Sourdough Blueberry Bagels

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Soft and puffy sourdough blueberry bagels don a shiny, chewy exterior and are actually flavorful with pockets of sweetened dried blueberries! You can knead the dough by hand or in a mixer.

*Post and Recipe Updated 8/26/24

If you’ve been searching for a sourdough blueberry bagel recipe that is actually flavorful and sweet with the perfect texture, look no further!

These special homemade bagels are naturally leavened with sourdough starter and no yeast.

And the best part, you can forgo the artificial and undesirable ingredients and food dyes that store-bought blueberry bagels often have!

The recipe yields a small batch of 6 bagels, but it can easily be doubled. You can make the bagels in one day, or you can hold the dough in the fridge overnight and finish on day 2.

Why Use a Sourdough Starter?

I started down the road of sourdough bread baking several ago now, and I haven’t looked back.

Yes you can use sourdough starter to leaven a classic loaf of artisan bread, but it can also be used to leaven enriched breads, including blueberry bagels!

When dough is allowed the time it needs to ferment, you get more depth of flavor and a bread that is easier for the body to digest.

Some of my other favorite sweet sourdough treats to bake are Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread, Sourdough Danish Pastries, and Sourdough Filled Donuts.

You’ll have to try my regular Sourdough Bagels or my Whole Wheat Sourdough Bagels after you’re done here.

Sourdough Blueberry Bagel Ingredients

Flour: This recipe calls for unbleached all purpose flour. You can sub 10% of the flour for whole wheat flour without altering the recipe. I really like adding a little freshly milled khorasan for flavor.

Sweetened dried blueberries: You will notice that the recipe calls for sweetened dried blueberries. I tested with fresh blueberries, but they didn’t add the sweetness and flavor I was going for. Sweetened dried fruit works best here.

Diastatic Malt Powder: Diastatic malt powder is an optional ingredient that improves the dough and helps the bagels brown better. I also keep it on hand for my sourdough pizza crust.

Note that the bagels take a quick bath in a pot of boiling water with sugar or honey before baking. The boil sets the crust, makes the bagels shiny and chewy, and adds moisture for steam during baking.

Sourdough Blueberry Bagels Baking Schedule

*The strength of your starter, the temperature in your home, and other factors will affect how long each step in the recipe will take. This schedule is assuming a final dough temperature of 81°F and a room temperature of 78°F. If your house is cooler, expect the dough to take longer.

Feed your starter several hours prior to baking the recipe and allow it to peak.

Approximate timing:

• Mix, rest and knead: 45 minutes
• Bulk fermentation: 4 hours
• Shape: 10 minutes
• Proof: 2 hours, 10 minutes
• Boil and bake: 35 minutes

Optional cold ferment: Place the dough in the refrigerator after bulk fermentation. Pull the dough out to come back to room temperature the next day, then shape and proof the bagels as normal.

Tips for Making Sourdough Blueberry Bagels

• It’s crucial to use an active sourdough starter. If you store your starter in the fridge, feed it a few hours before you intend to mix your dough. Give it time to rise to its peak.
• Allow your bagel dough enough time to ferment and proof. The dough moves a little slowly at first due to the enrichments., so keeping it in a warm place will help. You’ll know if your bagels are under-proofed if they sink to the bottom of your boiling pot instead of floating. If this is the case, they will bake up dense or rise up into a funny mounded shape. If over-proofed, they will collapse when you try to transfer them to the pot or bake them. When they are proofed properly, they should keep their shape and have a slightly open crumb.

How to Make Sourdough Blueberry Bagels (Step-by-Step Instructions)

Step 1 – Soak Blueberries; Make and Ferment the Sourdough Bagel Dough

Place your dried blueberries in a small bowl and pour boiling water to cover the blueberries. Allow them to soak while you prepare the dough.

Add your ripe sourdough starter, milk, oil, sugar, salt, diastatic malt powder, and flour to the bowl of your mixer fitted with a dough hook. Once the dough comes together, you’ll allow it to rest for 30 minutes.

This rest will act like an autolyse to help the dough develop some strength before any kneading is done.

After this rest period, you can knead your dough in a mixer or by hand for several more minutes until it is very smooth.

The dough is on the stiff side, so if your mixer starts to lag on low speed, just increase the speed a step.

Strain your blueberries to remove any excess water, then add them to the dough and knead just a little longer until the blueberries are incorporated.

Dampen your hands, then remove the dough from the mixing bowl and form into a nice ball.

Place the dough in a straight-sided container with the lid propped on and let it bulk ferment in a warm place until it has doubled in volume (about 4-6 hours).

If you’re going to refrigerate the dough until the next day, let it rise to about 75% its volume. Pull the dough out to come back to room temperature and continue as directed.

Step 2 – Shape the Sourdough Blueberry Bagels and Proof

Line a half sheet pan with a sheet of parchment paper, then dust the paper with flour or cornmeal.

Now it’s time to divide the dough into 6 portions. Weigh your mass of dough in grams and divide the total by 6 to find the weight that each bagel should be. Cut the dough with a bench scraper and weigh as you go.

To shape the first bagel, place a piece of dough smooth-side-down on the countertop and press it flat to remove any air bubbles.

Begin rolling the flattened piece from the bottom or top, pressing the seam down into the dough with each turn, until your dough is in the shape of a log.

Lengthen the log to about 10 inches by rolling it against the counter with both hands as you use even pressure.

Open one end of the log. Then wrap the log around into a bagel shape placing the opposite end inside the opened end. Wrap the opened end around to seal.

Place one hand inside the bagel and roll the seam back and forth on your counter. This will smooth the seam.

Arrange the bagels on the prepared pan.

Cover the blueberry bagels with plastic wrap. Allow them to proof at room temperature until they look puffy and are soft to the touch (about 2 hours depending on the room temp). Don’t proof so far that they deflate when you poke them.

Step 3 – Boil and Bake the Bagels

When the bagels are nearly proofed, preheat your oven to 425°F with a rack in the center. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar or honey to a pot of water, and set over medium heat to bring to a soft boil. I use my Dutch oven for boiling bagels since it’s the perfect size.

Once the bagels are ready and your water and oven are heated, gently drop 3 bagels at a time into the pot (dampen your hands to prevent sticking as you transfer them into the pot).

Let them boil for one minute on each side.

Use a spider strainer spoon to gently lift each bagel out of the pot, allowing any excess water to drip off.

Place the bagels back onto the baking sheet.

Bake the bagels on the center rack of your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until they are nice and golden (rotate the pan halfway through baking if they are not browning evenly).

Place them on a cooling rack, and allow them to cool completely before you slice or store them. We love sourdough blueberry bagels toasted with butter or cream cheese!

How to Store Sourdough Blueberry Bagels

The bagels will store fine at room temperature for 2-3 days, and are quickly revived by toasted. For optimal freshness, though, I would suggest you slice them and freeze in a gallon zipper freezer bag.

Pop in the toaster when you’re ready to enjoy one for a quick breakfast.

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