Homemade cinnamon raisin bagels are dense and chewy, filled with ground cinnamon and sweet raisins. They are easy to make with just a few ingredients using a stand mixer. These cinnamon raisin bagels are a wonderful snack or delicious breakfast idea served toasted with cream cheese or butter!
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The thing I like about this easy bagel recipe is that it’s basically my regular bagel recipe made with ground cinnamon, sweet raisins, and vanilla bean paste. So it’s very easy to make and with the same steps and process.
This recipe is also dairy free and egg free and makes 10 regular-sized bagels so you can also store them in the freezer and then bring them out whenever you want.
Cinnamon Raisin Bagels Ingredients
- All-purpose flour – Can use bread flour instead.
- Yeast – Dry active yeast.
- Salt – To balance out flavors.
- Ground cinnamon – 2 teaspoons to give a hint of cinnamon spice! Add more if you like a lot of cinnamon. One thing to keep in mind is that ground cinnamon actually slows down the rising process of yeast, which will lead to a denser bagel. Add 30 minutes – 1 hour to the rise time in this case.
- Organic Raisins – heaping ½ cup of sweet and juicy raisins. Perfect amount without being overpowering.
- Vanilla Bean Paste – Gives a stronger vanilla flavor with wonderful little specks of vanilla bean. Use pure vanilla extract instead if you like!
How to Make Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bagels
All ingredients, measurements, and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Make the Dough – Into a stand mixer add warm water, yeast, and brown sugar. Wait 2 – 5 minutes or until the yeast is proofed. Then add the raisins, all-purpose flour, salt, and ground cinnamon.
- Using the dough hook knead until you have a smooth but very firm ball of dough. This takes 5 – 10 minutes. Then turn the dough onto the counter, and shape it into a ball. Add a little bit of vegetable oil into the bowl with the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to double in size in a warm environment, this usually takes about 1 – 1 1/2 hours.
- Shape bagels – Divide the dough into 10 pieces. Shape into a tight ball by making a claw with your hand and rolling the dough in a circular motion.
- Use your thumb and index finger to create a hole in the middle, then roll the dough around your index fingers to make the hole a little bigger.
- Water Bath – Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil then add brown sugar. Boil bagels for 1 minute per side then transfer them to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You might need to boil in batches.
- Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until they are golden brown. Serve your homemade cinnamon raisin bagels right out of the oven or toasted with cream cheese or butter. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions —
We love to enjoy cinnamon raisin bagels plain straight from the oven or toasted with cream cheese. You could also serve them with butter, peanut butter, a drizzle of honey, or a cinnamon raisin cream cheese spread.
Traditionally, bagels are made with malt barley powder or syrup. This helps to give the bagels their signature chewiness and golden color. This ingredient can be hard to find so I just use dark brown sugar. It works fine and the bagels still turn out perfectly chewy!
Yes! I always use all-purpose flour! Bread flour has a higher protein content which gives bagels are very chewy and dense texture, but it can happen with plain all-purpose flour too!
Yes. Ground cinnamon will slow down the rising activity of yeast. It won’t stop the dough from rising but it will definitely take longer for your dough to double in size.
Yes, this helps to create that chewy crust on the outside. You usually boil them for 1 minute per side.
Looking For More Breakfast Recipes?
- Giant Everything Bagels (Soft & Chewy!)
- Easy Homemade Challah Bread Recipe
- Honey Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
- Oven-Baked Beef Bacon
- Homemade Breakfast Sausage Seasoning
- Turkey Breakfast Sausage Patties
- Beef Breakfast Sausage Patties
- The Best Ever Blueberry Cranberry Muffins
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Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Bagels
Equipment
- Stand mixer fitted with hook attachment
- 2 Sheet pans lined with parchment paper
- Large pot for boiling the bagels
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups warm water
- 1 packet dry active yeast 2 ¼ teaspoon
- 2 ½ tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoon raisins
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 – 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
Water Bath:
- 10 cups Water for boiling
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
Instructions
Making the bagels
- In a stand mixer add the warm water, yeast, and brown sugar. Allow the yeast to proof for 5 minutes.
- Next, add the vanilla bean paste or extract, raisins, flour, ground cinnamon, and salt. Knead with the dough hook until the dough until it is smooth but very firm, 5 – 10 minutes.
- Turn the dough onto your counter, and shape it into a ball. Coat the mixing bowl and dough with vegetable oil. Cover with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rest in a warm spot for 1.5 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
Shaping bagels
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
- Divide dough into 10 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, using a circular motion.
- Make a hole in the middle of the dough using your thumb and index finger. Roll dough around both index fingers a couple of times to create a larger hole. Don’t make the hole too big. Set aside on a baking sheet then repeat with the remaining dough.
Cooking bagels
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil then add the brown sugar. Stir until dissolved. Boil bagels for 1 minute per side then using a slotted spoon return them to the baking sheet. You may need to boil them in batches.
- Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until they are golden brown.
- Allow cinnamon raisin bagels to cool then serve toasted with cream cheese. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition information is automatically generated and should be only used as a rough estimate. This recipe card may contain affiliate links.
Hi Tonya I just finished the dough for the bagels which is resting for about 1/2 an hour now but my dough seems stiff is this how it is supposed to be?
Thanks Sherry
Hi Sherry, the dough needs to rest for at least 1.5 – 2 hours. The dough will be dense but it should have doubled in size before cutting and shaping. Hope that helps!
Wonderful recipe! I followed the recipe as written for the first batch but added an egg wash before baking and the bagels turned out great! I made a second batch using bread flour instead of all purpose flour, omitted the cinnamon, and used craisins instead of raisins and they turned out AMAZING! The bread flour bagels were so fluffy!
Thank you, Stacey! An egg wash and using bread flour is a great idea. And craisins sound amazing! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
I made these the other day. I have made bagels before, but not cinnamon raisin, which is one of my favorites. These turned out amazing! The only problem is that I can’t decide whether I like butter or cream cheese better on them (leaning towards butter). I will be making these way more often now because, although a bit time-consuming, they are actually easy to make and SO worth it! Next time I’m going to try a little pinch of cardamom….just because!
Cinnamon Raisin bagels are our favorites too! Cardamom is sooo good with cinnamon! Thank you for commenting and leaving a review- it made my day, Marlene! 🙂