Pumpkin Bagels Recipe

These pumpkin bagels are chewy, lightly sweet yeast bagels made with bread flour, canned pumpkin puree and warm pumpkin spice. The recipe makes 8 bagels in about 2 hours 15 minutes, most of it rising time: you boil them for 30 seconds a side, then bake them at 425°F for 18 to 22 minutes until golden and shiny.

The dough will feel a little tackier than a plain bagel dough. That is the pumpkin, and it is what keeps the inside soft. Leave it that way.

One Batch, Eight Bagels

• Dough: 3½ cups (440 g) bread flour, 1 cup (240 g) canned pumpkin puree, ¾ cup warm water at 110°F, 1 packet active dry yeast, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt
• Timing: 25 minutes hands-on, 1 hour first rise, 20 to 30 minutes second rise, about 20 minutes boiling and baking
• Boil: 8 cups water with 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 30 seconds per side, 2 or 3 bagels at a time
• Bake: 425°F (220°C) for 18 to 22 minutes on parchment
• Keeps: 3 days airtight at room temperature, longer in the freezer

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Bread Flour, Pumpkin and the Pumpkin Spice Mix

Bread flour has more protein than all-purpose, and that protein is what gives a bagel its chew. All-purpose flour still works, but the result leans soft, closer to a dinner roll than a bagel.

Use plain canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, which already has sugar and spice in it. Canned puree is steadier than homemade, which can vary a lot in water. If you do use homemade pumpkin puree, cook it down until it is as thick as canned.

The spice mix is what makes these pumpkin spice bagels: 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ginger and ¼ teaspoon cloves. If your cupboard only has a jar of pumpkin pie spice, use 2¼ teaspoons of it in place of all four.

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A Tacky Dough and Two Rises

Stir the yeast and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar into the warm water and wait 5 to 10 minutes. It should look foamy and smell like bread. No foam means the yeast is dead or the water was too hot, so start again with a fresh packet rather than risk flat bagels.

Mix the flour, salt and spices, then add the pumpkin and the yeast mixture and stir into a shaggy dough. Knead it 8 to 10 minutes by hand or 5 to 6 minutes with a dough hook. Pumpkin puree is mostly water, so the dough stays slightly tacky; it is ready when it is smooth, elastic and springs back slowly when you press it. Dust in flour only if it sticks to dry hands. Too much extra flour is the main reason homemade pumpkin bagels turn out dense.

Shape it into a ball, set it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rise somewhere warm and draft-free for about 1 hour, until doubled.

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Mold or Hand-Rolled Rings

Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. A kitchen scale makes them even, and even bagels bake in the same time. With a greased bagel mold, roll each piece into a ball and press it gently into a cavity, smoothing the top. By hand, roll each piece into an 8 inch rope, wrap it into a ring and pinch the ends together firmly. A weak seam opens in the boiling water.

Cover the bagels with a towel for the second rise, 20 to 30 minutes, while the pot of water comes to a boil and the oven heats to 425°F. To check them, drop one into a bowl of cold water. If it floats within about 10 seconds, they are ready to boil. If it sinks, give them 10 more minutes.

How to Make Pumpkin Shaped Bagels

For pumpkin shaped bagels, shape round rings, then tie 4 strands of kitchen twine loosely around each one, spaced like the lines on a pumpkin. Leave the twine slack, because the dough puffs as it rises and boils. Boil and bake them with the twine on, snip it off once they cool a little, and push a short piece of cinnamon stick into the top as a stem.

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The Boil: 30 Seconds a Side

Stir 2 tablespoons of brown sugar into 8 cups of boiling water. Lower in 2 or 3 bagels at a time and boil them 30 seconds per side. The hot water sets the outside before the oven does, which is where the chewy, shiny crust comes from, and the sugar helps it brown. Crowding the pot drops the temperature and gives you pale, soft bagels.

Lift them out with a slotted spoon onto a parchment-lined sheet. Add toppings right away while they are still damp so they stick: pumpkin seeds for crunch, or cinnamon sugar for something sweeter. Bake 18 to 22 minutes, until golden and shiny, then cool them on a rack before slicing. Cut too soon and the inside turns gummy.

Wrinkled, Dense or Pale Bagels

• Wrinkled after boiling: they were overproofed. Do the float test earlier next time and boil as soon as they float.
• Dense and flat: underproofed, or the dough got too much extra flour while kneading.
• Pale tops: the water had no sugar, the pot was crowded, or they needed the full 22 minutes.
• Ring opened in the pot: the seam was not pinched firmly; overlap the rope ends by about an inch.

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Spreads, Toppings and a Fall Bagel Sandwich

Toasted with plain cream cheese is hard to beat, but a swipe of pumpkin cream cheese or pumpkin butter turns them into breakfast that tastes like a bakery treat. For a pumpkin bagel sandwich, a fried egg, sharp cheddar and a little bacon work well against the spice.

For a fall brunch, set them out with pumpkin bread, pumpkin scones or a stack of pumpkin waffles. If you get hooked on boiling bagels, try my sourdough bagels next, and for an afternoon bake, pumpkin blondies use the same spice warmth.

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Keeping and Freezing Homemade Bagels

Keep cooled bagels in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer, slice them first, then freeze them in a freezer bag. They go straight from the freezer into the toaster, no thawing needed. Pin the recipe to your fall breakfast board so you can find it when the cans of pumpkin come out again.

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Bagel Day Questions

Can I make pumpkin bagels without a bagel mold?

Yes. Roll each of the 8 pieces into an 8 inch rope, wrap it into a ring and pinch the ends firmly. Hand-rolled bagels look more rustic and bake the same.

Why do bagels need to be boiled?

Boiling sets the outside before baking, which gives a bagel its chewy crust and shiny top. Without it you get a soft bread roll with a hole.

Can I use all-purpose flour?

You can, but expect a softer, less chewy bagel. Bread flour has the extra protein that builds the chew.