Quick and easy bagels, flavoured with sun dried tomato and Asiago cheese. Ready in about 2 hours thanks to quick rising yeast.
I love to make bagels at home, but my usual recipe (from Peter Reinhart) is a two-day process and sometimes, I’m just a little impatient :) So enter this quick and easy bagel recipe, which is done in just a couple of hours thanks to quick rising yeast.
I’m not going to tell you that they have all the complex flavour and texture of the two-day bagels, but I am going to tell you that they are still pretty darned good and a great treat when you are impatient, too :)
I have gone with a sun-dried tomato and Asiago cheese version here. It’s one of my favourites, that’s hard to beat toasted with butter. It’s great for breakfast or lunch or as the base for a lovely bagel sandwich. That said, this bagel is easily adapted to whatever your favourite bagel flavour is. See the FAQ section below for some ideas.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Sugar – or honey, if you prefer (use just 1 Tbsp for honey)
Rapid Rise or Quick Rising Yeast – see FAQ below for alternate yeast options
Sun dried tomatoes – packed in oil or re-hydrated dried sun dried tomatoes will work here
Asiago cheese – I love the combination of Asiago cheese and sun dried tomatoes, but you can use any cheese you like. Aged cheddar or mozzarella would be good choices.
Step-by-Step Photos
FAQ
- Can I use active dry or regular instant yeast? Yes, although you will need to do a standard 1st rise (until dough doubles) and an extended second rise. So instead of 20 minutes each, it will probably be 60-75 minutes for the first and 30-45 minutes for the second rise.
- Can I do an overnight rise and bake in the morning? You can. Simply cover and refrigerate after shaping. In the morning, let sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes, then boil and bake.
- Can I add some whole wheat flour to these bagels? You can. I would suggest replacing about 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat. Any more than that and your bagels will be quite dense.
- Can I double the recipe? Yes! As these are super quick to make, I make them in a small batch and enjoy them fresh, but you can certainly double the recipe to make a dozen.
- Can I freeze the bagels? Yes! Bagels freeze beautifully and keep well for a couple of months in the freezer.
- What are some other flavouring or topping ideas? Cheddar and chive, cheddar and jalapeno, cinnamon and raisins or leave plain and just top with sesame seeds, poppy seeds or “everything” seed mix.
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Get the Recipe: Easy Sun Dried Tomato Bagels
Ingredients
For dough:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled, plus more, as needed
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons Rapid Rise or Quick Rising Yeast, *see Note 1 for alternate yeast options
- 3/4 cup warm water, 110º F
- 1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 cup Asiago cheese, shredded, plus more for topping
For boiling:
- 1 Tablespoon baking soda, for boiling bagels
Instructions
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a kneading hook, mix together 1 cup of the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Add warm water gradually and beat for 2 minutes at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Add another 1/2 cup of flour. Beat at high speed for two minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
- Stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough. Dough should be pulling away from the sides of the bowl and clean the bowl in spots. Add the shredded Asiago cheese and the diced sun-dried tomatoes. Mix to combine.
- Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead for about 1 minute or until smooth and elastic, adding additional flour as necessary. Form dough into a ball. Cover dough ball with a towel and let rest 20 minutes.
- Weight the dough ball to get a total weight. Divide that weight by 6 to get the weight each piece will be. Weigh out 6 individual pieces of dough to that weight. Form into balls. Push a finger through the middle of each ball creating a round hole in the middle. Stretch the hole by running a finger around the inside of the hole.. Place onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375º F. and bring at least 2 inches of water to a boil in a deep skillet or wide pan.
- When bagels hare risen, lower heat under the water to a simmer and add the baking soda to the water. Add a few bagels at a time. Simmer bagels in water for 1 minute per side, then remove from water and place back on the parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle tops of bagels with additional Asiago cheese while still wet. Bake bagels for about 30 minutes or until set and golden in colour.
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!
My first attempt at making bagels, holy cow was that easy! They came out fantastic! Although, for my tastes I didn’t get enough tomato flavor. As I saw in another comment, about adding tomato paste to the water. Going to try that next!
So glad you enjoyed them Jill and yes, these can certainly be tweaked, to taste :) Thanks!
Would adding a scoop of protein powder affect these at all?
Hi Linda, the short answer is yes, the longer answer is that you would probably need to use the protein powder to replace part of the flour (1 for 1). You don’t want to replace more than 1/3 of the flour. The texture of the bagels is likely to change somewhat, but as I’ve never tried it myself, I have no idea how much.
I made almost according to the recipe. I wanted to make a pizza flavored bagel! I added Italian seasoning and garlic powder along with a tablespoon of tomato paste to the water. Sooo good! Thank you for sharing!
Sounds great, Deonna :) So glad you enjoyed them. Thanks!
The bagel recipe I use requires 10 minutes of kneading. Why is yours so much less? (I don’t like kneading, but the bagels I made came out really good.)
Hi Michelle, that’s why these are called “Easy” bagels :) But, the easy part does make for a less chewy, more bread-like bagel. It’s the 10 minutes of kneading that delivers the chewy bagel. That said, there are times, that I’m quite ok with a lighter bagel, especially to just enjoy toasted or for a sandwich. So it’s really all in what you want at the end.
Could this recipe be adapted for gluten free flour?
Hi Jo and I honestly don’t know. I have no experience baking with gluten free flour. If you’ve had success with gluten free flour in yeast baking like this, it should work in the same manner.
This looks fantastic & I look forward to trying it. Could this be adapted to sourdough?
If so, how much starter & how much flour?
Hi Robin and yes, it could, though you would need to do a longer rise, for sure. As for how much sourdough, I understand that about 1 cup of sourdough starter is equal to 2 1/4 tsp yeast. After that, it would be as much flour as is needed to get that smooth, moist dough. Add in small amounts and just keep going until you get there :)
These seem totally do-able for me to tackle this weekend! I have all the ingredients, and I know my hubby would just love these for his breakfast bagel sandwiches!
Yes! They really are so easy. Enjoy :)
I love making homemade bagels Jennifer. And the flavor combination of these sounds just delicious!
Thanks so much, Mary Ann :)
That seriously sounds like a heavenly combo! I can only imagine how delicious these are smeared with some butter and enjoyed with a cuppa coffee!
Thanks Dawn!
There is nothing better than a homemade bagel!!! Well, except maybe a freshly baked NY bagel, but I don’t live in New York, so that point is mute. ;) These look absolutely perfect! I love the combination of sun-dried tomatoes and asiago in these – so unique!!! Plus, I love that these are easy to prepare! Because if I’m craving a bagel I can be pretty impatient. Can’t wait to make these!
Thanks Cheyanne and yes, these do the trick when not in NYC :)
These are my husband’s favorite bagels. I haven’t made bagels in forever so these are going on my list. Grab the cream cheese, we will be in bagel heaven!
Thanks Tricia and they are a favourite of mine, too :)
Hi
Was wondering why you changed your format, to print on several pages as oppose to just 1 as before, hate using so much paper. Love your recipes. Thank you.
Gabriela
Hi Gabriela, I think it may be just an issue with this one. I was experimenting with the layout of the steps to match the step-by-step-photos, but I have compressed it now. I think you’ll find that most of the recipes will still print on 1 page, with the odd one maybe spilling the Notes or Nutrition onto a 2nd page, which you can choose not to print.