montreal bagels (2024)

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January 6, 2021 by Stephanie Jump To Recipe

Soft, chewy and totally delicious, these Montreal bagels are made with a maple syrup-kissed dough and poached in honey water for a slight sweetness that pairs well with all the classic characteristics of a bagel you know and love. Top these with plenty o’ seeds, toast and slather in schmear and enjoy the best homemade bagel you’ve had yet.

Honestly, I cannot think of a more fitting way to enter 2021 than with a post about homemade bagels. Bagels are basically my love language — I love to eat them, I love to make them, and I love to watch the people I love eat the ones I’ve made for them. It’s all one big bagel love fest, and I’m ringing in this new year full of carbs and positivity. You with me?

What are Montreal Bagels (aka Montreal-Style Bagels)?

Montreal bagels, sometimes called Montreal-Style Bagels, are most traditionally sweeter, thinner bagels with a bigger center hole that are baked in a wood-fired oven. They’re also poached in a honey-sweetened water bath before baking (which gives them their aforementioned hint of sweetness) and usually topped with sesame seeds or poppy seeds (though they can be topped with most traditional bagel toppings).

In the case of these bagels, we’re going for more inspiration than actual replication, since we’re making these at home and not in a professional bakery with a freakin’ wood-fired oven (though if you have one of those at your disposal, GOOD FOR YOU). These bagels still retain that classic hint of sweetness with a delightful chew that sets them apart from other types of bagel recipes you might be used to. Trust me when I say — these bagels are some of the best you’ll ever make from scratch. If you want to start 2021 off with a bang in the baking department, these bagels will not do you wrong.

The Best Ingredients for Montreal Bagels

We’re always in the business of keeping ingredient lists simple around these parts, and these bagels are no exception. Here’s what you’ll need to bring these bagel bbs to life in your home:

• Pure maple syrup (please, for the love of Pete, do not mess around with Hungry Jack here; let’s stick to the real deal)
• Active dry yeast OR instant yeast — yes, you can use either one for this recipe!
• Unbleached bread flour — I highly recommend King Arthur Baking bread flour. It’s my go-to bread flour and it always works superbly. No matter what, however, please use bread flour for this recipe — all-purpose flour will not offer the same level of protein/gluten to give the bagels their distinctive chew. Thankfully, you can find bread flour right next to all-purpose flour in most baking aisles!
• Salt
• Sesame seeds, poppy seeds and/or everything bagel seasoning, for topping (as you can see I could not decide, so I went with all three)
• Honey, for the honey water poaching bath

Once you’ve got everything listed above (+ water), you are ready to roll to Bagel Town! (ooo, sorry.)

How to Make Homemade Montreal-Style Bagels

I think a lot of bakers are intimidated by the homemade bagel — myself included, back in the day. I mean, there’s a “poaching bath” and, like, how do you even shape a bagel? I am here to tell you today, my friends, that bagels are actually really, really simple to make; and the taste of a homemade bagel is second to none. So! Let’s talk about how to make these bagels, step by step:

Tips for the Best Montreal-Style Bagels

As far as homemade breakfast foods go, these bagels top the list for easiest to make. That said, there are still a few tips we should cover, as always:

• As mentioned above, please use bread flour. For many recipes, bread flour and all-purpose flour can be interchangeable — but in the case of a few recipes, bagels included, the extra protein content yields a chewy, dense bagel. You can find bread flour right next to the all-purpose flour in most baking aisles!
• Need a warm place to let your dough rise? My favorite location is the microwave. I simply cover my dough bowl and place it in there for the entire rise time — it’s a warmer, draft-free location in your kitchen that will help the dough do its best rising. You can also use your oven with the light on (oven OFF, obviously).
• Don’t sweat it if you shape imperfect-looking bagels. I don’t know the science behind this, but even the ugliest bagels tend to bake up pretty in the oven. Even if you shape them pretty as a picture, they tend to get a little shriveled after the water bath, but they’ll bake right back up into a beautiful bagel.
• Homemade bagels tend to keep best for up to 1 day at room temperature, stored in a paper bag. After that, I highly recommend slicing each bagel, then freezing them in a freezer-safe resealable bag, and toasting them as needed.

Of course, if you have any more questions about this recipe, please leave a note in the comments or shoot me a note via email or social media! I will forever and always love to chat about bagels. Otherwise, if you’re already looking on the bright side of 2021, bring these Montreal bagels along with you. It’ll be the best decision you’ve made all year.

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More Homemade Bagel Recipes!

• Cranberry-Walnut Bagels
• Pumpernickel Bagels
• French Toast Bagels
• Chocolate Chip Muesli Bagels
• New York Deli-Style Bagels

posted by Stephanie on January 6, 2021

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