These Cranberry Bagels combine the perfect chewy texture of authentic New York-style bagels with the sweet-tart burst of dried cranberries in every bite. The two-day process might seem intimidating, but the results are worth the wait!
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🥯 The sweet cranberries paired with warm cinnamon create the perfect breakfast treat!
My 2 Best Tips For Making Cranberry Bagels
Float Test: This step determines when your bagels are properly proofed and ready for refrigeration. A correctly proofed bagel will float within 10 seconds due to developed gas bubbles. If it sinks, continue proofing at room temperature. Trust this test over timing to ensure perfect texture.
Shaping Technique: Start with small holes and gradually stretch to 2 inches in diameter, as they will shrink during proofing and baking. Keep thickness even around the entire bagel for uniform baking. Uneven spots create areas that bake differently.
I always lightly dust my Craisins with flour before adding them to the dough during the final minutes of kneading. This flour coating prevents the cranberries from sinking to the bottom of the bagels during shaping and proofing, so I get even distribution throughout each bagel instead of cranberry-heavy bottoms and plain tops.
Cranberry bagels are incredibly versatile and have become a weekend staple in my home. I love toasting them for breakfast with cream cheese, but they are equally delicious plain or with a smear of butter and honey.
These bagels also make fantastic sandwiches – the slight sweetness pairs beautifully with savory fillings like turkey and brie. I often slice and freeze half the batch so we can enjoy fresh-tasting bagels throughout the week by just popping them in the toaster straight from the freezer.
🩷 Melissa
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Cinnamon Cranberry Bagels
Ingredients
Sponge
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 4 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
- 2 ½ cups water room temperature
Dough
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 3 – 3 ¾ cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 2 ¾ teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons malt powder or 1 tablespoon dark or light malt syrup (Honey or brown sugar can be substituted.)
- 2 cups Craisins
To Finish
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- Cornmeal or semolina flour for dusting
- Melted butter for brushing optional
- Cinnamon sugar for sprinkling optional
Instructions
Day One: Make the Sponge
- Stir the yeast into the flour in a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter like pancake batter.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the countertop. (Mine was doubled in 1 ½ hours.)
Day One: Make the Dough
- In the same mixing bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer, add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour, cinnamon, sugar, salt and malt (or substitute).
- Stir or mix on low speed with the dough hook until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining ¾ cup flour to stiffen the dough. In the last two minutes of mixing, add the Craisins.
- Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or for 6 minutes by machine). The dough should be firm, stiffer than French bread dough, but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour – all ingredients should be hydrated. The dough should 77 to 71°F. If the dough seems too dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems tacky or sticky, add more flour to achieve the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not be tacky.
- Immediately divide the dough into 16 (3.375 ounce) pieces. Form pieces into rolls. Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.
- Line two sheet pans with parchment paper and mist lightly with spray oil.
- Poke a hole in a ball of bagel dough and gently rotate your thumb around the inside of the hole to widen it to approximately 2 inches in diameter. The dough should be as evenly stretched as possible — try to avoid thick and thin spots.
- Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pans. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Day One: The Float Test
- Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the float test. Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped into the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight.
- If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes until a tester floats. return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight.
- Note: The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the ambient temperature and the stiffness of the dough. The dough can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days so these are a good make-ahead option!
Day Two: Finish the Bagels
- Preheat the oven to 500°F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil — the wider the pot the better. Add the baking soda to the water. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.
- Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit. They should float within 10 seconds.
- After 1 minute, flip them over and boil for another minute. If you like very chewy bagels, you can extend the boiling to 2 minutes per side.
- While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you decide to replace the paper, be sure to spray the new paper lightly with spray oil to prevent the bagels from sticking to the surface.)
- When all the bagels have been boiled, place the pans on two middle shelves in the oven. Bake for approximately 5 minutes, then rotate the pans, switching shelves and giving the pans a 180-degree rotation. (If you are baking only one pan, keep it on the center shelf but still rotate 180 degrees.)
- After the rotation, lower the oven setting to 450°F and continue baking for about 5 minutes, or until the bagels turn light golden brown. You may bake them darker if you prefer. (I baked mine for about 15 minutes and you can see how dark they got in the picture.)
- Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes before serving. Optionally, when they come out of the oven and are still hot, you can brush the tops with the melted butter and dip them in cinnamon sugar to create a cinnamon-sugar crust, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
How To Make Cranberry Bagels
Step 1: (Day One) Mix 1 teaspoon yeast with 4 cups bread flour and 2½ cups water until smooth. Cover and let sit 2 hours until doubled and bubbly.
Step 2: Add 1 teaspoon yeast to sponge, then mix in 3 cups flour, cinnamon, sugar, salt, and malt powder. Add Craisins in final 2 minutes of mixing.
Step 3: Knead 10 minutes until firm but pliable. Divide into 16 pieces, form rolls, rest 20 minutes, then shape into 2-inch diameter bagels.
Step 4: Proof shaped bagels 20 minutes. Test one in water – if it floats within 10 seconds, refrigerate all bagels overnight.
Step 5: (Day Two) Boil bagels in water with baking soda for 1 minute per side. Place on cornmeal-dusted pans.
Step 6: Bake at 500°F for 5 minutes, rotate pans, reduce to 450°F and bake 5 more minutes until golden. Cool 15 minutes before serving.
Recipe FAQs
While the recipe is designed for two days, you can make them in one day if needed. After the float test passes, let them sit at room temperature for about 2-3 hours instead of refrigerating overnight. The flavor won’t be as developed, but they will still be delicious.
You can substitute honey, brown sugar, or even maple syrup in the same amount. The malt adds a subtle depth of flavor, but these alternatives work well too. Brown sugar is probably the closest substitute in terms of flavor complexity.
This usually indicates under-proofed dough or water that wasn’t hot enough during boiling. Make sure your bagels pass the float test before refrigerating, and maintain a rolling boil when cooking them. Also check that your yeast is fresh and active.
More Yummy Bread Recipes to Consider
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Cakelaw
These look so good! I have never made bagels before – probably something I need to do one day very soon.
Ninette
Hi Barbara, I’ve been out of pocket for awhile, and it’s good to see the world is still the same as you’re as productive as ever! Those bagels look amazing.
Asha@FSK
I don’t eat bagels often but I love them when I do.. i have been meaning to make them at home but the fact that they need to be consumed soon makes me hestitate.. but i think i really must try this.. your bagels look soo good!!!
Jamie
Homemade bagels….I could only wish to attempt something like this. One day. But I’ll admire yours for now. I love bagels and and what a way to celebrate World Bread Day.
bakingaddict
Wow looks amazing. Love the flavour combination.
daniela
Sono bellissimi ee certamente squisisti. Brava Barbara. Buona settimana Daniela.
pity
i’m glad is cranberry time again, i lve them! your bagels loos amazing, well done! cheers from london
Marly
These look better than the ones you can buy in stores. Amazing!
Faith (An Edible Mosaic)
I agree, there’s nothing better than the smell of bread baking! Your bagels look perfect, Barbara!
Jamie
Oh, Barbara, these are perfect! Happy World Bread Day indeed! I made cinnamon bagels once with dried cranberries just to try and think the tart, flavorful cranberries stood out beautifully and put me off ever adding plain old raisins again. Your bagels are stunning and make for the perfect weekend brunch.
Nic
I prefer dried cranberries to raisins – these look awesome! And I can see by the texture that they tasted soooo good!
Beth
I am so impressed with your bagels! I wouldn’t have thought to make them, but yours look so great, I’m considering it. Great flavor combination, too.
Zita
Out of raisins use cranberries, now… that’s a brilliant idea, it brings out the colour of your beautiful bagels 🙂
Cristie
World Bread Day, who would have thought. Your bagles are beautiful. You and Tiff could open up your own shop. The picture is just beautiful.
Kim
Great post Barbara! Although I love raisins, I think I love cranberries even more. These cranberry & cinnamon bagels sound like the perfect fall treat and a great pick for WBD.
tiffany ~foodf finery
these look delicious! they are so pretty and i love the combination of cranberries rather than raisins. yum yum. i want them for sunday breakfast!!
Paula
These are awesome. Love the idea of the cranberries. As Natashya said, perfect for this time of year but also would be great over Christmas. This is the second post this week I’ve seen of home-made bagels. I really have to get up the nerve to try them one day.
Natashya
Wonderful!! I think hers is a riff on Peter Reinhart’s – they look perfect. I love the cranberry idea, just perfect for this time of year. ☺
Rosa
Those bagels are marvelous! I love this great combination.
Cheers,
rosa
Maria
Homemade bagels are the best. Love your flavor choice!! They look perfect!