Sourdough Pumpkin Bagels with Active Starter

Why This Sourdough Pumpkin Bagel Recipe Works!

All natural leavening. No commercial yeast at all, just your active starter doing the work. You can make your own sourdough starter or get it from a friend like I did!

It is genuinely chewy, not dense. I am going to walk you through exactly why bagels turn out dense and how to avoid it, something most recipes skip entirely.

Real pumpkin flavor, not just pumpkin color. A lot of pumpkin bagel recipes end up tasting mostly like sourdough with a hint of pumpkin. I will show you how to make sure the pumpkin actually comes through!

Flexible timing. Bake same day with a longer rise, or split it over two days for a deeper sourdough flavor.

Active Starter vs Sourdough Discard

If you don't have active sourdough starter, you definitely can use sourdough discard instead!

Using active starter (this recipe as written). 200g bubbly, active starter, no added yeast. Bulk rise takes 3 to 4 hours at room temperature, or up to 8 to 10 hours overnight in a cooler kitchen.

Using discard instead. Swap the active starter for 200g of unfed discard and add 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast. Your rise time drops to about 1 hour since the yeast is doing most of the work.

Step by Step Instructions

1. Step 1: Whisk the starter, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and water together until combined. Add the flour, salt, and pumpkin pie spice, mixing until a shaggy dough forms. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and stiff. This dough should feel noticeably tighter than a regular bread dough. If it feels soft and easy to stretch, that is your first sign it needs more flour.

2. Bulk rise. Cover and let rise until puffy and doubled, about 6 to 8 hours at room temperature in a 70F kitchen. For deeper flavor, you can let the dough rise at room temperature, then move it to the fridge overnight and shape the next day.

3. Shape. Divide into 8 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball, then poke your thumb through the center and stretch the hole wider than feels natural, about the size of a walnut. It will shrink back during boiling and baking.

4. Second rise. Place shaped bagels on a parchment lined tray, cover, and let rest until puffy, about 20 to 60 minutes depending on how active your starter is.

5. Boil. Add the honey to a large pot of boiling water. Boil the bagels for 30 to 60 seconds per side. This is the step that gives bagels their signature chewy crust, so do not shorten it.

6. Bake. Brush each boiled bagel with egg wash and add your topping of choice. Bake at 425F for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until deep golden brown on top and bottom.

Why Are My Bagels Dense or Gummy

This is the question I see over and over in bagel recipe comment sections, and almost no one answers it clearly, so let's break it down!

Dense or gummy bagels usually come down to one of three things.

• Too much liquid in the dough, which happens easily since pumpkin puree varies a lot in moisture by brand.
• Not enough kneading, since bagel dough needs a longer knead than regular bread dough to build the gluten structure that holds its shape through boiling.
• Or the dough simply did not rise long enough, which is common with active starter since your starter's strength and your kitchen temperature both affect timing more than a recipe card ever can.

The fix for all three. Keep your dough stiff rather than soft, adding flour a tablespoon at a time if it feels tacky. Knead the full 8 to 10 minutes and check it with the windowpane test above. And do not rush the bulk rise, your dough should look genuinely puffy and close to doubled, not just slightly bigger, before you move on to shaping.

Why Is the Bottom of My Bagel Not Browning

If your tops are gorgeous and golden but the bottoms stay pale, your baking sheet is likely insulating the bottom of the dough from direct heat. A dark, heavy baking sheet browns bottoms better than a shiny, lightweight one. You can also try baking on the lowest oven rack for the final few minutes, or placing your sheet directly on a preheated baking stone or steel if you have one.

Why Does My Bagel Taste More Like Sourdough Than Pumpkin

Pumpkin puree has a naturally mild flavor, so if your bagels taste more tangy than pumpkiny, the fix is not less starter, it is more spice. Bump the pumpkin pie spice up to 1 tablespoon, or add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the dough for a rounder, warmer flavor that lets the pumpkin come through more.

How To Make Sourdough Pumpkin Bagels Ahead of Time

Two day method. Mix the dough in the evening, let it bulk rise at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours, then move it to the fridge overnight. In the morning, shape, do a short second rise, then boil and bake.

Overnight in the fridge after shaping. Shape the bagels, place on a parchment lined tray, cover, and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, let them sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes, then boil and bake as usual.

Freeze the raw, shaped dough. After shaping but before boiling, freeze the bagels on a tray until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. When you are ready to bake, drop them straight from the freezer into your boiling water, adding about 30 extra seconds per side, then egg wash and bake as normal.

Freeze after baking. Once fully cooled, store baked bagels in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. I like slicing them before freezing so a half can go straight into the toaster. Honestly though, I've frozen the bagels and kept them in the freezer for longer than 3 months and they were perfectly fine!

Storage Info

Once cooled, store bagels in a sealed bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you have topped them with a wet cinnamon sugar mixture, a paper bag works better than plastic, since plastic traps moisture and can make the topping go soft and slick.

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