Sourdough bagels are delicious, with a glossy outside and a soft but chewy inside. The bubbly pockets are perfect for catching melted butter or filling with cream cheese. These blueberry bagels are perfect for your Maine summer, with just enough berries to highlight the flavor and mild sweetness without overwhelming. Though the recipe takes a long time, most of it is resting the dough, with quick, easy steps between. It’s the perfect recipe for a leisurely day at home.
On the Ingredients
- Blueberries may be Maine’s famous berry crop, but there’s another excellent reason to love them. They’re often called a superfood because of the nutrients packed in their tiny package. In fact, they’re one of the most nutrient-dense berries. Antioxidants are abundant in blueberries, especially low bush or wild blueberries. Specifically, they’re high in polyphenol antioxidants called flavonoids, which are known to protect against free radicals which cause DNA damage. This means blueberries may help slow aging and reduce the risk of cancer. Blueberries may lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease. The antioxidants in blueberries may also affect areas of the brain that are essential for intelligence, helping to maintain brain function and improve memory. The anthocyanins in blueberries may help improve insulin sensitivity. (Read more about the health benefits).
- Sourdough starter is a live fermented culture made with fresh flour, water, and yeast kept alive with regular feedings of flour and water. Many cooks keep a sourdough starter perpetually, using it to leaven bread and other baked goods.
Recipe Notes and Substitutions
If you start the process at 10 am, you can spend 8 hours periodically returning to the dough while you relax at home. By 6 pm, they will be ready to spend 12 hours in the fridge. They’ll be ready to finish up first thing in the morning (in time for breakfast).
Sourdough Blueberry Bagels
8
servings30
minutes20
hours40
minutes20
hours50
minutesSourdough bagels are delicious, with a glossy outside and a soft but chewy inside. The bubbly pockets are perfect for catching melted butter or filling with cream cheese. These blueberry bagels are perfect for your Maine summer, with just enough berries to highlight the flavor and mild sweetness without overwhelming. Though the recipe takes a long time, most of it is resting the dough, with quick, easy steps between. It’s the perfect recipe for a leisurely day at home.
Ingredients
6 cups bread flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp maple syrup or brown sugar
1 cup sourdough starter
1 1/4 - 2 cups cold water
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
1 tbsp baking powder
Directions
- Mix the flour, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine 1 1/4 cups cold water, sourdough starter, and sweetener of choice. Note: the sourdough starter may be clumping, which is okay. Pour the wet ingredients into the cry and use your hands to knead them together until a uniform ball forms. The dough should be stiff and slightly sticky but not too dry. Use extra water if needed.
- Cover the bowl with a damp towel and allow the dough to rest for 1 hour.
- Using a water spray bottle, mist your working surface, so it’s damp. Wet your hands and gently transfer the dough to the counter. Gently stretch the dough into a rectangle, about 1-inches thick.
- Spread the blueberries across the dough, trying to distribute them evenly and up to the edges. Carefully press the berries into the dough with your hands to keep them from shifting. Fold the dough rectangle in half to sandwich the berries in the middle. Fold the dough again from the other direction, so you have a roughly square-shaped, layered dough.
- Wash your mixing bowl, leaving the inside wet. Set the dough back in the bowl, cover with a damp towel and let it rest for 1.5 hours.
- Mist your work surface and wet your hands again. Transfer the dough to the surface and gently press it into a rectangle again. Fold it in half and then in quarters.
- Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with the towel, and let rest for 1.5 hours.
- Dust the work surface with flour and transfer the dough to it. Carefully stretch it into a rectangle of about 9x12 inches.
- Cut the dough into eight squares for larger bagels or ten squares for smaller bagels. Pick up a square and carefully tuck the covers under it, pinching to seal to create a ball.
- Cover a large cookie sheet (or two cookie sheets) with parchment paper, then dust the paper with flour. Arrange the dough balls on the cookie sheets so they are a few inches apart.
- Sprinkle the balls with flour, cover with damp towels and let them rest for 1.5 hours.
- Flour your hands liberally and pick up a dough ball. Using your index and middle finger, pinch a hole through the center of the dough, then stretch the bagel using both hands so it is ring-shaped, with the center hole about 1-inch in diameter.
- Place the bagel back on the parchment paper and repeat the step to form the other bagels. Note that the bagels will be a little larger in this shape than the balls, so to ensure there are still a few inches between each bagel, you may need to rearrange them on the sheets. Cover the bagels with damp towels and let them rest at room temperature for 2 hours.
- Finally, place them in the refrigerator for 12 hours for the final proof.
- After 12 hours, preheat your oven to 450° F.
- Fill a large pot halfway with water and 1 tbsp of baking powder. Bring it to a boil. Using a large slotted or skimmer spoon, carefully lower a bagel into the boiling water.
- Let it boil for 1 minute, turn it over and boil for 1 minute. Carefully remove the bagel from the water, set it back on the cookie sheet, and repeat the process with the over bagels.
- Bake the bagels for 20 minutes, or until golden brown, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through the bake, so they cook evenly.
- Remove them from the oven and transfer them to wire racks to cool for 30 minutes. Enjoy!
