These sweet potato bagels are a wonderful homemade fall treat! Try serving them with apple or pumpkin butter along with a bit of cream cheese. So good.
I love bagels. When I was little my mother would make me “special bagels” which meant she would top them with a very generous amount of cream cheese and then place them under the broiler. The cream cheese would soften and develop a caramelized layer on top, which she would cover with strawberry jam.
Total decadence. I still crave special bagels for breakfast sometimes, especially when I’m feeling under the weather. They’re comfort food.
What I don’t really love about standard bagels are their size. Am I alone here? They’re just too big for me. The great thing about making bagels from scratch is that you can control how big they are.
I knew I wanted to start by making homemade sweet potato bagels, and that I wanted to create smaller portions. Not mini-bagels (because seriously, those are tiny), but smaller bagels. Something that I could enjoy without feeling weighed down.
These are not difficult to make, I promise. The only important note I would make about this recipe is that when you roll out the dough and shape it into a bagel, you really want to pinch the ends together firmly.
Squeeze it around a bunch until there’s very little sign of a seal. If you don’t firmly seal the ends together, the bagel might come undone while you’re boiling it.
But aside from that, have fun! You will love these bagels. I can’t think of a better breakfast for Thanksgiving morning. I might even use my mother’s trick and make special bagels.
You can use store bought pumpkin pie spice, or you can make your own (you probably already have the spices in your cabinet. My pumpkin pie spice is from Penzeys. If you want to make your own spice mix, try this combo (which will yield more than this recipe requires):
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg (preferably freshly grated)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
Once you’ve mastered these, be sure to try my homemade cinnamon raisin bagels!
Baking With Yeast
This recipe uses active dry yeast. Yeast is an ingredient many novice bakers fear, and I’d like to change that! So what is yeast, and how does it work? Can you substitute one variety for another? Check out my article What is Yeast to learn more!
Sweet Potato Bagels
Ingredients
- 14 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour (approximately 3 cups)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
- 1/2 cup sweet potato puree (see notes)
Instructions
- Whisk/sift together flour, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the water, yeast and 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar until bubbly. Allow it to proof for 5 minutes.
- Add the sweet potato puree and mix it into the liquid using a dough hook and then add the flour mixture. Mix on low speed for 5 minutes and then turn the speed up to medium and allow it to mix for an additional minute.
- Form the dough into a ball and place in a large, lightly greased bowl. Cover and allow the dough to double in size, approximately 1 hour. Remove the dough and punch it down.
- Lightly grease a baking sheet. Using a kitchen scale, measure out 2 ounce balls (these will make small bagels compared to what you would buy in a store. For a more traditionally sized bagel, aim for 3.5 ounces). Roll each ball into a 5-inch log. Join the ends and firmly pinch them together. Once all of the bagels are rolled out, let them rest for an additional 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and bring a large pot of water to a boil with 1/2 tablespoon of sugar. Grease a baking sheet and set aside.
- In batches, boil the bagels for around 30 seconds per side.
- Remove the bagels with a slotted spoon and place them on the prepared sheet tray. Bake for 12 minutes, flip, and bake for an additional 12 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.
Notes
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Nutrition
Recipe Troubleshooting
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Averie @ Averie Cooks says
I’ve made pumpkin dinner rolls and made sweet potato bread, but never sweet potato bagels or rolls – I have always wanted to! They look awesome. Pinned
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
Sweet potato bagels?! Be still my heart!
Sharron says
OH man I couldn’t agree more! They’re my cheat meal ;)
Marie @ Little Kitchie says
Genius!! They look delicious!
Valerie says
Wow, bagels plus sweet potatoes!! I’m in carb heaven! :D (Great idea to resize too!)
Mallory @ Because I Like Chocolate says
I am loving all of these different flavoured bagels I have been seeing lately. Love the simplicity of the pictures too!
Janice (@KtchnHealsSoul) says
Mmmmm, I’ve never made bagels but I’d sure like to try these.
P.S. Love the clean simplicity of the photos in this post :)
Amy @Very Culinary says
Cream cheese bagel under the broiler, topped with strawberry jam. What is this sorcery speak of? I must try!
Tieghan says
I am a big bagel lover and sweet potato lover! These look awesome and that special bagel sounds so good. I love the idea of warm caramelized cream cheese!
Kitchen Belleicious says
I just made sweet potato bites- wish I would have saved some sweet potatoes because I would have loved to make these with the leftovers!
Amy @ What Jew Wanna Eat says
It’s been way too long since I’ve made bagels. These look amazing! And your special bagels are genius.
Gerry @ Foodness Gracious says
Sweet holy bagels, those look good!
ThisBakerGirlBlogs says
I love bagels and usually have them with cream cheese and avocado – delicious. But a sweet potato one sounds genius!
Hari Chandana says
Looks too good.. love it :)
Dina says
they sound great!
steph@stephsbitebybite says
Wishing you were my neighbor so I could bring over the coffee!