These super quick cinnamon raisin bagels are ready to enjoy in just about 2 hours! The addition of a little oatmeal, together with the cinnamon and raisins, makes these perfect morning bagels!
Why you’ll love these cinnamon raisin bagels!
- These are bagels for the impatient, but you won’t compromise taste and texture in the process.
- The bit of oatmeal in the dough adds both texture and flavour, that a short-rise bagel often lacks.
- I love making a batch of these to pop in the fridge and enjoy all week. They also freeze well for up to 3 months.
What you’ll need
Flour – bread flour is recommended, for the best chewy texture. If you only have all-purpose flour, that will work, too, with just a slight change in texture. You may find that you need to use a touch more flour if using all-purpose flour, as well.
Oats – this recipe uses quick-cooking oats. If you only have large-flake, old-fashioned rolled oats, you can run them through a food processor, pulsing a few times, to cut them down in size. Measure the required amount after processing.
Yeast – I love and always recommend Instant Yeast such as SAF Brand. As this recipe starts with proofing in water though, Active Dry yeast will work fine,as well.
White Sugar – the sugar is added for sweetness but also to feed the yeast as it rises. You can reduce the amount of sugar, but do keep a little, for the yeast, for best results. You could also substitute brown sugar here, or a lesser amount of honey or maple syrup. If you use liquid sugar, keep in mind you may need to add a bit more flour as a result.
Raisins – I love Thompson raisins for these bagels, but Sultanas would be fine, as well. The raisins are “plumped” by soaking in hot water before adding to the dough. This step not only makes lovely plump raisins but prevents the dry raisins from soaking up the moisture from the dough, resulting in a dry bagel. I highly suggest taking the time to plump the raisins.
Cinnamon – I have done a lot of experimenting on how much cinnamon to use. On the one hand, I like a lot of it, but on the other hand, a lot of cinnamon in a yeast dough often results in a slow rise. I have settled on adding the bulk of it to the dough but also adding bit more. when incorporating the raisins into the dough. If you would like more cinnamon flavour, you can certainly add more, just understand that it may slow the first rise down a bit, so expect it to take longer.
Honey – Honey is used in the boiling water to boil the bagels. Honey creates a lovely golden colour on the baked bagels. If you don’t have honey, substitute an equal amount of brown sugar.
How to make cinnamon raisin bagels
- Mix the dough until it is moist, wraps the dough hook and mostly cleans the bowl.
- Remove from the mixer, knead in the raisins and additional cinnamon, then set to rise until doubled.
- After rising, divide the dough into 6 pieces and form into bagel shape. Set on a baking sheet to rest for 10 minutes.
- After the short rest, boil the bagels for 2 minutes (1 minute per side).
- Remove the boiled bagels to the baking sheet, then bake in a pre-heated oven.
- Baked bagels on a baking sheet.
Recipe video
Recipe tip!
If you are new at baking with yeast, it is important to understand that the amount of flour listed in the recipe is always approximate. It will vary from kitchen to kitchen, depending on flour brand and humidity levels etc. As such, we start with about 1/2 of the specified flour, then add the last bit just until our dough comes together smooth, moist and no longer sticky. Trust what you see in the bowl. It will tell you when you’ve added enough.
How to enjoy cinnamon raisin bagels
Cinnamon raisin bagels are one of my favourite morning bites. They are lovely toasted with butter or add a little bit of cream cheese after toasting, for a special treat.
Storing and freezing homemade bagels
I like to store these bagels in the fridge, to extend the shelf life. In the fridge, they will keep well for up to a week. On the counter, they will be fine for 2-3 days. You can also freeze these bagels for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen bagels on the counter.
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Get the Recipe: Cinnamon Raisin Bagels
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250 ml) lukewarm water, about 105F
- 2 1/4 teaspoons Instant or Active Dry yeast
- 2 Tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup quick-cooking oats, *see Note 1 below for using large-flake oats
- 2 1/2 -3 cups (325-375 g) bread flour, spooned and levelled, *see Note 2 below for using all-purpose flour
Knead in:
- 1/2 cup raisins, plumped, drained and dried
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, sprinkled onto dough in while kneading
For the boiling water:
- 1/4 cup honey, or brown sugar
- 8 cups water
Instructions
- Plump the Raisins: Add the raisins to a small bowl and cover with hot water. Let stand while you start the dough, then when ready to use drain and pat dry with a paper towel.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the kneading hook, add the lukewarm water, yeast and white sugar. Stir and let stand 5 minutes. Add the salt, cinnamon and oats to the bowl, together with 1 cup of the flour. Mix to combine. Add another 1 cup of flour and mix in. Begin adding additional flour in small increments, until you have a smooth, moist dough, that wraps the kneading hook and mostly cleans the bowl. Continue kneading the dough for 3-4 minutes in the mixer.
- Remove the dough to a floured surface and knead briefly, adding small amounts of additional flour only if the dough is sticking to your hands or the work surface. Pat dough out into a 1-inch thick oval and scatter raisins over top. Sprinkle the 1 teaspoon of cinnamon over top. Fold the dough over and knead to incorporate the raisins evenly into the dough.
- Form the dough into a ball, place into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Towards the end of the first rising period, start a large pot of water to boil on the stove-top, with about 8 cups of water.
- Preheat the oven to 425F (regular bake setting/not fan-assisted), with the rack in the centre of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, lightly flour the parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove the dough to a lightly floured work surface and gently deflate. Divide dough into 6 even pieces. *I like to weigh the entire dough piece, then divide by 6, to get a weight for each bagel. I then weigh out the individual portions. This way my bagels are all exactly the same size and will bake evenly.
- For each of the 6 pieces of dough into a ball, then use your thumbs to poke a hole in the centre of the ball, to make the hole for the bagel. Stretch the hole out with your fingers, making a bit of an exaggerated hole at this point (larger than you think it needs to be), as it will fill in a bit as it boils and bakes. Place onto the prepared baking sheet. Once you've formed all 6, cover with a clean tea towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Once the bagels have rested, add the honey to the boiling water. Boil the bagels, 3 at a time, boiling each side of the bagel for 1 minute. Remove bagels to the same parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining bagels.
- Once all bagels are boiled, place baking sheet into the preheated 425F oven and bake for 14-16 minutes or until deep golden in colour and hollow-sounding when tapped.
- Remove from oven and immediately remove to a cooling wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, store bagels in an air-tight container for 2-3 days at room temperature, 5-6 days in the refrigerator or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
More bagel recipes to love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Shouldn’t baking soda be added to the boiling water? The cooking shows I’ve seen always it to help with browning I believe.
Hi Ann, while baking soda is often used for bagels, using a sweetener (brown sugar or honey) is another way to boil them. It creates a glossy, slightly sweet finish which is nice with these bagels. As you can see from the pictures, they brown up just fine with this method as well.
Hi Jennifer!
I make your jalapeño cheddar bagel recipe almost weekly! My husband prefers Swiss cheese though so I use shredded Swiss cheese in the dough and then a slice of Swiss on the top! They have turned out so good that I now make them for my in-laws as well! We love them! I am wondering about making this cinnamon raisin recipe but using chocolate chips instead? Do you think this is the recipe to try that on? Thank you!
Hi Shannon, I’ve never had or made a chocolate chip bagel, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. The only thing to watch for I think would be making sure the chips are tucked inside the dough and not on the outside, as they may melt out when boiled before baking.
As soon as I saw this recipe this morning, I decided to make them; my very first attempt at making bagels. Recipe came together easily and definitely within 2 hours. The raisins I had on hand were huge; I will use smaller next time, but the bagels tasted delicious. We toasted and added butter; husband approved!
I’m so glad to hear, Barb! Thanks so much :)
Two hours? Count me in Jennifer! Cinnamon raisin anything is always one of my favorites too. Adding to my baking list!
Thanks MaryAnn :) It amazes me every time I make these how quickly they are made. And then I can just enjoy them all week!