Home » Posts » Freshly Milled Blueberry Bagels

Freshly Milled Blueberry Bagels

This post contains affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Welcome to your new favorite breakfast! These freshly milled blueberry bagels are chewy on the outside, soft on the inside, and just sweet enough. They are bursting with blueberry flavor, and they taste incredible with cream cheese or butter.

A freshly milled blueberry bagel with more bagels around it.

Homemade bagels are truly the perfect breakfast. Once they are baked, it takes just a couple of minutes to prepare them, and my kids love them every single time.

I used to make a lot of bagels with all purpose flour, like homemade onion bagels and no rise greek yogurt bagels. Since I’ve started baking with 100% freshly milled flour, I’ve been experimenting with new bagel recipes.

My freshly milled cinnamon sugar bagels were a huge hit, and my fresh milled whole grain bagel recipe is great whenever we’re craving a savory option.

Want to save this recipe?
Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from us every week!

We love any baked good with blueberries in it — like fresh milled blueberry bread — so I knew it was time to make a blueberry bagel for breakfast this week.

These blueberry bagels are actually loosely based on my homemade chocolate chip bagel recipe, and I’m so happy with how they turned out!

They have the perfect bagel texture: chewy, tender, and perfectly dense. You can get creative with how you serve them, but I have just been loving a smear of cream cheese!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • Simple recipe: It’s still amazing to me that you can make bagels with just 6 ingredients! A few pantry staples — and, of course, blueberries — are all it takes.
  • Better than store-bought: Homemade bagels are so delicious, you’ll never want to go back to buying bagels at the grocery store. They are loaded with blueberries, have a wonderful texture, and taste so much fresher.
  • Easy breakfast: I love meal prepping a bread product, like bagels or fresh milled English muffins, to make breakfast a breeze during the week. It keeps my mornings simple and stress-free.

Ingredients

Freshly milled blueberry bagel ingredients labeled on a white counter.
  • Hard white wheat berries: I use hard white wheat for bagel recipes because it has a great gluten structure while still remaining soft and airy, perfect for a chewy yet tender bagel.
  • Blueberries: I used frozen. You can use fresh, but expect less color bleeding (so a less blue bagel overall).

Find a full list of ingredients, including measurements, in the recipe card below.

How to Make Freshly Milled Blueberry Bagels

Whisking yeast and water together in a metal bowl.

Step 1. Whisk the water and yeast together in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand-up mixer. Set aside for 5 minutes.

Mixing blueberry bagel dough in a stand mixer.

Step 2. Add sugar, salt, and vanilla extract to the yeast mixture, followed by the blueberries and 1 cup of flour. Mix on medium speed until well combined. 2-3 minutes.

Adding flour to blueberry bagel dough mixture.

Step 3. Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups of flour, reduce your mixer speed to low, and mix on low for 5-6 minutes with your dough hook attachment. Transfer to a floured surface and continue kneading for 2 minutes. If you don’t have standup mixer, you can turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 8-10 minutes. 

Step 4. Once the dough feels smooth and sticky, cover with a tea towel and set aside to rise for about 2 hours or until doubled in size. 

Shaping fresh milled blueberry bagels.

Step 5. When the dough is ready, punch it down, then divide it into 10 pieces.

Step 6. Flatten the balls, poke a hole in the middle, and shape them into bagels. Set aside while preparing the water.


Scooping a blueberry bagel out of a pot of boiling water.

Step 7. Preheat the oven to 400°F with a cast-iron skillet. (You will need 2 12″ skillets to fit the bagels or one large baking sheet lined with parchment paper)*

Step 8. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil and whisk in a tablespoon of sugar and baking soda.

Blueberry bagels lined up on a striped towel.

Step 9. Carefully lower 3 bagels at a time and cook for 1 minute, flip and cook for 1 additional minute. Transfer to a cooling rack so any extra liquid can drip off onto your work surface.

Placing boiled blueberry bagels in a cast iron skillet.

Step 10. Remove the skillets from the oven with a hot pad, lightly grease the bottom, and place the bagels in, being careful not to touch the hot skillet.

Step 11. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

A freshly milled blueberry bagel smeared with cream cheese with more bagels next to it.

Step 12. Transfer bagels to a cooling rack for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Blueberry bagels lined up on a kitchen counter, one with cream cheese spread on it.

Tips + Notes

  • This dough is relatively stiff and low-hydration. This is normal for bagel dough!
  • As with any freshly milled flour recipe, I strongly recommend measuring the flour by weight. It gives you a more accurate measurement than measuring cups. Be sure to weigh after you mill the berries, not before.
  • New to freshly milled flour? Let’s set you up for success! Check out my post about how to mill your own flour and my guide to baking with whole grains before you get started!
  • Try my eggs in a bagel recipe with these blueberry bagels. It’s a delicious sweet-and-savory breakfast!

Storage

Blueberry bagels are a great, easy meal to have on hand, so I like to make a double batch whenever I’m already baking!

You can store bagels in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. For longer storage, freeze them for up to 6 months.

You can slice them before freezing and put the frozen bagel halves right into the toaster, or microwave the whole bagel before cutting and toasting it.

A freshly milled blueberry bagel smeared with cream cheese with more bagels next to it.

Recipe FAQs

Why do you boil the bagels before baking?

Boiling the bagels cooks and caramelizes the outer crust, giving it that shiny look and chewy texture we love!

How do I get more blueberry flavor?

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how much blueberry flavor these have, especially compared to store-bought. If you want even more, you can add some dried blueberries to the dough. This gives you more flavor without adding extra moisture to the dough.

What mill do you use?

I use a Mockmill professional grain mill, which I love and recommend. There are several great mills on the market, and I do suggest investing in a good quality option. It makes a big difference in the texture of your freshly milled baked goods.

Related Recipes

If you tried this Freshly Milled Blueberry Bagels or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!

A sliced freshly milled blueberry bagel.

Freshly Milled Blueberry Bagels

Laura Ascher
Welcome to your new favorite breakfast! These freshly milled blueberry bagels are chewy on the outside, soft on the inside, and just sweet enough. They are bursting with blueberry flavor, and they taste incredible with cream cheese or butter.
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Rise time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 50 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Servings 10 bagels
Calories 205 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

  • 1 cup warm water (8 oz)
  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
  • 1/4 of a cup of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup frozen blueberries
  • 3 3/4 cups hard white wheat flour (630g)

For boiling

  • 2 quarts of water
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking soda

Instructions
 

  • Whisk the water and yeast together in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand-up mixer. Set aside for 5 minutes.
  • Add sugar, salt, and vanilla extract to the yeast mixture, followed by the blueberries and 1 cup of flour. Mix on medium speed until well combined. 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups of flour, reduce your mixer speed to low, and mix on low for 5-6 minutes with your dough hook attachment. Transfer to a floured surface and continue kneading for 2 minutes. If you don’t have standup mixer, you can turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 8-10 minutes.
  • Once the dough feels smooth and sticky, cover with a tea towel and set aside to rise for about 2 hours or until doubled in size.
  • When the dough is ready, punch it down, then divide it into 10 pieces.
  • Flatten the balls, poke a hole in the middle, and shape them into bagels. Set aside while preparing the water.
  • Preheat the oven to 400°F with a cast-iron skillet. (You will need 2 12″ skillets to fit the bagels or one large baking sheet lined with parchment paper)*
  • Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil and whisk in a tablespoon of sugar and baking soda.
  • Carefully lower 3 bagels at a time and cook for 1 minute, flip and cook for 1 additional minute. Transfer to a cooling rack so any extra liquid can drip off onto your work surface.
  • Remove the skillets from the oven with a hot pad, lightly grease the bottom, and place the bagels in, being careful not to touch the hot skillet.
  • Bake for 18-20 minutes.
  • Transfer bagels to a cooling rack for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Video

Notes

  • This dough is relatively stiff and low-hydration. This is normal for bagel dough!
  • As with any freshly milled flour recipe, I strongly recommend measuring the flour by weight. It gives you a more accurate measurement than measuring cups. Be sure to weigh after you mill the berries, not before.
  • New to freshly milled flour? Let’s set you up for success! Check out my post about how to mill your own flour and my guide to baking with whole grains before you get started!

Nutrition

Serving: 1bagelCalories: 205kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 5gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.1gSodium: 573mgPotassium: 66mgFiber: 2gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 8IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 15mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @castironskilletcooking on Instagram
This website provides approximate nutrition information based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands, measuring methods and portion sizes per household. We recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer.

Similar Posts

4 Comments

5 from 2 votes

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating