Amazing Bagel Bread {Step-by-Step}

This amazing bagel bread holds all the delight of perfect, chewy bagels…just in loaf form. The step-by-step guide makes it so easy to make at home!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’ve made this recipe many times since I first saw it! I’m a novice baker and the detail you put into this post makes me look like a pro! Thank you for sharing! It’s come out perfect every time! -Victoria

How to Make This Bagel Bread

This bread might look intimidating, but I promise, it is so easy to make at home, and it is likely to be one of the most amazing baked goods to ever come out of your kitchen. You are going to feel like a total rock star. Here’s how to make it:

1. Make the dough and let it rise for 15 minute (or up to an hour).
2. Shape the dough into two loaves and let rise in loaf pans until they look perfectly ready to pop in the oven (except we aren’t going to pop them in the oven quite yet).
3. Prepare a water bath with honey and baking soda and bring to a boil in a wide pot.
4. One at a time, turn each loaf out into your hand and gently lower the loaf into the boiling water.
5. Boil for about a minute on each side.

6. Remove the loaf from the boiling water and place on a thin, non-textured towel (like this one – aff. link) and pat dry.
7. Place the shaggy loaf of boiled bread into a loaf pan sprinkled with a bit of cheese (if desired).
8. Slash the top of the bread several times and brush with an egg wash.
9. Bake until golden.

If you want to see a quick video visual of how to make this bread, here’s an Instagram reel I put together for it (and dedicated to Jennifer Garner since she made this bread once and called me “ballsy” for it 😜).

The crumb of the bread is ultra-soft and just a bit chewy. And that golden, cheesy crust. Oh my. It is to-die for delicious.

A Few Very Important Notes

• Do not under flour the dough. This bread dough relies on being just slightly stiffer than a regular, soft, dinner roll-type dough in order to keep it’s shape and not fall apart while being boiled and baked. Add flour until a soft dough is formed that doesn’t leave hardly any residue on your fingers.
• Pat the bread dry before baking. It’s important to use a towel to pat the bread dry before placing in the bread pan. I roll the bread up in the towel and let it sit while I spray the pan and prep it with cheese.
• Bake the bread for longer than you think. In order to avoid soggy spots on the bottom and corners of the bread, it needs to be baked until hot and sizzling.
• TRUST THE PROCESS. The first time making this bread, you might panic at the thought of tossing that perfectly good loaf of bread into a vat of boiling water. Don’t be alarmed when the bread looks lumpy and weird after it is boiled. Nestle it into the bread pan and just know that it will turn into the most deliciously golden loaf of bagel bread as it bakes.

Flavor Variations

Our favorite way to make this bread is as an Asiago or Parmesan loaf. I sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan cheese on the bottom of the pan and then on top of the bread before baking. I think my kids would riot if I made it any other way. However, just like flavored bagels, you could experiment with other variations:

• Cinnamon or Cinnamon Raisin: Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon to the dough or use cinnamon chips (like this cinnamon burst bread). If adding raisins, add 1/2 to 1 cup during the last minute or so of kneading.
• Everything Bagel: Sprinkle an “Everything Bagel” seasoning blend on top of the loaf before baking.
• Sesame or Poppy Seed: Sprinkle sesame seeds or poppy seeds on top of the loaf before baking.

This bread is easily one of my family’s favorite bread recipes of all time. We love it toasted (and untoasted!) with cream cheese or butter, and we can devour a loaf of this in a shockingly short period of time.

It is also exceptional used for sandwiches – like BLT’s. YUM. The bread is soft, chewy, and absolutely divine.

Amazing Bagel Bread

Yield: 24 slices (2 loaves)

Prep Time: 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Cook Time: 55 minutes mins

Additional Time: 30 minutes mins

Total Time: 3 hours hrs

4.66 stars (149 ratings)

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Ingredients

Bread:

• 2 ½ cups warm water
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 1 ½ tablespoons instant or rapid-rise yeast (see note for active dry yeast)
• 1 ½ tablespoons coarse kosher salt (use half for table salt)
• 5 to 5 ½ cups (709 to 780 g) bread flour (see note for substitutions and notes about exact flour amount)

Topping:

• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• ½ cup (57 g) freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese, or other toppings of choice, like sesame seeds, poppy seeds, Trader Joe's everything but the bagel seasoning, etc

Water Bath:

• 4 quarts water
• ¼ cup (85 g) honey
• 1 tablespoon baking soda

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Instructions 

• For the bread, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the water, honey, yeast, salt and 2 cups of the flour. Mix until combined.
• With the mixer on low speed, continue adding flour until the dough comes together and clears the sides of the bowl. The exact amount of flour doesn't matter as much as the texture and feel of the dough. It should form a soft ball that doesn't leave a lot of dough residue on your fingers – this dough does better if it is properly floured. It shouldn't be overly sticky.
• Knead the dough for 5 minutes. 
• Cover the mixing bowl and let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes (or up to an hour). 
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased or floured counter and separate into two pieces. 
• Shape each piece into a loaf by pressing into a thick rectangle, folding the bottom edge up to the middle and then grabbing the top edge and folding it down over the dough and pinching the seam to seal.
• Turn the loaf seam side down and pat and roll lightly to form an even 8-inch loaf. It's important for the bread to be in a very sturdy, well-formed, and well-sealed loaf shape so it doesn't unravel in the water bath.
• Grease two 8 1/2-X-4 1/2-inch loaf pans. Place the loaves seam side down in the prepared pans.
• Cover with a clean kitchen towel or greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until the dough rises just over the edge of the pan, about 45 minutes to an hour.
• For the water bath, toward the end of rising, prepare the water bath by bringing the water, honey and baking soda to a boil in a pot (that is at least 10 inches wide).
• Fold a clean non-textured kitchen towel (I use a flour sack towel) in half and place next to the stove.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
• One at a time, carefully turn each loaf of risen dough out into your hand and place the loaf into the boiling water. It's ok if the bread loaf deflates and looks a bit wonky. It will all work out! Trust the process.
• Cook for 1 minute. Use a wide flat spatula or other tool/spoon to flip the dough and cook for another 45 seconds to 1 minute. 
• Using two wide spatulas, carefully transfer the loaf onto the folded towel, using extra towel length to pat any water off the top and sides of the dough. I usually roll the loaf completely up in the towel and pat it on all sides to dry it as thoroughly as possible.
• Spray the same loaf pan with cooking spray and sprinkle a couple tablespoons of cheese evenly across the bottom of the pan.
• Unroll the dough from the towel and transfer to the pan (use the towel to help transfer the hot loaf, if needed). Tuck the dough down into the edges of the pan in a mostly even shape. It will likely look fairly bumpy and rustic – that's normal.
• With a baker's lame or sharp serrated knife, cut five or six slashes about 1/4-inch deep crosswise on the top of each loaf of dough.
• Brush the top of with the beaten egg and sprinkle each loaf with a couple more tablespoons of cheese. 
• Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes until golden on top (an instant-read thermometer should read 200 degrees at the center of the loaf). This bread needs to bake longer than a typical loaf of bread so it isn't soggy on the bottom.
• Let the bread cool for a few minutes in the pan before turning onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Slice, toast, slather with cream cheese, devour!

Notes

Yeast: if using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast, use the same amount of yeast but proof it in 1/4 cup water and a pinch of sugar or drop of honey until bubbly and foaming before adding to the other ingredients in the mixer. If doing so, decrease the water in the recipe by 1/4 cup.

Flour: Bread flour is important in this recipe for a sturdier loaf. However, if you don’t have bread flour, I’ve had good luck subbing in all-purpose flour + vital wheat gluten (I use 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten). Take care not to under flour the dough. It helps if this dough is slightly sturdier than a typical soft, bread dough. 

Author: Mel

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Method: Bake

Serving: 1 Slice, Calories: 137kcal, Carbohydrates: 27g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 9mg, Sodium: 617mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 6g

Recommended Products

Bosch Universal Stand Mixer

Dough Rising Container

9X5-inch Loaf Pan

Recipe Source: inspired by a recipe in Oct/Nov Cook’s Country (I adapted and changed recipe for two loaves, used honey instead of corn syrup, changed the topping from seeds to cheese, etc)

Recipe originally posted October 2018; updated August 2026 with more recipe notes, visuals, etc.

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