Vegan Blueberry Bagels
These vegan blueberry bagels are easy to make and require less than 10 ingredients. They are light, perfectly chewy and bursting with spring flavor.
Growing up, Sundays were strictly bagel days. We’d walk to our corner deli in Brooklyn, and my order was always the same. Plain toasted bagel with butter. It would then melt into every nook and cranny of this massive bagel.
It wasn’t until I was older that I even wanted to try anything else. But I grew and my palate has expanded. However, unfortunately, I don’t live in New York anymore and ummm…as you can imagine bagels just don’t compare. So when the bagel cravings are strong, my second best option is making them myself. So if you are wondering, the current order is a blueberry bagel, a shmear of tofu cream cheese and blueberry jam.
Why You’ll Love These Blueberry Bagels
- Less than 10 ingredients. These common ingredients you likely already have at home too.
- Can be made ahead of time. Make a batch of bagels and freeze ahead of time for the week ahead.
- Great flavor and texture. Each bite gives you a burst of lemon blueberry flavor and has a great chewy texture.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
- Blueberries: I recommend using frozen blueberries as they more easily release their juices when thawed.
- Lemon: Use fresh lemon as we need both the zest and a small amount of juice.
- Flour: For the best consistency, use bread flour when making these bagels.
- Sugar: I recommend regular cane sure as it is easiest to rub into the lemon zest.
- Yeast: Instant yeast is best since we are mixing it directly into the flour in this recipe.
- Plant Based Milk: We are using this as an egg wash replacement. This will help further brown the bagels as they bake.
How to Make Vegan Blueberry Bagels
Add your blueberries to a small microwave safe dish and cook in the microwave, covered, for 1 minute. Once thawed, carefully mash the blueberries with a fork to release all of their juices.
Place a small sieve over a large measuring cup and pour the mashed blueberries into it to separate the juices. Set the mashed berries aside and to the measuring cup add enough warm water to the juice to fully measure 1 and 1/4 cup liquid then add the lemon juice.
To a small bowl add the cane sugar and lemon zest. Rub the mixture together with your fingers to release the natural oils in the zest.
To a large mixing bowl add the flour, lemon sugar, yeast and salt and whisk together. Pour in the blueberry juice and the mashed blueberries and stir well to form a thick dough.
With your hands or in a stand mixer, knead the dough for at least 10 minutes to develop the gluten. If the dough is incredibly sticky, add a tablespoon of flour. If the dough feels too dry, add a tablespoon of water. Form the dough into a smooth ball and transfer the dough to a greased bowl then cover and place in a warm place to rise.
Once the dough has doubled in size, punch down the dough and transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll into a ball and cut the dough into 8 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a round, smooth dough ball. Poke a hole through the center with a flour dusted finger. Carefully pull the hole and use your hands to form a classic bagel shape and place on a parchment lined baking tray. Repeat this with the remaining dough.
Lightly cover and allow the bagels to rest while you bring a large pot of water to a boil and stir in the brown sugar.
Preheat the oven to 425F. Place the bagels into the pot of boiling water, 3-4 at a time. Cook the dough for 2-3 minutes, then flip and cook another 2-3 minutes on the other side. Remove the dough from the water, drain well and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Brush your bagel with plant based milk. Place the bagels on the baking tray and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Allow the bagels to cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before enjoying.
Expert Tips
- Separate the juice from the blueberries. This will help you better control the amount of liquid added to the recipe as blueberries may vary in terms of how juicy they are.
- Knead your dough to develop the gluten. Whether by hand or with a stand mixer, make sure to knead the dough for at least 10 minutes. This will help to better develop gluten, which will give the proper texture for your bagel.
- For a more blue/purple looking dough, try frozen wild blueberries. They provide a deeper, purple/blue color to the dough compared to regular blueberries.
- Boil your bagels. This step is super important as it will provide the right texture and consistency for your bagels. If you just bake it, it will be bread.
- Make sure to measure your flour properly. Use a kitchen scale or in the very least when using measuring cups spoon and level your flour.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! I would recommend cooking them down in a sauce pan before proceeding with the recipe to help better release the natural juices in the fruit.
Unfortunately, at this time I do not have a gluten-free recommendation for this particular recipe. Gluten-free flours do not behave the same as regular flour and I would not recommend swapping the flour in this recipe for gluten-free flour. Adding it to the boiling bath would cause the bagel to disintegrate. I will be working on an alternative, so please be patient in the meantime.
The dough will be slightly sticky, but if it is impossibly sticky, this can happen for a number of reasons. If you are baking in a humid location, this can unexpectedly add more moisture than needed to the dough. It can also be related to improper measuring, so when possible use a kitchen scale measure instead of just measuring cups to accurately measure the blueberries and flour. If the dough is too sticky to work with, try adding 1 extra tablespoon of flour and knead the dough again.
Yes! It’s the best way to store them if you aren’t enjoying them right away. Allow the bagels to cool completely then place in a freezer safe bag and place in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow the bagel to thaw then toast as desired before enjoying.
How to Serve
Serve your bagel anyway you like! Here are my personal go to options:
- Homemade Tofu Cream Cheese with Blueberry Jam
- Peanut Butter and Sliced Fruit
- Toasted with a smear of (vegan) butter and a drizzle of agave syrup
More Vegan Breakfast Ideas
- Savory Oatmeal with Pan-Seared Tofu
- Fudgy Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding
- Easy Chickpea Breakfast Toast
- Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal
- Lemon Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
Vegan Blueberry Bagels
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Rising Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 31 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 36 minutes
- Yield: 8 bagels 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These blueberry bagels are easy to make and require less than 10 ingredients. They are light, perfectly chewy and bursting with spring flavor.
Ingredients
- 144g frozen blueberries (1 cup)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp cane sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 520g bread flour (4 cups)
- 1 packet instant yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- Water
Water Bath & Baking
- 2 liters of water
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- Plant Based Milk of choice
Instructions
- Add your blueberries to a small microwave safe dish and cook in the microwave, covered, for 1 minute. Once thawed, carefully mash the blueberries with a fork to release all of their juices.
- Place a small sieve over a large measuring cup and pour the mashed blueberries into it to separate the juices. Set the mashed berries aside and to the measuring cup add enough warm water to the juice to fully measure 1 and 1/4 cup liquid then add the lemon juice.
- To a small bowl add the cane sugar and lemon zest. Rub the mixture together with your fingers to release the natural oils in the zest.
- To a large mixing bowl add the flour, lemon sugar, yeast and salt and whisk together. Pour in the blueberry juice and the mashed blueberries and stir well to form a thick dough.
- With your hands or in a stand mixer, knead the dough for at least 10 minutes to develop the gluten. If the dough is incredibly sticky, add a tablespoon of flour. If the dough feels too dry, add a tablespoon of water. Form the dough into a smooth ball and transfer the dough to a greased bowl then cover and place in a warm place to rise.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch down the dough and transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll into a ball and cut the dough into 8 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a round, smooth dough ball. Poke a hole through the center with a flour dusted finger. Carefully pull the hole and use your hands to form a classic bagel shape and place on a parchment lined baking tray. Repeat this with the remaining dough.
- Lightly cover and allow the bagels to rest while you bring a large pot of water to a boil and stir in the brown sugar.
- Preheat the oven to 425F. Place the bagels into the pot of boiling water, 3-4 at a time. Cook the dough for 2-3 minutes, then flip and cook another 2-3 minutes on the other side. Remove the dough from the water, drain well and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Brush your bagel with plant based milk. Place the bagels on the baking tray and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Allow the bagels to cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before enjoying.
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★ Catherine
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I made these for the first time this weekend and oh my gosh! They turned out so well! I was worried I was going to mess up because this was my first time making bagels. I learned that bagels aren’t actually that hard to make 😛 Thank you so much Catherine! I am so excited to make these again and continue perfecting my bagel baking skills.
Awww so thrilled you enjoyed these Breanna! I think that’s the thing about bagels I really love, they are surprisingly not as challenging as you would think to make. Thank you again! 🙂