My family LOVES bagels. We buy and eat them bags at a time. I am on a mission to try making our bread and snacks myself to cut out unnecessary ingredients and be more cost effective, and bagels are next on my list. My hope is that I can get into a groove with bagels to make them on a weekly basis for my family to enjoy! 

Enter my four-year-old son who LOVES bagels – as long as they are not cut. A full-size bagel is usually too much for him to eat in one sitting, and unless I catch him before the remaining chunk gets fed to a dog or chicken, or left somewhere odd, we have a lot of bagel waste. I decided to adapt a sourdough bagel recipe I have used a few times from Lisa at Farmhouse on Boone to make some blueberry mini bagels that my son can snack on.

Sourdough in a Bread Machine 

I love a useful kitchen gadget, and the bread machine I bought with a gift card from our wedding almost 20 years ago has gotten some major use over the years. Traditional sourdough is very flexible and can fit your schedule, and the bread machine can make putting a sourdough recipe together even easier.  

This recipe uses a bubbly, active sourdough starter that has been fed within 8-12 hours. This will be important to get your bagels to rise before baking. 

Now, I do love working dough with my hands, but sometimes being able to put ingredients into the bread machine, letting it do the kneading and rising, then just letting it proof afterwards works best for my schedule. I still use the same measurements and allow the ingredients to autolyze (stirring the ingredients a bit then letting the dry ingredients soak up the wet ones) for 20-30 minutes. Then I run a dough cycle in my machine and allow the dough to sit in the machine for another 30 minutes to an hour for proofing (it stays warm in there for a while). After that, I follow the typical sourdough fermentation process and place the dough in a greased bowl, cover it, and let it ferment overnight to provide easier digestion when consumed. In the morning, I shape the dough and bake as directed in the recipe. 

Blueberry Mini Bagels 

There are a few different ways to use blueberries in this recipe depending on your preference (or just what you have in your kitchen). You can use fresh blueberries – I HIGHLY recommend wild picked when baking. The flavor is far superior to the store-bought, large berries. I often use frozen wild blueberries (Walmart has very affordable bags of them!) that I put in a strainer and run under room temperature water until it runs clear. You could also use dried berries, though I would let them sit in a dish of water to re-hydrate for an hour or so. 

Add the ingredients into your bread machine pan in the order the manufacturer recommends (I typically add in liquids/fats, then the sourdough starter, then sugars, then flour, then salt.) Mix with a spoon until somewhat incorporated, then let sit for 20-30 minutes to allow for the liquids to absorb into the dry ingredients. Once that is complete, run the dough cycle of your bread machine and allow the dough to rest and rise for 30-60 minutes after the cycle completes. 

Remove the dough from the bread machine pan, fold into a ball, then place into an oiled glass bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to bulk ferment for 8-12 hours. You can also place in the refrigerator until ready to work with the dough or to slow down the fermentation. 

Place the dough on a clean and floured work surface. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces and roll into balls. Use your thumb to make a hole in each dough ball and shape the mini-bagels. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for 1-4 hours. 

Once the bagels have risen, preheat your oven to 425*F. Start a pot of water boiling (about 6 cups of water). Once boiling, stir in baking soda and brown sugar until dissolved. Use a slotted spoon to gently place each bagel into the boiling water for about 2 minutes, gently turn, then boil for two more minutes. Place each bagel onto a cooling rack to drain, then place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a baking mat. 

Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown on top. Allow to cool, then slice and serve! For storage: I recommend storing bagels in the freezer and thawing a couple at a time. Homemade breads do mold more quickly due to not having artificial preservatives in them.

Bread Machine Mini Blueberry Sourdough Bagels 

Servings: Makes 16 mini bagels 

Ingredients 

Directions 

1. Be sure to feed your starter 4-12 hours before beginning this recipe. The timing depends on the strength of your starter and now warm your house is. Make sure it is active and bubbly! 

2. Add the ingredients to your bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer, or just start with the liquids, starter, and honey, then add the dry ingredients and blueberries 

3. Stir ingredients until just combine. Allow to autolyze for 20-30 minutes. 

4. Run the dough cycle on your bread machine. When it is finished, allow the dough to rest and rise for another 30-60 minutes in the warmth of the bread machine. 

5. Remove the dough from the bread machine pan, form into a ball, and place in an oiled glass bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Allow to bulk ferment and rise for 8-12 hours. 

6. Place dough on a clean and floured work surface. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces and roll them into balls. Flatten them slightly, then make a hole and widen it with your finger. 

7. Cover with a tea towel and let the dough rest in a warm place for 1-4 hours or until puffy. 

8. Preheat your oven to 425*F. 

9. Fill a pot with 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add in 1 tablespoon baking soda and 1 tablespoon brown sugar; stir until dissolved.  

10. Use a slotted spoon to gently place each bagel into the pot (do not crowd them) for about one minute. Flip them and boil for one more minute. Remove the bagels and let them drain on a cooling rack. 

11. Place the bagels on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or baking mats. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a golden-brown color. 

12. Allow the bagels to cool before slicing and eating! Store any uneaten bagels in the freezer until ready to thaw and eat.