Bagels are expensive - wow your family by whipping up your own dozen of blueberry bagels from scratch! It's easy, affordable, and healthy.

I I have to tell you, this is ¼-size batch of what I make for our family. Why? Well, if I’m going to the effort of making bagels, I want extras for the freezer as bagels freeze so good!
While baking bread saves you some money…bagels are expensive, and making your own saves you LOTS of money!
Growing up we would go on a fall bird hunting trip and we would stop at a coffee shop for my dad and every time I'd get a blueberry bagel with butter…they're nostalgia for me! Every couple years I buy some dried blueberries to make them because they're just too fun. Admittedly, most of my family loves my everything bagels more, but mom has to indulge herself too, right?!
Serve up with some homemade butter, and add bacon and eggs for protein.
Why You Need This Recipe
- Bagels are super easy!
- Much more affordable than the bagel shop, and still cheaper than the grocery store.
- Everyone can help make a ton at once to load the freezer.
Key Ingredients
Flour - I combine all-purpose and fresh ground wheat to get the perfect level of chew!
Yeast - Active dry yeast is used, making it perfect if you aren't yet a sourdough person!
Blueberries - The dried fruit works so well here as it soaks up any excess moisture in the dough. I don't recommend using fresh. You could also use raisins, craisins, or any other dried fruit.
Sugar - The yeast needs sugar to feed, and you also need some to achieve the perfect outer crust. I use organic cane sugar or coconut sugar.
How to Make Blueberry Bagels From Scratch
***See recipe card below for precise measurements and instructions.***
Step 1: Combine flours and sugar in a bowl. Dissolve the yeast in warm water.
Step 2: Combine wet and dry and stir well to combine. It will be a sticky dough but shouldn't be gloppy.
Step 3: Stir in the dried blueberries.
Step 4: Shape into a ball and let rise until doubled.
Step 5: Divide dough into 12 equal pieces.
Step 6: Make logs and pinch them closed in a circle.
Step 7: Boil in sugar water before placing on a baking sheet and using an egg wash if desired. Bake until delicious!
Tips and Tricks
- An egg wash isn't required. I sometimes do and sometimes don't. In a small batch, there's always egg left but I can feed it to the dogs. In a large batch, I won't have enough for all bagels, which is also fine.
- Use any dried fruit you prefer!
- Store your yeast in the freezer for longevity, but remember to get it out to come to room temp before using.
FAQs
It might not be the gold standard, but I will often roll into long snakes and then pinch closed in a circle. You can also shape like a dinner roll and then poke your finger in and stretch to make the hole. Either way gets me the end result I want, so I don't care if it's not "right".
The ratio I've landed on for this recipe is what I feel gives a really great texture without being too dense. After you've made these a few times, feel free to play with the AP vs WW. Just remember that when grinding your own, yeast requires hard wheat varieties rather than soft. You will have a sad, unrisen dough if you use soft wheat.
I love a recipe like this that proofs your yeast in water first. That way if it's bad, you'll know right away before wasting any other ingredients! If you aren't getting a good bloom and seeing foam within a few minutes, you know it's time for more yeast. We bake a lot so go through it, but otherwise you can store it in the freezer so it lasts longer.
Photos by Dante from Shire by the Sea
More Yeast Bread Recipes
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Blueberry Bagels
Equipment
Ingredients
Bagels
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose or bread flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour I used fresh ground hard white wheat
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 ½ cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- ½ cup dried blueberries
Boiling
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar or coconut sugar
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Mix flours, salt, and sugar together in the bowl of a mixer or a large bowl if you intend to mix with a danish dough whisk or by hand.
- In a measuring cup, measure water and yeast together. Stir to dissolve and let sit a minute.
- Add water into the flour, get mixing, then add dried blueberries. The dough will be a little sticky as the blueberries and whole wheat flour take some time to soak up moisture, but it shouldn’t be gloppy.
- Knead for 5 minutes. Let rise until double, about an hour.
- Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Divide into a dozen balls and shape bagels in your desired way. (Making buns then poking holes OR making snakes and pinch into a circle.)
- Set them aside to rest and then get a pot with water going. I use a one gallon pot half full of water. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar to the water. This will give them them that chewy crust!
- Boil for 1 minute on each side, then place on prepared baking sheet.
- If desired, brush tops with an egg wash.
- Bake for 25 minutes, turning the sheet halfway through.
Notes
- Sometimes I will dice up the dried blueberries to make them more spread through the dough, others I just leave em as is, I will leave it up to you.
- You can always swap the whole wheat for more white flour, or some of the white flour for more whole wheat - that's flexible. The more whole wheat, the denser they will be. I think this amount adds nuttiness and chew without sacrificing density.
- If you wanted to make these sourdough, you could take my everything bagel recipe and leave out the spices and instead add in the dried blueberries.
Sydney
Best blueberry bagels EVER! Thank you so much! Recipe was super easy to follow - will definitely become a regular baking staple.
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Yum!