Stuffed Bagel Bites with Sourdough Discard

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Stuffed bagel bites are incredibly easy to make and absolutely delicious.

You can eat stuffed bagel bites fresh from the oven or make a big batch and have them for days. Pop a few in the microwave for 10-15 seconds and you have an instant breakfast.

I love to make my kids a hot breakfast, but sometimes I just need an easy morning – – and that’s where these stuffed bagel bites make their debut! Have extra sourdough starter? Throw that in, too, and this recipe is that much better! If you aren’t into sourdough, don’t worry. Just skip that ingredient! These taste great either way.

Making Stuffed Bagel Bites at Home

If you’ve never made bagels at home (I suggest you do, they’re awesome!), you are in for a treat.

Stuffed bagel bites, or bagel balls, as my kids call them, are easy to make and take little to no finesse. The first time you make them, stuffing the bagel bites may take a bit of time. But after one batch, you’ll get the hand and bust these out in a handful of minutes. And if you have little helpers, put them to work! My girls love to roll these.

If you have a stand mixer, the dough is a breeze. If not, you can knead by hand. However, if you are getting into bread baking and think you’ll be baking quite a bit, I highly recommend investing in a good stand mixer. Mine has put in 13 good years and is still going strong.

One piece of equipment I HIGHLY recommend is a kitchen scale. It costs very little, like $10-$15, and is worth its weight in gold for taking the guess work out of bread baking. I know it seems weird to weigh flour when you can simply scoop 1 cup with a cup measure. But trust me when I say you’ll measure 1 cup of flour differently every. single. time.

Get a scale! You’ll be so happy you did.

Boiling Stuffed Bagels Bites

We are going classic New York style boiled bagels here. That’s the only way to make bagels, in my opinion. Sure you can just bake them, or even air fry them. But that’s not how we roll here.

If you want an amazingly delicious bagel, you have to boil. It’s quick and is easy clean up. Don’t let the boiling stop you. It’s a pot and water. If you can make tea, you can boil bagels.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1

In the bowl on an electric mixer, weigh and add the water, optional sourdough discard, active dry yeast, and honey.

Give it a quick stir to incorporate.

Step 2

Add in the flour and salt and mix for about 1 minute (with the dough hook of your electric mixer) until no more water remains and the loose flour has been incorporated.

Step 3

Let the shaggy dough rest, covered with a damp cloth or plastic wrap, for 5 minutes. This helps the flour absorb the water. This will also help your mixer by creating a more elastic dough that puts less strain on your mixer’s motor!

Then set the mixer to speed 2 and knead the dough for 5 minutes. It should be smooth and just a bit tacky. The bottom may cling to the bowl like in the image below.

Cover again and allow to rise until it’s doubled in size (about an hour).

Step 4

Gently scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a clean counter and divide in half. Keep the piece you aren’t working with covered in plastic.

Step 5

Cut off a piece of dough that weighs approximately 28 grams (I usually weigh one piece at 28 grams to get a visual of the size, and then I’ll eye ball the rest).

Fold the piece of dough over so it’s a rough ball shape.

Repeat for all 9 pieces.

Step 6

Flatten out each piece and put a dollop (about 7 grams) of cream cheese on each piece of dough.

Step 7

Fold up opposite sides of the bagel bites, pinch the seam well, and then roll the ball until it’s smooth. Repeat for all remaining bagel bites. If you work in batches like I have done here, this will only take a few minutes. You’ll get faster each time you make them:)

Step 8

Place the assembled stuffed bagel bites on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.

Repeat steps 5 – 8 with the other half of dough.

Step 9

Turn the oven to 400 degrees.

Bring a 3 quart pot of water to boil with 1 T of honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar. You’ll want the water to be about 3″ high.

With the water boiling, carefully add about half of the stuffed bagel bites into the pot. Boil for 1 minute, flip over, and boil for 1 additional minute.

Using a strainer, lift the bagel bites out of the water, tap off excess water, and place the boiled stuffed bagel bites on their tray.

Step 10

When the entire tray of stuffed bagel bites has been boiled, place in the preheated oven for 18-22 minutes.

If a couple explode, no worries. It happens! I’ve made loads of these and I still get 1 or 2 that leak.

Tips for Stuffed Bagel Bites with Sourdough Discard

• If you don’t have sourdough discard, you can simply skip it. No adjustments are necessary. I’ve made these both ways and they are perfect each time.
• Don’t skip the boiling step! The texture will completely change without boiling. Good bagels are boiled. Don’t skimp!
• If you love bagels, I highly recommend checking out these bagel recipes. Once you taste homemade bagels, you’ll never need to visit a bagel shop again.
• You can fill these with any flavor of cream cheese. I’ve found that standard cream cheese in the brick shape works the best. Vegan cream cheese oozes out.
• If you are looking for more sourdough discard recipes, you may want to try these: discard bagels, discard wheat bread, and pizza dough with discard.
• Want to add more protein? Cut them in half and add turkey, cheese and/or eggs and you have mini bagel sandwiches at the ready!

If you have any questions, ask away in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by!

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