Apple Cinnamon Bagels

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Apple Cinnamon Bagels may just be the perfect brunch food. Not your average breakfast, not your average dessert. But oh sweet heaven, apple cinnamon bagels are delicious!

Making bagels at home is easy! Trust me here. I used to visit bagel shops at least once a week for years! No joke. Since making bagels at home, I haven’t stepped foot in a bagel shop. Homemade bagels are that good!

You will be amazed at how easy it is to make your own bagels. Flavor them any way you like, too. Make a handful plain, throw some everything seasoning on a couple, maybe roll a few chocolate chips in some, and top the rest of the bagels with this delicious warm cinnamon apple topping. You can’t go wrong!

How to Make Apple Cinnamon Bagels at Home

The right kind of bagels (to me anyway) are always boiled. That’s the good stuff. Don’t feel intimidated! It’s not hard. If you can boil pasta or make a box of Mac n Cheese, you can boil bagels. It’s that easy, I swear!

If you’ve made bread in the past, you may be familiar with the consistency of dough. Homemade bagels are a bit different, though. The dough is more dense to create a chewy bagel texture, whereas bread dough is more pliable to create a light and airy texture.

Chewy outside and just the right amount of softness on the inside – – you won’t be disappointed.

Step-by-Step Apple Cinnamon Bagels

We start by making the dough, and while that rises, we’ll make the warm cinnamon apples, followed by the streusel. Then it’s forming the bagels, boiling, topping, and baking. Sounds more complicated than it is.

As I said above, bagel dough is more dense than most other bread doughs. I love kneading this dough in my electric mixer with a dough hook..takes the work out of it! If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can still make this by hand. You’ll just be a bit stronger for it:)

Also, get yourself a scale! It takes any guesswork out of bread baking. There is little room for error when you use the exact measurement!

On we go!

Step 1

In the bowl of your electric mixer, weigh out 200 grams warm water (not hot, not cold, newborn bath water is the sweet spot), 6 grams yeast, and 21 grams of honey. Give it a quick mix with a spoon.

Step 2

Add in 400 grams of all purpose flour and 10 grams of salt.

Step 3

Knead (using the dough hook) for 30 – 60 seconds on the stir setting until a shaggy dough forms.

Step 4

Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes, covered with plastic or a damp towel. This allows the flour to absorb the water and helps with elasticity.

Step 5

Bump the speed up to 3-4, and knead for 8 minutes.

Watch your mixer. This is a dense dough. If your mixer is getting hot, you may need to stop it for a couple of minutes. I have found that this amount of dough is perfect for my 5 quart Kitchen Aid mixer. Any more and the motor works too hard.

Step 6

Drizzle a bit of oil in the bowl and roll the dough around in the oily bowl. Cover with plastic or a damp towel and allow to rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).

Step 7 – Cinnamon Apple Topping for the Bagels

Time to make the warm cinnamon apples for the bagels!

1: Take about 5 apples (any size, we don’t need to be specific), peel, and dice them.

2: In the pot you’ll use to boil the bagels (I use a 3 quart pot that’s about 4″ high), heat the chopped apples with 1 cup of water for about 5 minutes. Cover with a lid and periodically stir the apples.

3: When they are almost soft (a fork goes in with a bit of resistance) add in 1 T brown sugar, 1 tsp, cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp nutmeg, and mix.

4: Then add in 1/4 cup of water and 1 tsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) and stir until the liquid thickens, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and place in a small bowl. Set aside.

Step 8 – Quick Streusel

In a small bowl combine 2 T all purpose flour, 1 T butter cut into smaller pieces, 1 T brown sugar, and 1 tsp cinnamon.

Mix with a fork until crumbly.

Step 9

Bagel forming time! Dump out the dough onto a clean counter (no flour) and divide it into 6-12 equal-ish parts. 6 large, 8 average, or 12 small bagels.

Flatten the dough a bit, then pull the edges into the center and pinch those pieces together.

Flip it over so the seams are down, and then roll it into the counter and around a bit. You are using the counter to help ease those seams out of the dough underneath.

Then use a finger/thumb to push through the center of the dough ball to make the hole. Run your thumb through it a few times to stretch out the hole and give the dough its classic bagel shape. Repeat this for all the bagel dough pieces.

Keep the dough you aren’t working on covered with plastic.

Cover the tray with plastic that’s been greased or sprayed, and begin prepping to boil.

Don’t worry too much about making them perfect. They don’t have to be symmetrical! These apple cinnamon bagels taste great either way!

Step 10

Using the same pan you used before (why wash or dirty another?!) add about 2-3″ of water, cover with a lid, and set it to boil.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Step 11

When the water has come to a boil and the oven is preheated, it’s time to boil.

Place 3-4 bagels (or however many fit with space in between) in the boiling water for 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, flip the bagels and boil for 1 more minute.

Use a slotted spoon to carefully remove the bagels, allowing excess water to drain away, and place the boiled bagels on a tray with parchment paper or silicone mat.

Repeat for all remaining bagels.

Step 12

Sprinkle the just boiled bagels with the streusel topping.

Then spoon the soft cinnamon apples onto the bagels. Some will fall through the center, and that’s okay!

When all bagels are topped, take a bit more streusel and sprinkle it over the tops of the apples.

Step 13

Bake for 18 – 22 minutes.

Allow to cool just a bit before enjoying!

How to Enjoy and Store Apple Cinnamon Bagels

I store all my bagels in an unsealed plastic bag – – except these. Once the apple cinnamon bagels have cooled, I’ll store leftovers on a plate, covered with plastic, in the fridge for about 2-3 days.

These bagels can’t be toasted in a standard toaster due to their topping. Instead, I like to slice them, and then place the bagels in the middle of my oven. I then turn the oven on to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. When it completes its preheat and hits 350, I turn off the oven and take the bagels out. They are perfectly toasty!

I think these bagels are best as is, or sliced in half with butter, plain cream cheese, pumpkin cream cheese, or honey walnut cream cheese.

Apple cinnamon bagels are a sweet bagel, and so not ideal for sandwiches. A classic plain bagel or everything bagel is perfect for sandwiches.

I hope you give these bagels a try! They aren’t your every Saturday morning breakfast bagel, but more of a special treat Saturday breakfast/brunch.

Let me know if you try these and what you think.

If you’re on Instagram, I pop over there from time to time, so feel free to say hi! Thanks for visiting with us at Three Girls in the Garden!

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