Pumpkin Bagel Recipe
This pumpkin bagel recipe delivers the same dense crumb and chewy, shiny crust as a classic New York bagel, with warm pumpkin spice worked right into the dough. It’s a two-day, make-ahead process — most of the time is hands-off rise, not hands-on work — so it’s easy to fit into a weekend baking routine.
Table of contents
Why This is a Great Bagel Pumpkin Recipe
✓ Well Tested
This recipe was developed by me in my kitchen. It was tested repeatedly to fine tune the mixing, rising, shaping, boiling baking processes, and to perfect the texture and flavor of the crumb and crust.
✓Classic New York Bagel Texture with Pumpkin Flavor
This recipe is a variation of my popular New York Style Bagel recipe. I like a bagel with a dense (in a good way) crumb and chewy crust. This bagel is exactly that. The pumpkin brings an interesting flavor to the classic bagel style. The spice supports the pumpkin but doesn’t overwhelm. The seeded topping has a wonderful crunch.
These bagels also come in a sourdough version — check out my Sourdough Pumpkin Bagels if you’ve got a starter to use.
✓ Easy to Work Ahead
Because the recipe is designed to work over two days, this is naturally a work-ahead recipe. See the Make Ahead section below for specifics.
Ingredient Notes
- Bread Flour – Good bagels should have a very chewy crumb from a strong gluten network in the dough. High protein bread flour develops plenty of gluten.
- Yeast – I prefer instant yeast to rapid rise yeast for a slightly slower rise. A slow overnight rise in the refrigerator allows more time for flavor to develop.
- Pumpkin Puree – Use only pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. I find canned pumpkin more consistent for baking. If you have fresh pumpkin puree and it is very wet, blot the puree on paper towels to wick away extra moisture.
- Barley Malt Syrup – Adds a traditional slightly sweet note to the dough that actually enhances the pumpkin flavor and the spice note. You can substitute honey or a combination or honey and molasses for the barley malt syrup.
- Spices – In place of the spices listed in the recipe you can use the same total amount of any pumpkin spice blend.
- Baking Soda & Sugar – For boiling the bagels. The boiling process creates the specific shiny and chewy bagel crust.
Process Photos
Here’s what the recipe process looks like at each stage. Refer to the recipe card below for measurements and exact instructions.
Make The Dough
- Combine all the ingredients except the flour and mix to combine. Add some of the flour to form a thick batter.
- Switch to the dough hook and add the remaining flour.
- The dough will start out quite sticky and shaggy.
- After 5 minutes of kneading the dough should clear the sides of the bowl and cling to the hook.
- Set the dough into a lightly oiled bowl.
- Let the dough rise until doubled in volume. You are now ready to form the bagels.
Shaping & Cold Proof
- Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces.
- Roll each piece of dough into a tight ball.
- Poke a hole through the center of a dough ball.
- Use your fingers to stretch the center hole and form the bagel.
- Line the bagels onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Wrap the tray and refrigerate overnight.
- The next morning, remove the bagels from the refrigerator. During the night the bagels should rise slowly in the refrigerator. The won’t double in size but should be noticeably fuller.
Boiling & Baking
- Set up for boiling the bagels. Place a baking rack over plastic wrap or a sheet pan next to the stove.
- Gently lower the bagels into the boiling water. Adjust the heat to keep the water at a steady simmer. Flip the bagels every 30 seconds for 2 minutes.
- Transfer the boiled bagels to a cooling rack to drain.
- Dip the top of each bagel in the chopped pumpkin seeds.
- Arrange the bagels onto a parchment lined sheet pan.
- Bake until well-risen and lightly brown.
Make Ahead Tips
- This is naturally a make-ahead recipe since the bagels are made on day one and boiled and baked on day 2.
- After the first rise, the dough can be wrapped and held in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Continue with shaping when you’re ready.
- If you want to make the bagels in one day, skip the time in the refrigerator. As soon as the bagels are shaped set them aside for 30-60 minutes until they’re about 1/3 larger. Keep an eye on them so they don’t over-proof. Continue with boiling and baking.
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Pumpkin Bagel Recipe
These pumpkin bagels have the dense, chewy texture of a classic New York bagel, with pumpkin puree and warm spices worked into the dough. Boiling and baking gives them the classic shiny crust. The dough comes together the day before, so what's left on baking day is just boiling, topping, and a short bake.
bagels
Start Cooking
Ingredients
- 8 oz warm water (1 cup (about 100°F))
- ¼ oz instant dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
- 8 oz canned pumpkin puree (1 cup)
- 1 ½ oz barley malt syrup ( 2 tablespoons, see note)
- 1 tablespoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 25 oz bread flour (5 cups, divided, see note)
- 2 oz granulated sugar (¼ cup (for boiling))
- 2 teaspoons baking soda (for boiling)
- 4 oz pumpkin seeds (Chopped)
Instructions
- In a bowl for a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl combine 8 oz warm water ¼ oz instant dry yeast. Add 8 oz canned pumpkin puree, 1 ½ oz barley malt syrup, 1 tablespoon table salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg. Add 10 oz Bread Flour and mix to form a thick batter.
- If using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook. With the mixer running on low speed, add 15 oz Bread Flour and mix to combine. Knead 5 minutes on medium/low speed. The dough should cling to the hook and clear the sides of the bowl. If working by hand, stir in as much of the flour as you can, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in the remaining flour. Knead 5 minutes. Form the dough into a smooth ball.
- Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat the dough. Cover the bowl and set aside to rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ hours.
- Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Divide the dough into 10 even pieces. Use a cupped hand to roll each piece into a smooth, tight ball.
- To form a bagel, poke your finger all the way through the center of a ball to make a hole. Use two fingers to gently widen the hole. Continue gently stretching to form the bagel or twirl the dough around your fingers to widen the center hole (see photos). The hole should be 1 – 1 ½" wide.
- Place the bagel on the prepared sheet pan and continue to form the remaining bagels. The dough will probably spring back a bit so you can go back and re-stretch them once you're done forming all the bagels. Wrap the pan with plastic wrap and place the pan in the refrigerator overnight.
- In the morning, take the pan out of the refrigerator. The bagels should have risen in the refrigerator and should be noticeably fuller.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 °F. In a large pot combine 1 gallon of water with 2 oz granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons baking soda and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to keep the water at a rolling simmer. Set a cooling rack over a clean sheet pan or reuse the plastic wrap from the bagels. Place the rack next to the stove. Put the roughly chopped 4 oz pumpkin seeds in a small bowl. Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Lift a bagel off the sheet pan and lower it into the boiling water, bottom side down. Depending on the size of your pot, you can boil 3-4 bagels at a time. Boil the bagels for 30 seconds then flip them. Boil the other side for 30 seconds. Repeat the process again for a total of 2 minutes boiling time. Remove the boiled bagels from the water and set them on the cooling rack to drain.
- As soon as a bagel is cool enough to handle, place it top side down into the pumpkin seeds. Place 5 bagels on each sheet pan. You could fit them all on one pan but they may rise enough to stick together as they bake. I like all the sides to be crusty so I leave plenty of room between them.
- Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.
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Notes
If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.
You can use 1 tablespoon molasses plus 1 tablespoon of honey instead of barley syrup.
Storage
- Pumpkin Bagels are best the day they’re baked.
- For longer term storage slice the bagels about 3/4 the way through and pack them into freezer bags.
- Previously frozen or day-old bagels are best if toasted before serving.
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