This easy homemade bagels recipe proves that you can make deliciously chewy bagels without yeast at home with only a few basic ingredients. You can have fresh bagels any day of the week with this easy recipe!
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Prairie Farms.
Back in January Prairie Farms and I started talking about a collaboration using their cottage cheese and new small batch cream cheese spreads. My brain immediately jumped to bagels, specifically easy bagels. I’m thrilled to be able to show off not only their quality cottage cheese but also cream cheese today and, as always, all opinions are 100% my own.
Can we all agree that everything bagels are THE best bagel variety? Today I'm teaching you how to make homemade bagels at home (without yeast!) with just a few basic ingredients. Never in a million years did I think that I could EVER make bagels without yeast in my kitchen. But it's possible!
LET'S DO THIS!
These Homemade Bagels Are:
- Soft in the center
- Chewy on the inside
- Golden brown on the outside
- Comes together in just 1 bowl
- Done in 40 minutes— start to finish
No Yeast Bagels Ingredients
- Cottage Cheese: This helps keep the bagels light and airy while also adding the fat that the bagels need. Make sure that you're using a quality cottage cheese, like Prairie Farms.
- Eggs: We're using 2 egg whites to help bind the dough together.
- Flour: There's no fancy flour for this recipe, just plain all-purpose flour.
- Salt: Just a little bit of salt adds flavor to the bagels.
- Baking Powder: There's no yeast in this recipe but we need something to lift the dough while it bakes— that's where the baking powder comes in.
Overview: How To Make Bagels
There's not many steps to make these bagels, but let me give you a quick overview.
- Strain the Cottage Cheese: It's important to strain the excess liquid from the cottage cheese so the dough isn't too sticky.
- Combine Ingredients: Add all the ingredients together in a bowl.
- Stir Together: Stir together the ingredients until the mixture is somewhat crumbly— the dough will not form like a ball.
- Knead the Dough: Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough until it comes together.
- Shape the Bagels: Divide the dough into 6 roughly even sections and shape into balls. Press your index finger through the center of each ball to make a hole and gently shape the bagel into desired size.
- Bake: Bake until golden brown.
Bagel Toppings Prior To Baking
The bagel toppings are up to you! In our house, we LOVE everything bagels. After you add the egg wash to the bagels, dunk the bagel into the toppings of your choice. No matter the way, even plain, the bagels are delicious!
Here are some ideas:
- Everything
- Poppy Seed
- Onion
- Onion Salt
- Sesame Seed
How To Shape Bagels— 2 Easy Steps
Shaping bagels is a lot easier than it looks. Let me walk you through it.
- Poke your finger through the center of the dough ball. You want it to go completely through.
- Widen the hole to about 1-1.5 inches wide while moving your finger in a circular motion. This will naturally create the shape of the bagel.
Endless Ways To Top Your Bagel
Prairie Farms offers a wide variety of NEW small batch cream cheese spreads! These cream cheese spreads offer personalized snacking and options to complement recipes. The flavors range from sweet to savory and each cup is made with their award-winning Prairie Farms Neufchâtel cheese without artificial flavors, colors, preservatives or growth hormones.
Whether you enjoy the simplicity of a toasted bagel with cream cheese or loaded up your bagel with things like tomatoes, avocado, eggs, onion, etc. these bagels are delicious no matter the way!Prairie Farms currently has a sweepstakes running where you can enter daily to win FREE cream cheese spreads. Each week they are giving away 10 prize packages that include 10 “FREE” cream cheese spread coupons!
Homemade Bagels Recipe
Description
Ingredients
- 3 cups Prairie Farms cottage cheese, strained
- 2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 large egg whites
- egg wash: 1 egg white beaten + 1 Tablespoon water
- toppings: Prairie Farms cream cheese, sliced tomatoes, avocado, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside. Before starting, make sure you strain the cottage cheese of excess liquid.
- Prepare the Dough: In a large bowl, combine the cottage cheese, flour, salt, baking powder, and egg whites. Stir to combine— the mixture will be somewhat crumbly, not like a ball of dough, see picture above.
- Turn on the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead the dough until it comes together— about 2 minutes. The dough will be slightly tacky but it should not be very stick. If it is, add a bit more flour.
- Shape the Bagels: Divide the dough evenly into 6 sections. (Just eyeball it– doesn’t need to be perfect!) Shape each piece into a ball. Press your index finger through the center of each ball to make a hole and gently shape the bagel into desired size. The total diameter of the bagels are roughly 2.5-3 inches prior to baking. Place the bagels onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash on top and around the sides of each bagel. If adding toppings, dunk the bagel or sprinkle with desired toppings. For these I used everything seasoning. Bake for 25-30 minutes. If desired, broil for 2-3 minutes at the end. You want the bagels to be golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the bagels to cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes.
- Slice, toast (or not!) and top with whatever you want! Cover leftover bagels tightly and store at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: The baked bagels freeze wonderfully! Freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature. Then, warm to your liking.
- Flour: This recipe has been tested with all-purpose flour. Though I have heard that those who have used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour have successfully made this recipe.
- Cottage Cheese: Make sure you strain the cottage cheese prior to starting. Any type of fat % of cottage cheese works.
- Toppings: You can use the toppings of your choice— everything seasoning, poppy seeds, dried onion, etc.
These look AMAZING! My household loves bagels. We need to snag this recipe and try our hand at making them. Love all your pictures! Beautiful blog. Congrats on qualifying for ads! 🙂
These bagels looks perfectly delicious 😋 Love the play on the cottage cheese. These.would gp very well with a spread of my Persimmon Preserves.