Sourdough Discard Bagels
These sourdough discard bagels are one of the tastiest things to ever come out of my kitchen.
Hannah even said it’s the best bagel she’s ever had, and she used to work at Panera back in the day!
How to make sourdough discard.
My road to getting my sourdough starter to make bread has been a long one. I started it on January 1, and here it is January 12 and today if the first day I will be able to make a loaf of bread.
This is how I made my starter: 60 grams water, 60 ounces of unbleached all purpose flour. There are so many people who add rye flour, do combinations of whole wheat and unbleached all purpose, but I decided to pick a flour that I would use for other things.
So let’s just use this as my journey to sourdough starter:
Timeline
Monday: 60 grams water, 60 grams unbleached flour. Mix completely, place a lid (slightly ajar) on top and let it sit for 48 hours.
Wednesday: discard half of the dough (save this!) and feed another 60 grams water, 60 grams unbleached flour
Thursday: discard half of the dough, feed another 60 grams of water, 60 grams unbleached flour
Friday: I left it alone as there weren’t many bubbles
Saturday: discard half of the dough, feed another 60 grams of water, 60 grams of unbleached flour
Sunday: do not discard, feed another 60 grams of water, 60 grams of unbleached flour
What to do if you you have a cool house?
My house is kept at about 67 degrees, so at the suggestion of some friends on Instagram, I bought a seed mat and that changed everything within a couple days. Finally my starter was at a happy 79 degrees.
You will know when your starter is ready is when it is peak at the top of your jar, and when a small piece is dropped into a glass of water, it floats.
I’ve watched dozens of videos on YouTube, but I’ll link several people that I followed to get to where I am today.
Mike from ProHomeCooks. If you aren’t watching his YouTube’s he has amazing content that can level you up as a home cook.
For this recipe, I adapted a recipe from This Jess Cooks. Her originally recipe called for nearly 4 cups of flour and sugar in the dough, and I reduced the flour by 1.5 cups and omitted the sugar from the dough.
![this is a photo of bagels made with sourdough discard](https://mybizzykitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/bagels-720x720.jpg)
Sourdough Discard Bagels
This recipe is adapted from Jess - from This Jess Cooks. I adapted her recipe to make it a little more weight watcher friendly. I reduced the flour but 1.25 cups, so when I put this in the WW calculator each one is 4 WW points. Side note: I did not add the 1 tablespoon of sugar that is added to the water to boil the bagels, as no sugar would have been absorbed into the bagel. It's merely for coloring when baking. I also didn't add sugar to the bagel dough as well.
Ingredients
- 2.25 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon active yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 100 grams sourdough discard
- 3/4 - 1 cup water (or more as needed)
- 3 tablespoons egg white, whisked, for brushing before baking
- 1 tablespoon everything but the bagel seasoning
- 1 tablespoon dried onion
Instructions
- Combine flour, yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook. Mix until combined. On low speed, add the sourdough discard and water until combined.
- Here is where you will need to see how the dough comes together on how much water to add. Start with 3/4 cup adding a tablespoon at a time until the dough pulls away from the bowl.
- Knead in the mixer on low for 5 minutes. It will be a sturdy dough, not sticky at this point.
- Grease a bowl with a teaspoon of olive oil, tossing to coat, place plastic wrap on top and let rise in a warmish place (for me I turned my oven to 170 degrees for 2 minutes - not until it gets to 170 - literally set your oven to 170, hit a timer for 2 minutes, then turn off oven. That was enough warmth in my cold house for the dough to rise). Rise for 90 minutes,
- Place dough on the counter and divide into 8 sections. If you want to weight out your bagels so they are the same size, my bagels were 140 grams each.
- Heat oven to 425. Roll each piece into a small ball, then using your thumb, make a hole, bigger than you think you need because the hole will close when you boil and bake. Let rest on the counter with a damp cloth overtop for 20 minutes while bringing a pot of water to boil.
- Add 1 tablespoon sugar to the water, and boil each bagel about 20 seconds a side, draining off as much water before adding to a parchment lined paper baking sheet.
- Brush with egg white wash, add desired toppings and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until golden. This will depend on your oven, but I baked mine for 20 minutes.
Notes
As of the date of this publication, each bagel is 4 WW points. Click here for the WW tracker.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 179Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 406mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 6g
I made this and followed the instructions exactly but I don’t have a food scale so I converted the amount of discard to 1/2 c as indicated was equivalent to 100 grams. My dough turned out very soft. I did sprinkle a bit of flour under the dough just so I could handle it to place it in the oiled bowl. I proofed in the oven as you did but when I checked at about 80 minutes the dough was sticking to the wrap (may have overproofed) and I again had to sprinkle a little flour out on the table just to keep the shaped bagels from sticking to the parchment. I let them sit for the 20 min and when I removed them from the parchment some of them stuck and as I pulled them off they deflated. Some I managed to remove unscathed but even then, they didn’t rise very well. They did stretch out and the hole got bigger as they hit the water bath. I wonder if that is why mine didn’t rise as much or if they overproofed? I’m new to sourdough and it’s a new starter. It’s quite healthy so I don’t think it’s the starter. They still look good and I tasted one but a little too thin and with the crispy crust a little hard overall. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Hi Tammy! I adapted the recipe from this woman: https://www.thisjess.com/sourdough-discard-bagels/
My dough was super firm and not sticky at all. I mixed my dough in my stand mixer with the dough hook. Even with the second rise after shaping the bagels with a tea towel on top, nothing stuck to the towel. I am only 4 weeks into my sourdough journey so I wish I had more answers for you! Hugs.
Ok thank you! I’ve made them two more times since and had more luck. I’m just super careful to make sure I don’t over hydrate the dough now! I’m just wondering if it’s just something I’m doing, but when I boil them they fluff up really nice and big and then they reduce in size quite a bit when baked. Is this normal? I’m wondering if I’m boiling them too long? I do roughly the 20 seconds on each side but at times leave them a tad longer (I watch them rise). Maybe that’s why? I’ll keep working at it.
These are amazing bagels though! ! I’m a hardcore Montreal bagel girl and I’ve made those as well but was looking for something a little lighter and these are by far better than any other bagel (aside from my Montreal bagels of course lol) but honestly they are a close match! I love the chew, the airiness inside and the crispy outer shell. My daughter LOVES them! Thank you so much for another amazing recipe! Your pizza dough recipe is life is AMAZING!
Yeah! Glad you had better luck!
I absolutely have been loving your tic toc space. Thank you so much for all the valuable information that you provide. I am not much of a cook but I actually think I can manage some of your recipes! Looking forward to watching more. I definitely have to try the $10,000. Chili recipe!
Thank you Kathy! I appreciate it!
10 out of 10 would make again but is there a typo in the weight of each bagel? I only got 4 bagels at 140 g each (before boiling).
Hi Shana! Weight depends on how much your dough rises – mine were each 140 grams each. If you wanted to get more bagels out of the recipe, you can just divide the dough evenly. Glad you liked them!
Exactly! Dividing if I ate only gives you somewhere between 68 and 90 g each so I’m wondering if the calorie because a bagels is less than 140 g would be less calories also. I would also add that when you’re boiling pretzels or boiling bagels, put a little baking soda in the water
My dough when divided was 140 g so that’s what I wrote in the recipe. Side note, I do normally put baking soda in the water, but this particular recipe I was following only required sugar, so that’s what I did. 😉