Best Montreal Bagel Recipe (Step-by-Step, 1 hour)
This Montreal bagel recipe is exceptional – straight from the iconic St.-Viateur bagel company in Montreal. In about 1 hour, you will be feasting on soft, warm, chewy and slightly sweet bagels covered in seeds.
Bagels are not difficult to make with clear step-by-step instructions. After the first time, you’ll be a pro. Shmear on the cream cheese, toast them or eat them plain. All delish!
Montreal bagels are, hands down, the best bagels anywhere. (Full disclosure – I’m an ex-Montrealer.) This is an authentic Montreal bagel recipe – except for the wood oven part. It comes from St.-Viateur Bagel, founded by Myer Lewkowicz, and has been operating in Montreal for over 60 years.
I learned to make Montreal-style bagels from Chef de Volpi of McGill University. He was demonstrating a traditional lox and bagel spread for a McGill fundraiser. The bagels came out great – er, all 3 times I made them in the past month 🙂
Bagels originated in Jewish communities in Poland. They were traditionally formed by hand, boiled then baked, just as they still are at St-Viateur Bagel.
Think about it. Hot fresh bagels right out of the oven. Perfect every time!
Ingredients – tailored to your taste
The ingredients for this Montreal bagel recipe are pretty much typical bread ingredients – flour, yeast, water, sugar, salt. The bagels are boiled in water with honey (or brown sugar) before baking. The recipe includes an egg, but it’s not essential.
Variations
- Leave out the egg if you can’t eat them.
- For the honey water (to boil the bagels), you can substitute brown sugar which is cheaper.
- Toppings: Use sesame seeds, poppy seeds, no seeds or all dressed e.g. everything bagel seasoning blend (homemade) or store-bought which you can buy at Trader Joe’s or Amazon.
Step-by-step instructions
Make Ahead
- To store: Allow the hot bagels to cool completely and keep them in a sealed container or a sealed plastic bag for a few days at room temperature.
- To freeze:
- Once cooked: Cool bagels, then freeze them for up to 3 months. Tip: I slice them before freezing so I can toss the frozen halves right into the toaster.
- When raw: After shaping the dough into bagels, freeze them. When ready to use, defrost them, boil and bake as per instructions.
Bagel FAQs
Bagels are made and sold worldwide, in bagel shops and grocery stores in a wide variety of flavors. The most popular (about 85%) are sesame seed bagels. A distant second are poppy seed, also called black seed bagels. Then you have various seasoning blends such as ‘everything bagel’, onion, garlic and the specialty bagels like gluten-free, cinnamon raisin, chocolate chip and pumpernickel. Did I miss a few? Probably.
A Montreal bagel is hand-rolled, smaller, thinner, chewier, sweeter (they are boiled in honey water), have a bigger hole and are wood-fired. A New York-style bagel is puffier, softer, doughier, mostly machine-made and baked in a traditional oven.
That depends on where you come from and who introduced you to bagels. New Yorkers typically love their bagels sliced, warm, fresh and shmeared with a thick layer of cream cheese. No toasting! Montrealers also like their bagels plain and fresh, but out of the wood burning oven – sometimes with cream cheese (and lox) or egg salad. Am I the only one who loves a bagel toasted and slathered with butter?
Not exactly. The size is usually the issue since one bagel is equivalent to 3- 31/2 slices of bread, making them pretty high in calories and refined carbs. According to Health.com, If you control the portions (eat half or a mini bagel), there’s nothing wrong with indulging once in a while.
Typically, people eat bagels with cream cheese or toasted with butter. They are also fantastic served with smoked salmon/gravlax/lox, tomatoes, capers and red onions – along with the cream cheese of course.
Easy homemade no-pectin jams for your bagels
Other homemade bread recipes
Please leave a 5 star rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟with a comment in the recipe card below if you like the recipe, Thanks so much!
Best Montreal Bagel Recipe (Step-by-Step, 1 hour)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (about 95-100F/ 35-37.8C)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 10 g active dry or instant yeast (1 package)
- 1 egg (you can leave this out if you want)
- 2 tablespoons oil canola or vegetable
- 4 cups all purpose or bread flour, Note 1 plus an extra 1/2 cup/62g as needed
For boiling and baking
- 12 cups water
- 1/2 cup brown sugar or 1/2 cup/170g honey
- 1 cup sesame seeds or poppy or everything bagel seeds
Instructions
- HEAT OVEN TO 425F/217C. [for mini bagels, heat oven to 450F/232C]. Line a large pan or two smaller ones with parchment paper.
- MAKE DOUGH BY HAND: To use mixer instead, Note 2. In large bowl, mix warm water, sugar and maple syrup. Add yeast and let sit for 5 minutes. It will froth up a bit. Stir in egg, oil, salt and flour until dough begins to come together. Pull dough onto a sheet of parchment on the counter or a cutting board, lightly dusted with flour. Begin kneading, adding up to an extra 1/2 cup/62g of flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Knead for about 12 minutes. Here's a video on how to knead dough. The dough will lighten up a bit in color.
- REST DOUGH: Cover smooth dough with a bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- SHAPE BAGELS: Cut dough into 12 equal parts for regular bagels (or 24 for mini bagels). Roll each piece on a lightly floured surface into a log 8-10 inches long (20-25cm). Curve each log into a bagel shape, overlapping 1-2 inches (2.5-5cm). Roll the overlapped part on the counter to smooth it or just pinch the dough together. No need for perfection – mis-shaped bagels are just fine. The dough will puff up when boiled.
- LET BAGELS REST FOR 10 MINUTES. While they are resting, put sesame seeds in a bowl. And Fill a large pot or frying pan with about 2 1/2 to 3 liters of water, add brown sugar or honey and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer.
- BOIL BAGELS: Put in 3-4 bagels at a time and boil for 45 seconds. Flip over and boil another 45 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain on a paper towel.
- DIP IN SEEDS: Don't wait too long to dip each bagel in seeds (top, bottom, sides) and place them in a single layer in the prepared pan(s).
- BAKE: Bake bagels for 8 minutes. Turn over, then bake another 6-8 minutes until a light golden brown. A total of 14-16 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is. If doing a second batch, they will bake quicker. Cool on a rack. For mini bagels, Note 3.
Recipe Notes
- Flour: you can use half white flour and half whole wheat flour. Let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes before cutting and shaping it (whole wheat flour needs more time to hydrate than regular flour to creat the proper texture).
- How to measure the flour: Either measure flour by weight or use the scoop and level method. This means scooping flour into a measuring cup and leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- To knead the dough in a stand mixer, place warm water, salt, maple syrup and yeast in the mixer bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and knead with the dough hook for 10 minutes, starting slow, then speeding up (to about medium). Add flour as needed until the dough is firm and smooth and not sticky.
- To bake mini bagels, place in 450F/232C oven for a total of 12 minutes, turning half way through.
- Make ahead:
- To store: Cool bagels and keep in sealed container or bag for a few days at room temperature.
- To freeze:
- Once cooked: Cool bagels, then freeze them for up to 3 months. Tip: I slice them before freezing so I can toss the frozen halves right into the toaster.
- When raw: After shaping the dough into bagels, freeze them. When ready to use, defrost them, boil and bake as per instructions.
PERFECT bagels, thank you! 😀
Tried the recipe twice, absolutely loved the bagels. I will be making 150 bagels for the National bagel day. Can I shape them and put in the refrigerator instead of freezer overnight and bake the next day?
Wow – 150 bagels! Good for you! Yes, you should be fine to shape and refrigerate the bagels overnight. Just cover them loosely so the don’t dry out and bring them to room temperature for about 30-60 minutes for even baking. Good luck!
Thanks for this recipe. I had it saved on my cell phone but lost it. So I’m glad I have a chance to copy it again
I finally did it and made these I used bread flour and they came out mis-shapen and different sizes. I think next time I’ll add a bit more flour and measure so they’re about the same size. I think they tasted pretty good. Not as good as straight from the oven St-Viateur! But nothing beats those.
Second time will be a charm I’m sure! Thanks for sharing your experience.
There is no rise time in the recipe, but in the notes it’s says rest for 30 min. Which is right? Thx
Hi Lisa, In step 3 of the recipe, you will see “REST DOUGH: Cover smooth dough with a bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes”. In the notes, it says to let the dough rest/rise for 20-30 minutes IF you replace half the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. This gives the flour more time to hydrate and the gluten more time to develop, resulting in a better texture. I hope that helps. Thanks for the question – I will make that clearer in the notes.
Sorry, but this is not an authentic Montréal bagel recipe, although your bagels do look nice. I used Marcy Goldman’s bagel recipe for years, until I came upon a Joan Nathan recipe, that supposedly was given to her my the owner of Fairmount Bagel and that is what I now use. My nephews owned a bagel restaurant in MTL and told me that there is ONE STANDARD recipe used by everyone in the city. If you would like to see the Joan Nathan recipe, feel free to email me. I am also an ex-Montrealer.
Hi Michael, I was wondering when this would come up! As an ex-Montrealer you might be aware of the friendly rivalry between Fairmount Bagels and St-Viateur Bagels. Both are iconic and hotly debated as to which are the best in Montreal. Clearly we are in different camps and that’s ok! It all comes down to personal preference and family tradition. If we had GPS back in the day, my family would have had the St-Viateur directions saved in ‘favorites’🤣. But thank you for sharing your story – I am hoping more Montrealers or ex-Montrealers will weigh in like you and I am sure some readers will look up the recipe you mentioned. In the meantime, maybe give our recipe a try – who knows, you may become a convert 🙂
Made a batch today- they turned out beautifully! I am really proud of the result! Thanks for the recipe! I wish I could share a picture of them… 🙂
You’re very welcome. I wish I could see a picture too. Glad they turned out so well!
This is lovely as far as Montreal bagels go, but you’ve been misinformed about true NYC bagels: they are definitely not puffier, softer, and certainly not machine-made. True NYC bagels use high protein bread flour, often with the addition of malt, which gives a denser, chewier bagel with the crackling crust: they give the jaw a workout! Anything else isn’t a real NY bagel, even if sold in NY.
I teach at a college course on the history of food in NYC, so let me share part of the history of bagels: bagels were made exclusively by hand in NYC through the 1960s by unionized workers (Bakers Local 331). They could limit the supply or go on strike over labor issues because no machine had yet been invented that could shape the very tough dough into the rings, automating the process. Because of the strikes, newspapers in NYC reported about so-called “bagel famines,” and the search for a machine to displace the workers was on (sound familiar with today’s concerns about automation?) Industrially-produced bagels were made possible only in the 1960s, with the patenting of the Thompson shaping machine; Lenders (a Connecticut company) used the machine, with such volume that it started to freeze the bagels for sale nationwide (and they changed the formula to use a softer flour so the machine could easily shape the stretchy dough). The introduction of frozen bagels popularized bagels throughout the US; before that, they were limited to larger cities with substantial Jewish populations and relatively unknown among other groups. Nowadays, no self-respecting New Yorker would call something soft & puffy an ‘authentic NYC bagel’ (although some shops do sell these less toothsome varieties) or eat one that wasn’t hand-rolled.
Well Cathy, I stand corrected about authentic New York bagels made by hand! Thank you for the education about their rich history – so interesting. Clearly the invention of machines to make bagels in NY is a mixed bag, but the best part is that everyone worldwide can now enjoy them (even if they are not quite authentic). I still love our Montreal bagels though – hope you get to try one someday! Thanks again for taking the time to leave such as thoughtful comment. Much appreciated 🙂
I made this in my outdoor wood oven. Turned out perfect. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I adjusted the following. 1. Mixed the oil with the yeast before proofing. 2. Cover the dough with wet towel over bowl 3. Boiled 30 seconds two at a time. 4. I baked in wood oven for 12 minutes.
I’ll be experimenting with second batch today. Amazing!
OMG – a wood oven – I am jealous! Now that’s authentic! Thanks for sharing your tips Jen. Sounds amazing 🙂
Hello Cheryl and Bagel Bakers,
Thanks for your reply, Cheryl.
I’ve made three more batches of these amazing bagels and wanted to share some additional notes:
1. **Proofing the Yeast:** Make sure the water is warm when proofing the yeast—neither too cold nor too hot, as this can affect the yeast’s activity. You’ll know your yeast is active and happy when it starts bubbling. This can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
2. **Kneading:** I don’t have a mixer, and I don’t knead the dough excessively. I let nature take its course—see the next step.
3. **Mixing:** Once the yeast has bubbled, add in the remaining ingredients (salt, oil), mix well, then gradually add the flour. Mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. If the dough is too dry, add a little warm water. My aim here is to give the dough a good massage; I don’t knead it for too long; just until it’s warm (not cold) and relaxed. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let the dough rise naturally.
4. **First Rise:** Let the dough rise for about an hour. You’ll know it’s ready when the surface of the dough is smooth.
5. **Second Rise and Shaping:** Before shaping each dough ball into a sausage, it’s important to squeeze out the air from each little ball of dough. You might hear air bubbles pop when you do this.
6. **Final rise:** After shaping into bagels, wait until they puff up and the surface smooths out. For me, this took about an hour. Boiling the bagels before they’ve had enough time to rise results in a doughy, sticky interior instead of a soft, fluffy texture. This step is crucial; I found that not giving enough time ruins the texture and letting it go too long, can result in off flavors (like a beer scent).
7. ** Double the amount and freeze:** I make double the amount but keep the same yeast quantity. I slice the bagels in half immediately and run a stick of butter over the cut surface before freezing in a bag. You can take one out to thaw, or toast in the oven.
8. These are delish toasted and then topped with cream cheese, smoked salmon, sliced cucumber, capers and fresh dill. I also add jalapeno
A quick note: I’m not a professional baker, and I’ve never tasted a Montreal bagel before—only seen pictures and read recipes. I was inspired to try and create a taste of home for a friend from Montreal, and because I wanted to know what a Montreal bagel tastes like. After three years of on-and-off attempts, I think I’m finally getting close. I’ll have to wait for my friend to try the latest batch to see if I’ve nailed it.
Thanks for sharing your tips and experiences Jen!
I have never left a review on any site before but these are bagels are that good! I used to get my Montreal bagel fix from Woodfired bagels in Kitchener which are amazing and made without eggs. I decided to try this recipe a few months ago and I now make 2 or 3 dozen at a time and freeze them as soon as they are cool. I am a very experienced baker so here are my tips: Use a kitchen aid mixer! 4 1/2 cups of spooned and leveled flour works everytime-I use 2 cups bread flour and 2 1/2 cups all purpose. I do not use an egg. Make sure you use a liquid measuring cup for water and it is exactly 1 1/2 cups-tap water microwaved for 30 sec. Since I am using a mixer, I put salt, flours, sugar in one bowl and the warm water, maple syrup, yeast in mixer bowl. After the 5 min. I add the 2 tbsp. oil and then the flour mixture. I follow the rest of the recipe but let them rise 20 minutes instead of 10 each time. I forgot salt the other day and rolled in 2 tsp. sea salt after the first rise…still tasted delicious. I also don’t bother with sesame seeds anymore because they end up all over the house. I have always loved a plain bagel and you really get to taste the chewy deliciousness of the dough. Thank you for the recipe!
It’s clear you know your way around a bread recipe Sarah! Thanks so much for the detailed process tips. They will be very helpful to readers using a mixer. We really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment 🙂