Blueberry Bagels
56 comments » 
There are few things in the kitchen that bring me a greater sense of satisfaction than baking with yeast. Whether it’s bread, rolls, English muffins, pastries or bagels, I just adore it. I made my first batch of homemade bagels almost three years ago and still can’t get enough of them. I began with the plain variety and have tried a few variations since – Cinnamon Raisin (my favorite!), Asiago, and Egg. I got the urge for homemade bagels a few weeks ago and was thinking about a new flavor to try. One of my favorites has always been blueberry – lightly toasted and slathered in cream cheese. Delicious! So off I went on my blueberry bagel quest…
All of the bagels that I have made so far are variations off that first plain version, which is from Peter Reinhart’s book The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. All of his recipes are excellent, and he has always been so very helpful and generous with his time, responding to my emails when I ask how I would go about adapting the bagel recipe for things like Asiago bagels and egg bagels. This time was no exception, and Peter gave me some tips on creating the perfect blueberry bagel.
He recommended using dried blueberries since fresh blueberries will bleed into the dough and break down when you attempt to knead them into such a stiff dough. He said to use about the same amount of dried blueberries as raisins that is in the cinnamon raisin version (I actually reduced it by ½ a cup since the blueberries were larger than raisins), and again like the cinnamon raisin bagels, to increase the yeast in the final dough from ½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon to compensate for the dead weight of the dried fruit. Since the dried blueberries are pretty sweet, he didn’t feel that any additional sugar needed to be added to the dough.
The result was everything I had hoped my blueberry bagels to be: chewy on the outside, soft on the inside and packed with an enormous amount of blueberry flavor. Perfect lightly toasted with cream cheese. Mission accomplished!
Two years ago: For the Love of Peanut Butter and Cinnamon
Four years ago: Homemade Soft Pretzels
These look delicious! I’ve never made my own bagels before, but they are definitely on my list and blueberry is one of the best flavors to start with
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These look like they would make for a perfect breakfast. Wish I had one of these to enjoy on my day off from work tomorrow. They look awesome.
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LOVE the idea of making your own bagels- genius!
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this looks so delicious,..
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Blueberries are already on my current breakfast list so this would be an easy – not to mention delicious – transition from my normal breakfast routine!
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Delicious! I’d love to give homemade bagels a whirl once I have a big kitchen, aka more than one feet of counter space.
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These look incredible. I have been wanting to try to make homemade bagels. Can you use all-purpose flour instead of bread flour?
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Michelle on February 22nd, 2011 at 8:14 pm
Hi Lori, Eh I don’t know that I would use all-purpose flour for these; you really won’t get the same texture. Bread flour, in fact, is the second choice here, with high-gluten flour being the best. I order high-gluten from King Arthur Flour and when I’ve run out I’ve subbed bread flour in a pinch, and even with that I can tell a definite difference in texture. Bagels really need that extra protein/gluten.
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I have not tried to make bagels…but I think I should after seeing these. I love blueberry bagels…
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Blueberry bagels were my favorite kind growing up. My husband keeps asking me to make bagels so I might have to try one of your recipes!
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These look delicious – I’ve never made bagels – though I did work in a bagel bakery for a while!
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Delish!
I love how you added blueberries to this! 
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Wow these bagels look delicious! Blueberry bagels are my ultime favorite type of bagel, but you can’t always find them everywhere. I love the idea of using the dried blueberries too. Definitely have to try this recipe!
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I just had blueberry waffles for breakfast and now I’m wishing I had bagels! I’ve got to make these!
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Yum! Bagels are on my must bake list. Maybe I’ll try blueberry….
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These look absolutely amazing. I am going to have to try my hand at making bagels. You have convinced me to take the leap. Just want to let you know…I made your lemon burst cookies again….I used an icecream scoop for a nice size cookie. Was met with rave reviews. My friend’s husband brings us freshly caught fish and I make sure I hold up my bargain with one of his favorites.
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Drool-worthy. Like everything else on your site!
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I have been dying to make bagels, but still haven’t plucked up the courage. Perhaps after seeing this…
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They look perfect! I am craving one now!
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I can’t believe you made bagels. My family would love me more if I made these on a Sunday morning. They look fabulous!
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I’ve been wanting to make bagels for so long!
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Wow, these look just perfect! Bagels are my once in a while breakfast treat, but if I could make them myself they’d be 100X more delicious than storebought… I bet the aroma from the oven is something else, too. Thanks for sharing! I’ll have to roll up my sleeves and give these a try sometime.
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Blueberry bagels are in my top 5 favorite foods of all time! I love them so much. Yours look fantastic!
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These look wonderful!
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I really need to try my hand at bagels. Yours look delish!
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You’ve made some wonderful looking bagels. I have yet to try to make my own and to be honest, don’t know if I have the nerve to attempt.
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Yeast scares me. It’s so hit or miss for me. But these blueberry bagels (my favorite) look too wonderful not to try out!
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I made my own bagles once and they surely didn’t look so good, maybe I have to try again. These really make you feel like it’s worth trying! Thanks, Sabrina.
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I have always wanted to try my hand at making homemade bagels. You definitely make it sound doable!
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I think dried fruit bagels are my favorite sweet bagel. I’m going to make these!
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Love this adaptation to Peter’s recipe! Blueberry bagels are my absolute favorite!
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I totally agree that baking any sort of yeast dough brings a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. It also makes your kitchen smell divine! YUM. I’ve been meaning to make my own bagels for a while, so I’m excited to try these!
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I love blueberries and I love bagels. I’m not sure I’d be brave enough to attempt making my own. Yours look amazing!
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omg! these look delicious! Makes me sad because there is no decent bagel shops in New Orleans. Makes me miss the North
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I have had bagels on my list to make for some time now, but just haven’t done it. With this week off of school we will hopefully make our first set. I would have used the fresh blueberries, glad to read the tip here. Nicely done!
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Each time I look at one of your bagel recipes, I wonder why I haven’t tried making them yet. Here’s another one for the list!
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Those look great! I have made bagels before to kind of ease my longing for NYC and although they were delicious… they didn’t look that pretty.
They always turn out rather flat. Do you have any tips how they keep their well rounded shape?
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Michelle on February 22nd, 2011 at 8:19 pm
I think it kind of takes practice; mine turned out flat for awhile too. I just try to keep the dough as round and plump as possible when shaping, and not pulling it too much.
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LOVE blueberry bagels, I can just imagine how good your homemade ones are!
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I love that you said “There are few things in the kitchen that bring me a greater sense of satisfaction than baking with yeast.” I totally agree. Making more yeast breads from scratch is one of my goals for 2011. Now I’m going to add bagels to the list!
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You had to post this AFTER I went shopping for the week!! lol! I was so thinking about making my own BB bagels but couldn’t find a recipe that looked worth trying! I can’t wait to give these a try NEXT week.
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I’ve wanted to make my own bagels for a few months…all your great tips have inspired me to do it sooner than later~
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Oh what I would give to wake up to one of these bagels in the morning… they look scrumptious! I haven’t tried homemade bagels yet, but I think these are going to have to go on my to bake list. These and the Cinnamon Raisin ones. Yum!
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Big Apple Bagels has nothing on you. These look fantastic!
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What a great way to start the day!
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Blueberry bagels are my favorite kind of bagels, these look fresh and delicious!
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I love freshly made bagels. In fact, I’m making bagels this weekend to go with the homemade cream cheese I’ve got fermenting in the refrigerator.
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OMG, these would be heaven smeared with cream cheese and blueberry jam. Blueberry upon blueberry — it doesn’t get better than that.
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YUM! I can’t wait to give these a try. DELISH.
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Ummm…HELLO! Lookin’ good.
I haven’t made bagels in years…
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They look wonderful! It’s been a few months since I made bagels, but you know, as much as I love them, I’ve never made blueberry bagels. Wonder why? I have dried blueberries. Time to make some!
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Ok… this may be a dumb question but for the sponge you listed 4 cups flour( 18oz). According to my measuring cup 4 cups is 32 oz…. The batter for my sponge is a bit thick. Should I use the 18oz instead? Thanks in advance!! I’m super excited to try these!
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Michelle on March 8th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Hi Jaclyn, If you have a scale, I would always, always go with the weight measurements – they are definitely more precise.
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That looks wonderful. I have been meaning to try bagels.
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Yum! I used this recipe to make bagels on the weekend for the first time. I altered the recipe to make some plain and some cinnamon and sultana. Both were delish! It’s really, really hard to get good bagels in Australia so I was super-impressed with myself when I had salmon & cream cheese on chewy, tasty bagels for lunch on Sunday. Thankyou! Will definitely make these again.
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Thanks so much for this recipe. I have made the water bagels from BBA many times and my family loves them. My son’s favorite is blueberry and I really needed a recipe. I’m tired of buying over-priced blueberry bagels from the grocery store with very few real blueberries. I will be mixing the sponge tonight and baking them tomorrow. I’m hoping to leave the supermarket bagels behind!
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