Banana Bread Bagels

These chewy Banana Bread Bagels are loaded with bananas, a sprinkle of cinnamon and chopped chocolate. These bagels can be made in under an hour and are the perfect breakfast to make for your week ahead. They freeze well! Pair these with a honey cream cheese for a delicious start to your day.

The details

The ingredients

• Banana Bread Bagel Dough
  • instant yeast – I prefer using instant yeast, because it rises faster and needs no activation time, meaning you can just mix it directly in with the other ingredients.
  • warm water (warmed to 110F) – warm water helps the yeast work. However, you want to make sure the water doesn’t get too hot. Keep the water temperature between 108-112F.
  • brown sugar – this helps sweeten the bagels just enough to balance with the pumpkin puree.
  • bananas – the bananas add a hint of sweetness, as well as moisture and of course delicious banana bread flavor.
  • bread flour or all-purpose flour – bread flour will give the bagels a chewier texture, which is the characteristic texture of a bagel. You can certainly use all-purpose flour with equally delicious results. They just won’t be as chewy.
  • salt – salt helps to balance the flavors in the bagel.
  • cinnamon – the cinnamon adds delicious flavor to the bagels.
  • semi-sweet chocolate – the chocolate adds great flavor to these bagels.
• For Boiling
  • water – the bagels are boiled in a water bath, which creates the characteristic chewy texture of a bagel.
  • honey – This adds a hint of sweetness to the outside of the bagels. This helps promote browning in the outside of the bagels as well.
• Honey Cream Cheese
  • cream cheese – You’ve got to have the cream cheese filling, right!?
  • Honey – the honey adds a hint of sweetness to the banana bread bagels which is the perfect pairing with the bagels.

Which flour should I use (bread flour or all-purpose flour)?

Honestly, both bread and all-purpose flour produces delicious results for these banana bread bagels. However, if you are looking for the true characteristic chewy texture in a bagel, you’ll want to use the bread flour. Bread flour has a higher protein content and creates that chewy texture in the bagel.

Now, with that being said, if you use all-purpose flour, you will still have some chewy texture in the bagel. The bagels boil in a water bath prior to baking which creates the chewy exterior texture in the banana bread bagels. So, you will still have that chewy exterior.

Instant vs. Active Dry Yeast, What’s the Difference?

These banana bread bagels use instant yeast. Instant yeast means it works instantly. In other words, you don’t have to add the yeast to warm water and sugar and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to activate. You can simply add the yeast in with the other ingredients and mix. Another difference is that instant yeast rises faster than active dry yeast.

Active dry yeast needs an activation step. In order for active dry yeast to work, it needs to be mixed with a warm liquid, in this case, warm water. The water temperature needs to be between 108-112F. If the water gets above 115F, it can kill the yeast, and your dough will no longer rise. Active dry yeast does rise slower than instant yeast, and usually needs about 15-20 minutes more rise time than the instant yeast.

If you choose to use active dry yeast, you certainly can. Just substitute in a 1:1 ratio. Add the yeast to the warm water with the sugar and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes or until the mixture is frothy. This means the yeast is active and ready to be used

What if my banana bread bagel dough doesn’t rise?

If your dough doesn’t rise, there could be one of two things that happened. Either the yeast was old and expired, OR the water was too hot. You want to make sure that the water temperature is between 108-112F.

Also depending on the temperature of your home, the dough could take longer to rise. I recommend turning your oven on, then once it reaches 100 degrees F, turn your oven off. Place your covered dough in the warm oven to rise.

Here are a few other bagel recipes I think you will love

• Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bagels
• Pretzel Bagels
• Blueberry Bagels

Let me know what you thought!

If you make these banana bread bagels, let me know what you thought in the ratings and comments below. I absolutely love reading all of your comments! Also, make sure to snap a picture and tag me @simplebakingwithpep on instagram. It truly makes my day to see all of your wonderful creations.

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