Vegan French Toast Bagels
The weekend is for brunch concepts and bagels are my newest obsession! From a distance, bread sounds involved and tedious, but once you nail the process it’s honestly smooth sailing and so fun. After living in NYC for 10+ years, my now husband and I are enamored with all things bagels. However, once you leave the city, the quality of bagels varies and you’re typically left feeling disappointed. If you’re going to enjoy a bagel, it needs to be done right!
As a result, for the longest time we didn’t do bagels. Now that I’ve mastered bagel making, we have them just about every weekend!
My favorite thing about bagel making has been exploring the flavors and tweaking the approach to gauge the difference in quality. Bread baking is definitely a science! Since we’ve been making our way thru all the flavors, we’ve done Blueberry, Everything, Jalapeño Cheddar, Pretzel, Rosemary + Parmesan, Cinnamon Raisin, and now these vegan French Toast Bagels!!
What’s great about these bagels, is honestly every aspect! It’s my staple bagel recipe, light, fluffy, a seamless process, can be frozen, or you can let the dough rise in the fridge overnight, the outside is crispy, crunchy, and it has notes of cinnamon and vanilla. These are great for any season, brunch entertaining, you could make into mini sizes if desired, they are sweet, indulgent, and just such a fun concept!
If you love fun indulgent vegan recipes, you have to try these new vegan French Toast Bagels!
Why this recipe is great:
Quick
Easy
Affordable
Buttery soft on the inside
Crispy on the outside
Perfect for any season
Vegan French Toast Bagels
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-8 1x
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 and 1/2 cups warm water (between 100-110°F)
- 3/4 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast
- 4 cups bread flour (or 2 cups bread flour w/2 cups white flour) plus more for work surface
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil, to coat bowl
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
For Boiling:
- 2 quarts water
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or (honey)
For Coating:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 4 tbsp melted vegan butter, divided
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Make the dough: Whisk the warm water and yeast together in the bowl. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes to activate.
- Now add the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt and combine with your hands. The dough is very stiff and will look somewhat dry, but won’t be once you knead it.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead the dough for 4-5 minutes. I don’t recommend a mixer as the dough is too heavy.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes or until double in size. If the dough doesn’t double, give it more time to rise. If You’d like to make the bagels the following day, simply place in the fridge. (I prefer same day)
- Shape the bagels: Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. When the dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. If the dough seems too wet/sticky, add a lil flour 1/2 tbsp at a time on your hands. Divide the dough into 4-8 equal pieces, doesn’t have to be exact.
- Shape each piece into a ball. Press a finger through the center of each ball to make a hole about 1.5 – 2 inches in diameter. Loosely cover the shaped bagels with kitchen towel and rest while you prepare the water bath. (15 mins) Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Water bath: Fill a large, wide pot with 2 quarts of water. Whisk in the maple syrup. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-high. If the bagels don’t puff up a lil before boiling, give them some more time. Drop bagels in, 1 or 2 at a time, making sure they have enough room to float around. Cook the bagels for 1 minute on each side. Place bagels onto lined baking sheet.
- Make the coating: Combine the ingredients in a small shallow dish
- Brush the bagels with vegan butter and top with the sugar mixture. bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Remove from the oven and allow bagels to cool on the baking sheets for 15-20 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slice, toast, and top with whatever you like! Keep bagels in a sealed container at room temperature to maintain freshness. * To freeze them for later use, do so immediately after baking.
Notes
The following day the tops will be wet as the butter melts. Simply place in the oven on broil for a few minutes to make crispy again!
Make Overnight: To make the dough overnight, on the first rise I cover and place in the fridge. In the morning, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let the dough rise for 45 minutes at room temperature. Then proceed with the remaining steps!
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1