Getting Started With Bagels

Making bagels from scratch sounds like the sort of thing best left to professional bakers with years of experience with a kitchen full of specialized equipment. But the truth is, bagels are surprisingly approachable. At their heart, they’re simply a chewy, yeasted bread with a hole in the middle—and you don’t need to be a baking expert to make them.

This course is all about taking the mystery out of homemade bagels and showing you how to make them in your own kitchen. You’ll learn how the dough comes together, how to knead it, shape those characteristic rings, and give them their signature chewy crust with a quick dip in boiling water before baking.

By the end of the course, you’ll have made your own batch of fresh, chewy bagels—and discovered that baking bread isn’t nearly as intimidating as it sometimes looks. There’s something particularly satisfying about pulling a tray of homemade bagels from the oven. Just be warned: once you realize how easy they are, store-bought bagels may have some explaining to do.