SOURDOUGH CINNAMON CRUNCH BAGELS: A PANERA COPYCAT RECIPE

Is there anything more satisfying than biting into a Panera cinnamon crunch bagel? The crispy brown sugar and cinnamon crust, then a soft and chewy bagel dough inside slathered with cinnamon cream cheese. It IS possible to skip the drive through line and make these heavenly breakfast bagels at home! Let me show you how to make these Sourdough Cinnamon Crunch Bagels at home!

Traditionally these bagels are not sourdough, but I just love the texture and tanginess that the sourdough starter adds to this recipe. Besides, I’m always looking for creative ways to use my sourdough starter discard!

These bagels are made in three simple steps: forming the dough, boiling the bagels in baking soda water and baking the bagels in the oven.

Let me show you how to make Sourdough Cinnamon Crunch Bagels!

Ingredients

• SOURDOUGH STARTER DISCARD || The star of this recipe is the ‘hungry’ sourdough starter discard. This is the byproduct of feeding and caring for a sourdough culture. The sourdough must be ‘fed’ water and flour at regular intervals to keep the colony healthy and growing.
• BREAD FLOUR || All purpose flour creates a slightly more dense and less chewy bagel. Bread flour is the best option for this recipe.
• INSTANT YEAST || Sourdough starter naturally contains yeast and will rise over time, but to keep this recipe fast, I have added commercial yeast. This allows the dough to be lighter and fluffier in only an hour! I buy my yeast in bulk and keep it in the freezer.
• WHOLE MILK || This adds a richness to the bagels that can only come from the addition of fat to the recipe. Personally, I have not tried this yet with a milk substitute, but in my opinion I think it would work… the bagel may be a bit less flavorful, though.
• CINNAMON & SUGAR || Dipping the boiled pretzels in this candied mix of sugar and cinnamon before baking allows a crunchy crust to develop.
• CREAM CHEESE SPREAD || While this isn’t absolutely necessary, I give this spread a five star rating! It just adds one final layer of flavor to the bagel that is so incredibly satisfying.

Making the Dough

When I am making breads or sourdough recipes, I always measure my ingredients by weight in using grams. A kitchen scale allows me to get a consistent final product. Sometimes a scoop of flour or splash of milk that is a little heavy handed isn’t a big deal, for example when baking cookies, but for breads the weight matters!

I use a stand mixer to knead this bagel dough. Place the mixing bowl on a kitchen scale that is set to grams, then hit the tare button. The tare function tells the scale not to count the weight of the bowl, which is important! Add the sourdough starter discard, bread flour, whole milk, yeast, sugar and salt to the mixing bowl. I use the tare button between each addition to measure directly into the bowl.

Knead the dough in the stand mixer for about five minutes, or until the dough clings to the sides and feels soft and only slightly sticky to the touch. If the dough is too dry, add a splash of milk. If the dough is sticking to the bowl and seems too wet, add flour gradually until the texture improves.

Let the Dough Rise

Leave the dough in the mixing bowl, cover it with a tea towel and place it somewhere warm to rise for an hour. I turn my oven on to preheat for a few minutes, then shut it off to create a proofing box of sorts.

After the dough has warmly rested for an hour, it will feel soft and pillowy. Remove it from the mixing bowl and divide the dough into eight pieces using either a knife for pastry scraper. Form the pieces into balls and then gently flatten them into discs. Using a donut hole cutter or a thumb, press a hole into the center of the bagel.

Shape, Boil & Bake

Helpful Tools

It is slightly possible that I have been obsessed with baking my entire life. When I graduated from high school, I asked for a stand mixer. Next spring, my stand mixer will be twenty years old and still going strong! It is not an absolute necessity, I cannot imagine kneading dough for five minutes without using my KITCHEN AIDE STAND MIXER. I use it for mixing cake batter, cookies, frostings, crepes, DIY sugar scrubs, literally anything and everything.

A KITCHEN SCALE is necessary for weighing sourdough ingredients. This is the model that I purchased several years ago, and I chose it because it was inexpensive and had plenty of positive reviews. I also am obsessed with my SILPAT BAKING MAT to keep my cookies and bagels from sticking to the baking sheets. This is the exact one I have, and I actually have several different sizes.

Another tool that I use frequently is parchment paper. It works like the silpat, but can be thrown away after use. This is the exact pack of PARCHMENT PAPER that I prefer. It is unbleached and naturally nonstick. You can see it in several of these bagel photographs.

Variations

Cheesy sourdough bagels: Omit the cinnamon sugar and instead brush with an egg wash and sprinkle with cheese before baking.

Plain sourdough bagels: Omit the cinnamon sugar and instead brush with an egg wash and sprinkle coarse salt before baking.

Everything But the Bagel: Omit the cinnamon sugar mixture and instead brush with an egg was and sprinkle with seasoning.

Dried fruit & Nuts: Fold in dried fruit and nuts while mixing the dough. Omit the cinnamon sugar mixture and brush with an egg wash before baking.