boiling the bagels before baking them gives the bagels their distinguishable chewy texture. When a bagel is dropped into the boiling water, the dough’s starches gelatinize, some of the yeast becomes inactive, and the outside of the bagel becomes crispy. Thus, the kettle bath gives the bagel a beautiful shine and an outer crisp. It also creates a structure to the dense, chewy bread that we love. If you want to dive further into baking science, Food Crumbles has an excellent explanation.

What makes a bagel a New York Style bagel?

Typically a New York Style bagel has a golden brown, crispy outside and a savory, chewy inside. The history of the New York Style bagel is quite fascinating. Unlike the typical New-York-Style bagel, I add a few teaspoons of brown sugar to the kettle bath. New York bagels are delicious because of the bagel’s crispy outside and chewy inside. Thus, I’m carefully labeling these chewy bagels as New York Style Bagels because of their crispy outside, chewy inside, kettle bath, and savory, not sweet flavor.

How to get Kids Involved in the Kitchen?

It can be stressful asking your kids to help in the kitchen. But teaching kids to cook is a valuable life skill and a great way to bond with each other. There is so much for a child to learn in the kitchen. Kids can learn basic skills that will help them in life, such as following instructions, pouring and measuring skills, kitchen organization, spatial awareness, and more.

Here is a list of tasks for kids in the kitchen to make this overnight bagel recipe:

• gather ingredients
• measure the temperature of the water
• dissolve yeast
• sift flour
• measure out ingredients
• combine ingredients
• knead dough
• shape dough
• prepare pan
• choose toppings for bagels

I do not allow my littles to assist with the kettle bath. They are not able to comprehend the dangers of a pot of boiling water.

Excellent Recipe for Kids to Learn Baking Terminology

This is a great recipe for kids to learn about the process of baking bread, including the terminology. Introducing your kids to these words will provide the perfect hands-on learning opportunity. This method of learning has a fancy name, kinesthetic-tactile learning, which provides a multi-sensory experience for your child.

Here is a list of 10 baking terms to introduce to your child:

1. Yeast
2. Knead
3. Rise
4. Sift
5. Kettle Bath
6. Crumb
7. Gluten
8. Leavening
9. Proof
10. Shape

What are some savory bagel toppings?

Here is a list of 10 Savory Bagel Toppings:

1. Asiago Cheese and Parmesan Cheese
2. Everything Bagel Seasoning
3. Poppy Seeds
4. Sesame Seeds
5. Cream Cheese
6. Nut Butter
7. Bacon and Egg
8. Smoked Salmon
9. Ham and Cheese
10. Avocado and Tomato

How to make Homemade Overnight Bagels?

Equipment

• stand mixer with dough hook (or knead by hand)
• bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl
• baking sheet
• parchment paper (optional)
• kitchen scale (optional)
• large pot for kettle bath
• tongs or slotted spoon to remove bagels from kettle bath
• wire rack

Ingredient List

• 4 1/3 cup bread flour
• 1 tsp dry active yeast or instant yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/3 cup warm water (110-115ºF)
• 1 tbsp melted butter or coconut oil

Ingredients for Kettle Bath

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• water to submerge the bagels

Step-by-Step Instructions for Overnight Bagel Recipe

Mixing the Dough and Shaping the Bagels

1. First, follow the instructions on the yeast packet using only 1 tsp of the dry yeast. See TIPS below for exactly how I dissolve my dry yeast.
2. Then, sift the flour into the bowl of the stand mixer. Add the rest of the dry ingredients to the flour.
3. Once the yeast is foamy and bubbly (about 15 minutes), combine the yeast and the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Knead the dough with a hook attachment for 10-12 minutes. Check the dough to see if passes the Window Pane Test (see TIPS).
4. Cover the bagel dough with a lightly damp tea towel and rest for 10 minutes in a warm place (>65ºF). While the dough rest, prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper and a non-stick method. I use coconut oil.
5. Now, divide the dough into eight pieces, approximately 4 ounces each. Shape the equal pieces of dough into balls. Cover and rest on the counter for 10 minutes. While the dough is resting, clear a spot in the refrigerator where you can store your bagels for an overnight rise.
6. Next, poke a hole in the center of each ball and use a circular motion to form the ball into a bagel. The center hole should be about 1.5-2 inches in diameter. Place the shaped bagels on the prepared pan. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Kettle Bath and Bake

1. First, preheat the oven to 425ºF. Then, set the bagels on the counter while you prepare the kettle bath. Fill a large pot of water, enough to submerge the bagels, and place on high heat on the stovetop.
2. Then, stir in the salt and brown sugar in the pot of water. The kettle bath must be a rolling boil. Once boiling, carefully place the bagels into the water for 30 seconds on each side. Remove and top with seasonings or cheese.
3. Bake the bagels for 20-30 minutes. Cooking time may vary based on the oven. Enjoy! Store for 2-3 days at room temperature in an airtight container or freeze immediately. Reheat by popping the bagel in a toaster or preheat the oven to 350ºF, spritz the bagel with some water, and heat through.

Tips for Making this Homemade Overnight Bagel Recipe

Dry Yeast Instructions.

I prefer to use Red Star Active Dry Yeast. For this recipe, you only need 1 tsp. Warm 1 1/3 cups of water to 110-115º F. Stir in 1/2 tsp of sugar (or a pinch) and gently mix the yeast in. I whisk with a fork. Set aside for 10-15 minutes or until the yeast doubles or foams at the top.

Kneading with Hands

Stir in the flour with the wet ingredients until it can no longer be stirred. Then pour out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Work the dough by hand for 10-15 minutes. The dough will be very stiff.

Window Pane Test

To pass the windowpane test, take a small portion of kneaded dough and stretch it thin between your fingers. If you can stretch the dough thin enough to see light pass through the dough like a window, then you are done kneading the dough. The windowpane test indicates how well the dough will rise. If your dough stretches thin then you have successfully completed the kneading process.

Using Electric Mixer

This is a heavy, stiff dough. If doubling the recipe and using an electric mixer, knead each batch of dough separately. Due to the dough’s density, it can be a hard job on your mixer.

Storing

• Room temperature: store in an airtight container for to 2-3 days. To reheat, pop them in the toaster or preheat the oven to 350ºF, spritz the bagel with a little bit of water and heat through.
• Freeze: slice before freezing. If you are going to freeze your bagels, freeze them immediately. Freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat thaw them overnight in the refrigerator and pop them in the toaster.

Other Easy Ideas and Nutritious Options for Breakfast:

Homemade French Toast

A delicious and comforting food that is kid friendly and a sure winner for the whole family. Get the recipe HERE.

Mini Dutch Baby Pancakes

A spin on a traditional dutch baby. This mini pancake has the perfect little hollow to fill with fresh fruit. Get the recipe HERE.

Homemade Strawberry Applesauce

Three-ingredient instant pot applesauce recipe without any added sugar. Get the recipe HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Finally, I want to thank you for stopping by! Please say Hi in the comment section and share with me your favorite bagel topping. If you make this deliciously simple overnight bagel recipe, please leave a comment and give this recipe a star rating.

– With Great Joy, Katie

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