Jerusalem Bagels

There's nothing quite like a fresh bagel to start your day! I recently learned about Jerusalem Bagels, the lighter, airier, more bread-like cousin of the NY-style bagel, and just had to share them with you.

And the best part? They're super easy to make at home. No boiling. Just mix, rise, shape, rise, bake.

Readers agree. Faye said her crew loved how "pillowy soft" they were and liked them better than dense regular bagels. Mari makes them with her family's traditional English breakfast, and now everyone asks for them.

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So what makes a Jerusalem bagel different?

Three things:

• Shape. Long and oval, with a big stretched-out hole. Not a tight round ring.
• Texture. Soft and bready inside, with a thin golden crust. Way less chewy than a NY bagel.
• Method. Baked only, never boiled. That's why this is the easiest bagel I make.

Traditionally they're topped with sesame seeds stuck on with honey or sugar. I went with everything bagel seasoning instead, because it's what my family grabs first. The traditional sesame version is in the recipe card notes if you want to go classic.

If you're a bagel person, you'll find more homemade breakfast bagel recipes here. Make a NY-style batch and a Jerusalem batch in the same weekend, then tell me which one wins.

What I learned testing this recipe

This is the homemade Jerusalem bagel recipe I keep coming back to, but it's changed since I first posted it in 2020. You helped with that.

• It needed salt. The first version had none. I figured the everything seasoning would cover it. It didn't. Enough of you told me so, and Sharon said 1 teaspoon worked for her. I retested and landed on 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt in the dough. (Updated February 2022.)
• Don't pack your flour. Spoon it into the cup and level it off. Too much flour is the #1 reason these turn out dry and dense instead of fluffy. Better yet, use the metric toggle in the recipe card and weigh it.
• Proof your yeast. For real. After 10 minutes the milk mixture should be foamy and smell yeasty. If it doesn't, your yeast is dead. Toss it and start over. Saves you a sad, flat batch.
• Skip the olive oil in the dough. It's too strong. Use a neutral oil like vegetable, canola, avocado or grapeseed. Save the good olive oil for dipping.

💡 The stretch is everything After you pinch each rope into a ring, gently pull it into a long oval with a big hole, way bigger than looks right. The dough puffs a lot on the second rise and in the oven. If the hole looks "normal" going in, it'll close up and you'll get a dinner roll.

How it comes together

The full steps are in the recipe card, but here's the flow so you know what you're in for:

1. Bake 12–15 minutes until golden.
2. Warm the milk and water, sprinkle in the yeast, add oil and sugar. Wait 10 minutes for foam.
3. Sift in the flour, add salt, knead 10 minutes until smooth and just a little sticky.
4. Rise 30 minutes.
5. Divide into 6 (I weigh mine so they bake evenly), roll 18-inch ropes, join the ends, stretch into ovals.
6. Egg wash, seasoning, rise 30 more minutes.

Swaps readers have asked about

• 2% milk: works fine.
• Dairy-free: swap in unsweetened almond milk.
• No milk at all: use 1½ cups water total. I haven't tested it, but it should work.
• Mini bagels: Melisa made 12 minis, and they took about 15 minutes to brown in her oven. Start checking at 8.
• Sweet version: Parker added vanilla chips, cinnamon chips and a cinnamon-sugar top. Bake a little longer.

Serving and storing

These are best the day you bake them. My favorite way: rip off a hunk, dunk it in good olive oil, and hit it with za'atar. Or just slather on butter.

• Room temp: sealed bag, up to 4 days. Toast after day one.
• Fridge: up to 1 week.
• Freezer: slice, wrap each one, freeze up to 3 months.

💡 Freezing tip Planning to freeze half the batch? Reader Petique found the egg wash gets sticky after thawing. Brush the egg wash on right before baking, not earlier, and toast the thawed bagels to crisp them back up.

Love bread days?

This dough is a close cousin of challah: soft, enriched and easy to shape. If you liked it, I've got tons of homemade challah bread recipes to try next.

Watch how to make Jerusalem Bagels

FOR ALL MY FAVORITE BAKING TOOLS INCLUDING THOSE USED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE, CHECK OUT MY BAKING RESOURCES PAGE!