Bringing a little bagel to a loaf of bread, with a chewy crust and a soft crumb, topped with homemade Everything Spice Mix or your favourite bagel topping.

bagel bread sliced on cooling rack

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Why you’ll love this bagel bread!

  • Bring all the great flavours and texture of bagels to a loaf bread! With a chewy exterior and a soft interior and topped with homemade Everything Spice and Seed Mix or use your favourite bagel topping! (scroll down for some classic bagel topping ideas!).
  • You’ll love how quickly this loaf comes together, too. It has a quick first rise, a very short second rise, a quick trip to some boiling water for the chewy texture, add the topping and then into the oven.
  • Lovely for sandwiches and perfect toasted (with butter and a bit of cream cheese), I’m sure this bread will quickly become a favourite in your home, too.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Everything Spice Mix – I’ve included a recipe for an Everything Spice Mix, but you can easily use a store-bought mix that you might have around. Alternately, if you prefer, simply go with sesame seeds or poppy seeds or whatever your favourite bagel topping is.

Yeast – you can start with either Active Dry Yeast or regular Instant Yeast, such as SAF Brand. Quick or rapid-rise yeast is not recommended for this recipe as written.

Bread Flour – high protein bread flour will provide the best texture for this loaf and is recommended, if you have it. If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all purpose flour, though you may find you need to add a bit of extra flour at the end of mixing. The resulting loaf will have a slightly different (lighter) texture.

How to make bagel bread: Step-by-step

photo collage of steps to make bagel bread 2

Step 1: Mix the dough until it forms a moist, but not sticky dough, that cleans the bowl and wraps the dough hook. You may need to add a bit of additional flour if your dough is sticky. Remove to a work surface, knead a bit, then form into a ball, place into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled.

photo collage of steps to make bagel bread 2

Step 2: Gently deflate the dough, then pat the dough into a roughly 9×9-inch rectangle. Roll up jelly-roll style, then pinch together the seam. Place into a greased loaf pan, cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise only 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil a large pot of water. Add baking soda (or honey) to the water, then boil the loaf for 1 minute on each side. *I add to the water with the top of the loaf down first, then when I flip it, the seam side is down. This makes for an easy transfer from the water to the pan, as you will already have the seam side down.

After boiling, the loaf will look a little strange, but it will be all good in the end :) The loaf is a little slippery after boiling. I found using a flat spatula, together with tongs works best to transfer the loaf from the water, back to the pan. Slide the spatula underneath, then use the tongs to grab/steady it. Return to the loaf pan (seam side down), brush with egg wash and sprinkle with Everything Spice Mix. Bake and enjoy!

Bagel Bread Topping Ideas

  1. Sesame Seeds
  2. Poppy Seeds
  3. Minced Dried Onion
  4. Oats and Grains
  5. Minced Dried Garlic
  6. Shredded Asiago Cheese*
  7. French Toast (Brown Sugar and Cinnamon)

*Cheese toppings are more prone to scorching in the oven, so you may need to loosely cover the top of the loaf with aluminum foil for the last part of baking, to avoid over-browning.

Recipe Tips

  • If you have a kitchen scale, weighing the ingredients is the best way to ensure a perfect loaf every time! If not, be sure to measure your flour using the stir, spoon and level method, for best accuracy.
  • If you would prefer a more conventional crust on this loaf, you can skip the baking soda in the water and use use plain boiling water. Your loaf will be more crisp vs. chewy, but will be much lighter in colour.
  • As this loaf has a chewy crust, I find it easier to slice it from the sides, rather than from the top.

bagel bread sliced on cooling rack

Storage and Freezing

This bread will keep well stored at room temperature in an airtight container or a bread bag for up to 4 days.

For longer storage, freeze well wrapped up to 1 month. Thaw bread in the wrapping, at room temperature.

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bagel bread sliced on cooling rack

Get the Recipe: Bagel Bread

Bringing a little bagel to a loaf of bread, with a chewy crust and a soft crumb, topped with homemade Everything Spice Mix or your favourite bagel topping. Makes 1 loaf.
4.50 stars from 4 ratings
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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Rising Time:: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

Dough:

  • 3/4 cup + 1 1/2 Tablespoons (200 ml) water, lukewarm (about 90F)
  • 1 Tablespoon white granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast, or 2 1/2 tsp Active Dry yeast (not rapid or quick-rise instant yeast)
  • 2 3/4 cups (335 g) bread flour, *see Notes
  • 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt, rounded

Everything Spice Mix (will make enough for 2 loaves):

  • 1 Tablespoon dried minced garlic
  • 1 Tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon dried minced onion
  • 2 1/4 teaspoon white sesame seeds
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon black sesame seeds, or more white sesame seeds
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
  • 3/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt, such as Maldon's, or 1/4-1/2 tsp fine salt

For Boiling:

  • 1 Tablespoon baking soda for every 6 cups of water*

Egg Wash:

  • 1 large egg, mixed with 1 Tbsp water

Instructions
 

  • Make the dough: Add water, sugar and yeast to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the kneading hook. Allow to stand for 10 minutes. Add 2 cups of the flour, together with the salt and knead in. Add the remaining flour in small increments and knead in. Knead for 3-4 minutes with a mixer or 5-6 minutes, if kneading by hand, until dough is moist, but not sticky, cleans the bowl and wraps around the dough hook. *if your dough is sticky, add more flour, a bit at a time and knead in, until it is no longer sticky.
  • Remove the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead a minute more, then form into a ball and place into a greased bowl or container. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
  • Preheat oven to 375F (regular bake/not fan-assisted), with oven rack in the centre of the oven.
  • Grease a metal 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan and set aside.
  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil. *Be sure the pot is about 10-inches wide, or your loaf will not fit in the pot! (It doesn't have to be super deep, as the loaf will float, but should be at least 6-inches deep and ideally more than that.
  • When dough has doubled, remove to a lightly floured surface and gently deflate. Pat or roll the dough into an 9x9-inch square. Roll up jelly-roll style and pinch the edge together. Place into the prepared pan with the seam side down. Cover with a clean dish towel and allow to rise/rest for 15 minutes.
  • When water is boiling and dough has rested, add baking soda to water. Lift the dough out of the pan and place into boiling water, top of loaf down. Boil for 1 minute, then flip over and boil the other side for 1 minute more. Using a flat spatula, to slide underneath the loaf and some tongs to secure and steady it, lift the loaf out of the water and back into the loaf pan, keeping the seam side down.
  • Brush loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with Everything Seed Mix or the topping of your choice (sesame seeds, poppy seeds etc.)
  • Bake in preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the loaf is deep golden brown and reaches 195F internal temperature when measured with an instant read thermometer (mine usually takes about 30 minutes). Allow the loaf to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

You can also use honey or barley malt syrup, instead of baking soda.
You can use all purpose flour, if that is all you have on hand. You may need to use a bit more flour than stated and your resulting loaf will have a slightly softer texture.
Leftover Everything spice mix will keep in an airtight container for several months.
Cuisine: American, Canadian
Course: Bread
Author: Jennifer Maloney
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 119kcal, Carbohydrates: 23g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 99mg, Potassium: 53mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 1IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 17mg, Iron: 1mg
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