Sourdough Pumpkin Bagels

Simple sourdough pumpkin bagels will give you all the goodness of pumpkin and sourdough brought together in one delicious bake! Make them sweet or savory - or mix them up!

Course Bread, Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword Sourdough Discard, Sourdough Rolls

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 30

Fermentation Time 2

Total Time 3

Servings bagels

Calories 188kcal

Equipment

Stand Mixer recommended but not essential
Baking Trays
Stock Pot or Dutch Oven for boiling bagels
Slotted Spoon

Ingredients

100 g Sourdough Starter fed and bubbly
250 g Pumpkin Puree store bought or home made
40 g Dark Brown Sugar
500 g Bread Flour
10 g Salt
50 g Water you might not need it though

For Boiling

2 Litres Water
40 g Honey

Instructions

Add sourdough starter, pumpkin puree and brown sugar together in a bowl. Gently mix together until well combined.
Now, add the bread flour and salt and bring it together to form a shaggy dough. It will be quite dry but that's ok. Use your hands to push the dough together and knead it in the bowl. If it's too dry and not coming together, add some of the water (add it gradually). You may or may not need the 50g of water at all.
When I make this dough, I usually need around 30g of the water to bring the dough together. Whether you need the extra water will depend on the flour you use, the consistency of your sourdough starter and how liquid your pumpkin puree is (see recipe notes for more info on this).
Cover and allow the dough to rest for around 15 minutes while it absorbs the pumpkin puree.
Now it's time to knead the dough. You can do this by hand or you can do it use a stand mixer or Thermomix. This is a stiff dough (much like sandwich bread dough) so it won't be super elastic, however it should be smooth and not sticky. Remember to give the stand mixer a break every few minutes if you are using it (dough hook required).
If kneading by hand, you'll need to work the dough for around 10 minutes. It should be smooth and supple when it's done. It is quite a work out because the dough is very stiff.
Once the dough is sufficiently kneaded, you'll need to allow it to rise or ferment. As it's a lower hydration dough, this will take time. Give it plenty of time and don't rush.
You want the dough to double and be puffy and soft.
Once the dough has risen, you'll need to shape the bagels. It's quite simple, you just need a little patience.
Divide the dough into 12 pieces weighing 80g each. Shape each piece of dough into a small ball.
Take each ball and poke a hole in the middle using your thumb or index finger. Gently stretch the hole out and then place each bagel on a sheet of baking paper to rise.
Pro Tip - make the hole a little bigger than you think it should be as it will shrink a bit when the bagels rise.
Cover the bagels with a dish cloth and allow them become lovely and puffy. Again, this may take some time because it's a lower hydration dough.
Once the sourdough pumpkin bagels are lovely and puffy, bring a pot of water with 40g of honey added to the boil and preheat your oven to 200C/392F.
When the water is boiling, carefully place 3-4 bagels into the boiling water at a time. You want to boil them for around 30 seconds each. They should float to the surface and that's when you know to take them out.
If you prefer really chewy bagels, boil them for up to 2 minutes each.
Carefully remove the bagels from the boiling water using a slotted spoon.
If you want to add seeds or seasonings, dip the wet bagel into the seeds/seasonings before placing on a baking tray.
You can leave them plain if you wish. I like to do a mix of seeded and plain (the plain ones can be dipped into cinnamon sugar - yum!).
Bake the bagels for around 20 - 25 minutes at 200C/392F. Remove them from the oven when they are golden brown.
Allow them to cool before you enjoy them!

Notes

Additional Water: As stated above, whether you need additional water will depend on the flour your use, the consistency of your sourdough starter and the liquidity of your pumpkin puree. Generally, if you are using a homemade puree you won't need as much extra water as if you are using a store bought canned pumpkin puree (as these are more solid than liquid).

Topping Ideas: Bagels can be topped with a range of different things including - sesame seeds, poppy seeds, flakey sea salt, everything bagel seasoning, parmesan cheese, shredded tasty cheese, cinnamon sugar just to name a few!

Kneading: ideally this recipe should be done in a stand mixer because it is a stiff dough - but you can knead it by hand if you wish. If using a Thermomix, utilise the knead function and follow the recipe as per normal.

Nutrition