french toast bagels
When the decision between bagels or French toast for breakfast is just too much, these homemade French toast bagels are here to save your morning! Soft, maple-infused bagels are baked and topped with a crunchy cinnamon-sugar mixture that tastes just like French toast in bagel form.
When I was a youth, I hated breakfast. I don’t know if it was because I hadn’t tasted the glorious taste of coffee yet (that was at age 15 and I haven’t gone a single day since without it, save a few weeks early in my pregnancy when I couldn’t stomach it but I’d rather not talk about those dark, caffeine-free days), or because I never knew the magic that is a soft scramble or over-easy egg, or because I had one too many run-ins with those chewy chocolate chip granola bars that, at the time, I sort of liked but now I can’t really stand because I’m a food blogger/food snob and I need me only homemade granola bars, thankyouverymuch.
Now that I’m old and wise (er, older and wiser), breakfast has become my favorite meal of the day. I crave it before I go to bed at night. I dream of it in my sleep. I plan my breakfasts days in advance with great zeal — not even kidding. And that’s why I was extra-excited about my breakfast plans this week: Because this week, every breakfast is a French toast bagel. (!!!)
How to Make Panera’s French Toast Bagels at Home
Have you ever tried the French toast bagel from Panera? They were my inspiration for this recipe. I used to eat them all the time (like seriously at least weekly, because one of my high school teachers would bring them to class every Thursday and it was like a pizza party only with bagels and schmear), but now, now I know that I can make them at home and the homemade version tastes so much better — and truly just like French toast. I say this humbly because I still love you, Panera, you and your bread bowls and hazelnut coffee. But these bagels win.
While the Panera version is flavored with maple and cinnamon chips, this version, though also infused with maple and cinnamon flavors, is done so with pure maple syrup and ground cinnamon along with brown sugar and vanilla. There’s also an egg added to the dough that not only imparts even more of that classic French toast flavor, but it also yields softer, fluffier bagels. And the crunchy cinnamon-sugar topping? It’s the business.
Actually, the entire bagel is the business. A business that I want to make part of my breakfast routine forever and ever.
Tips for the Best Homemade Bagels
If you’ve never made a bagel from scratch before, this is a great recipe with which to start your homemade bagel journey. The dough is easy to make, the ingredients simple and the process relatively quick and definitely painless (thanks, in part, to the awesomeness that is Red Star Yeast). Basically, you’ve got a mix, knead, rise, boil, bake and eat situation here, the entirety of which you likely will salivate, as I did, over the smells and scents of warm cinnamon and maple syrup and brown sugar and vanilla. The flavors of French toast in the final product are subtle, but so delicious. And I can’t even tell you how best to eat them: I’ve gone the toasted with butter/toasted with cream cheese/untoasted straight from the oven to my mouth routes and all of the above are amazing, BUT — you and I are both thinking it, right? French toast bagel FRENCH TOAST. This will be in my near future. And I hope soon in yours, too.
I am already so excited about breakfast tomorrow, I could shed a tear.
French Toast Bagels
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours 20 mins
- Yield: 8 bagels 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Homemade bagels made with French toast-inspired flavors including maple syrup, cinnamon and brown sugar.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons light brown sugar, divided
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) Red Star active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees F)
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for kneading
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, divided
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, for topping
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons brown sugar with yeast. Add 1/2 cup warm water; stir until yeast dissolves. Let mixture stand 10 minutes until foamy.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook attachment, stir flour, salt, cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar until combined. Add yeast mixture along with 1/4 cup warm water, maple syrup, vanilla and 1 egg. Stir until a dough forms.
- Knead dough in stand mixer on medium speed 5 minutes, adding just enough of remaining 1/4 cup warm water until dough is smooth, elastic and only slightly sticky; OR, knead dough by hand on a lightly floured surface 10 to 15 minutes, adding just enough of remaining 1/4 cup warm water until dough is smooth, elastic and only slightly sticky. Shape dough into a ball and place in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place 1 to 1/2 hours until doubled.
- Punch down risen dough; let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, fill a large, wide pot two-thirds full with water. Heat water to just below a simmer. Heat oven to 425 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball. Use fingers to poke a hole in center of each ball, stretching each hole until it is as big as half the diameter of entire bagel (it might look too big at first, but it will shrink when you boil/bake it). Place bagels on prepared baking sheet. Cover with a damp towel or lightly greased plastic wrap and let rest 10 minutes.
- Once bagels have rested, use a slotted spoon to lower a few bagels at a time into simmering water. Allow bagels to float to top. Leave bagels in water 1 to 2 minutes, then flip over and leave in water another 1 to 2 minutes (the longer they stay in the water, the chewier they become). Remove bagels with slotted spoon and return to prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining bagels.
- Beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water, then brush egg wash over tops of bagels. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes until bagels are golden brown and baked through. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing.
Notes
- Bread flour is highly recommended for this recipe, as it gives the bagels a good structure as they boil in the water and bake in the oven. My favorite brand is King Arthur Flour.
Keywords: soft bagel dough, homemade Panera bagel, sweet bagel recipe, cinnamon sugar bagel
Disclosure: I received compensation from Red Star Yeast for recipe development purposes. All opinions are my own.
My bagels never come out that fluff-tastic. I NEED to try this recipe because it is just shameful when a NYC-er can’t make NYC-style bagels. Also, the French toast flavor is pretty much the best ever. Not sure I’m going to be able to make it one more day without it!
I am all for homemade sweet bagels. In Australia a good bagel is so hard to come by, unless you get up at the break of dawn for the ones from the Jewish bakery. French toast and bagels?? Heaven on a plate!!
Aw yiss…that looks like my kind of bagel! I’ve never tried making bagels before, have to get on that at once 🙂
Just look at those babies! SO creative, I love it!
‘breakfast has become my favorite meal of the day. I crave it before I go to bed at night. I dream of it in my sleep. I plan my breakfasts days in advance with great zeal — not even kidding’ – that could have been written by me! It’s no coincidence that I’ve been posting so many breakfast recipes. Now that I’m finished with University and hence have no need to work during the entire weekend, I finally have time to get all lazy and indulge in a decadent breakfast in bed every-single-weekend. I am even more excited about waking up and making breakfast on Satuday and Sunday than going out on the previous evening – so much that I’ll easily pass the latter for the first! (Crazy, huh?)
I have never tried to make bagels, but after seeing these I may give it a try! They look really good 🙂
And may Satuday come quick! 😉
Ah-mazing! They are so fat and fluffy looking! Love it!
Your version sounds so much better. I absolutely love everything about these bagels. Pinned.
OMG that bagel is everything and more. Sorta like their white chocolate cranberry bagel during Breast Cancer Awareness month. This is gonna be dangerous to have in my recipe box…
The cinnamon crunch bagel + hazelnut cream cheese + hazelnut coffee was a weekly panera ritual for me, and I loved the french toast one too! You’ve just given the panera power to my kitchen. MY HERO.
YOU MADE WHAAAAAAT?!? Omg. These bagels are straight up amazing!!! I just love the flavour!
My one and only pregnancy craving has been for cream cheese, so this is pretty much my dream right now. I never knew Panera had a french toast bagel (probably because I was always stuffing my face with their Asiago Cheese numbers), but now I can’t wait to try this homemade version!
I have never tried the panera bread one but I definitely want to try this one. It is amazing! The height and sugary topping is incredible.
You and your bagels!!! You’re killing me. French toast bagel french toast?!?!? ahhhhhhhhhh ps I love you
I looove making bagels (made blueberry last week!) and these look unreal delicious. Yes, yes, yes, to french toast bagel french toast!!!
This is such a smart idea, I love the sound of these bagels. The crunchy cinnamon sugar top paired with the fluffy bagels sounds too delicious!
Those french toast bagels from panera, gah I used to get them almost every day in high school, so darn good. I cannot wait to try your version, they look & sound fantastic!
P.s. I can’t handle coffee in the early days of my pregnancies either, not even the smell, and those caffeine headaches are no joke, I feel your pain.
I have never tried making my own bagels, these look amazing!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
Ines — Yes! I’m so the same way. Hurry up, weekend! 🙂
Courtney — Oh but those Asiago cheese bagels, though… you should have one of those and one of these plus all the cream cheese. It’s for the baby.
Sara — And I, you. 😉
YES! I was hoping these were something cinnamon-y and delightful!! Cannot wait to try my hand at bagels!
Wow, these bagels are incredible!
I’m also a breakfast gal and these bagels are calling my name!! Wish I had one for my coffee tomorrow morning!
Your teacher brought in bagels every week? Well, that would quickly become my favorite class. These look incredible!!
These look like some awesome homemade bagels! AND anything with French toast attached to it has my attention. Perfect way to start this weekend!
I saw these earlier today and catalogued them into “things I have to make for Eric because he will go bananas when he tastes them.” He LOVES french toast AND bagels, so this one was a no brainer. And just this evening, he was scrolling through his instagram feed and yelled, “French Toast Bagels?! What?!”
I think I know what we’re making for Saturday breakfast this weekend!
Oh Lord, I NEED these!! You’re actually a genius, two fabulous things combined into one insane breakfast!
Liz — Haha! I hope they don’t disappoint. 🙂
I would love to start my morning with one of these bagels! French toast is one of my favorite flavors. So excited to try yours!
So gorgeous!!! I used to not be a big breakfast person either, but that all changed at the end of high school. I can’t believe I’ve never made homemade bagels before, I need to change that! Thanks so much for the great inspiration! 🙂
What?!!! Those look amazing!
Had to pop over here to say wow, omg, delicious, and you’re a wizard. Eyeing these babies ever since you posted them on IG, and I cannot WAIT to try them. That crunchy top has me salivating!
Holy mackerel, I’ve been missing out on French toast bagels all these years?! I used to go to Panera and get all them pizza bagels, but it’s been a hot minute since I’ve done any bagel-ing. I’m fantasizing about shmearing butter and maple syrup all over one of your French Toast bagels. Just.Yum!
Sarah — Thanks, dear! I feel the same way about, oh, just about EVERYTHING I see on your site. 🙂
Breakfast is my favorite and I wish these would magically appear at my table every single morning! They’re perfect! So fluffy and beautiful! Love the crunchy cinnamon topping!
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Oh wow, these look seriously dreamy! I’ve been obsessing over bagels lately and I had no idea french toast bagels even existed! I am going to give them a try for sure!
Just asking if these can be my breakfast today!!! What a great idea 🙂
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I’ve never had Paneras French toast bagel before but I used to love their cinnamon crunch bagel. Definitely need to try these!
I used to not be able to eat breakfast before school. I was too tired and stressed but now it’s my favorite meal, even when it’s just oatmeal.
Oh I love these bagels from panera, but yours look so fantastic! I would love to be eating one of these for breakfast right now. Defintiely gotta try making bagels at home!
It’s lovely to hear of another person who has gone from teenage “I’m not even thinking about breakfast in the morning” to adult (?) “I must just get out of bed one last time to check that I do actually have enough honey for my porridge extravaganza in the morning. Oh, and nutella too, just in case I fancy pancakes.”
3 am: “Oh my God…. Do we have eggs?! I know now that French toast is what I truly want tomorrow morning. Only 4 hours to go now.”
I’ve never seen a bagel I wanted more – absolutely adore these!
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Have you experimented at all with a long cold rise? I’m wondering if it would be possible to prep the dough the night before, do a slow rise in the fridge overnight, and bake in the morning.
Tana — I haven’t tried that before, so I can’t say for sure if it works. But if you try it and it does, please let me know!
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Yum!!! I just made these today. It was my first attempt at bagels,and I was so happy with how they turned out. Now i’m addicted! French toast bagels are our favorite in all the land. Thank you for this recipe!
I had insomnia the other night. You guessed it…I made these bagels. Oh.My.Goodness. They were wonderful!!
Of course I burned my fingers/tongue with the first one being scarfed down straight from the oven. Then, by the times hubs got up, I split one and slathered with butter. THEN…later in the day…I made a schmear of cream cheese, boiled cider, sugar and a few drops of vanilla, and put that on a toasted bagel. If possible, it was even better that way.
Luckily, I gave some to my daughter/son-in-law so we (okay, so I) wouldn’t eat them all!
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made these…yeast was fine and was active….but the dough did not rise at all…any thoughts?
Matt — Hmm, there are unfortunately so many reasons that dough won’t rise. There may have been too much flour, or not enough flour, or the dough wasn’t kneaded enough, or the water added to the dough was too warm, or the bowl/area where the dough rose was too cold… the list goes on. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you! I hope you give it another try!
Water was good, yeast was good, the bowl was room temp….so either not enough, too much flour or the kneading(followed the recipe for flour and kneaded for about 12 min).
Still baked them, they still came out ok, a bit heavier but still tasted nice.
Also I put chocolate in them too…lol
Matt — Well I’m glad they still tasted good in the end (and YESSS to adding chocolate)!
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Can you clarify the directions on the water? First it says to heat just below a simmer but then later says to lower into simmering water.
Rebecca — Sure thing! The water should be heated to just below a simmer, or a very low simmer. As it continues to heat it likely will come to a low simmer, thus the directions to add to simmering water. Basically, as long as it’s not boiling, you’re good. 😉
I just made these! My first time making bagels and the turned out AMAZING!! Loved them!!
These are yummy and they were actually easy to make. I thought they’d be trickier to work with but I didn’t have any problems at all. I like that it only makes 8 since there are only 2 of us. I’m wondering how well they freeze. I followed the directions exactly using the KA Bread Flour and pure maple syrup. Mmmmm.
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Wendy, I’m so glad you enjoyed these! I haven’t frozen them before but I imagine they would freeze as well as any other bakery bagel.
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I made these are they were great, the only problem I had with them was they stuck to my parchment paper. I did make my own cinnamon chips and added them, delicious! Next time I’ll spray them. Thanks for the recipe!
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Thank you so much for this recipe! It’s delicious! My picky toddler ate the whole bagel too so it’s a win 🙂
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Panera stopped making their French Toast bagels when Covid started and never brought them back. Of course French Toast was my kids’ favorite. We’re from NY but can’t really get decent bagels where we live now in Virginia. They turned out great! Gave them 4 out of 5 simply because I think they could use a little more flavor but I’m very happy with them.
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Made them tonight……thank you!!!!!…. I’m now a rockstar
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This looks delicious! Can you freeze the bagels?
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A, Yes, you can! Just thaw them at room temperature before eating.
These are wonderful! I’ve made them 3 times now, with and without the cinnamon sugar topping. My kids devour them!
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Why can’t you weigh the cups of flour? It seem so unprofessional and in grams also for the rest of the baking world.
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You have made and described the recipe so nicely that really helped me. I ma looking forward for more of such delicious recipes in future too.
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Fantastic recipe! This was my first attempt at making bagels, and we devoured them. The recipe felt a little intimidating, but was really quite easy to do. Absolutely worth it to have fresh homemade bagels.
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Made them last night an they were delicious!
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These were amazing, my family loved them!
Compared to the NY-style bagel recipe I usually make, this dough was slightly stickier—probably due to the syrup/egg plus maybe the temp/humidity in my house. They were a teeny bit more finicky to shape / peel off the baking sheet to drop in the water but nothing that even a beginner baker couldn’t handle with floured or oiled hands 🙂
They rose perfectly and the colour and crust were beautiful to look at. The inside was soft and pillowy. Will definitely be making these again—maybe even with some raisins next time 🙂
TY Stephanie for this delicious recipe!!
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