Montreal Bagels Recipe [Authentic] - Celebration Generation (2024)

This Montreal bagels recipe is surprisingly easy to make. These sweet, chewy bagels are as authentic as you can get without a wood fire oven!

As you may have noticed by now, I enjoy making bagels!

The very first bagel recipe I posted here was my Jalapeno Cheddar Bagels.

Eventually, I wrote a basic guide on How to Make Bagels - covering a lot of the hows, whys, and options.

From there, we got into Marble Rye Bagels, Pumpernickel Everything Bagels, Seeded Whole Wheat Flax Bagels, Smoky Cheese Bagels... even some Maple Pumpkin Spice Bagels!

I frequently make a batch of bagels on the weekend, taking care of my husband’s breakfasts for almost the whole week. (He’ll usually make breakfast sandwiches from them).

Today’s bagel recipe is a bit of a departure from those other recipes - Montreal style bagels!

This was a popular request when I was developing my Canadian foods cookbook, More Than Poutine: Favourite Foods from my Home and Native Land.

The book was definitely geared to expat Canadians, and this style of bagel is a HUGE craving for those who have moved away!

What Are Montreal Bagels?

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The first bagels came to Montreal with Jewish immigrants in the early 20th century.

Montreal’s mile end neighborhood was a main settling point for eastern European immigrants, becoming a predominantly Jewish community for several decades.

While the St-Viateur bagel may be the most well known Montreal bagel bakery (To the rest of Canada, anyway!), there are many well-respected places to get a great bagel in Montreal - many of them peppered along St-Laurent Boulevard and Fairmount street, specifically.

Some of the best bagel places in the neighbourhood include Fairmount Bagel Bakery, St Viateur, and Hinnawi Bros Bagel - all iconic places.

So, if you’re ever in the area, you should definitely do a quick tour, and load up on fresh bagels!

Montreal-style bagels are more rustic looking, sweeter, and chewier than their non-Montreal counterparts, with a crunchier crust. The sweeter taste comes both from the malt extract in the dough, and from being boiled in a honeyed water solution.

Oh, and a matter of fun trivia... Montreal bagels were the first bagels in space!

Canadian astronaut Gregory Chamitoff brought some Montreal bagels - from Fairmount Bakery - to the International Space Station with him in 2008.

New York Bagels vs Montréal Bagel

In North America, there’s a big bagel rivalry between New York City and Montreal, with New Yorkers and Montrealers (well, Many Canadians in general!) Fiercely defending their own bagels as the BEST bagels.

I actually tagged a NY friend of mine in an early share of this post, and was treated to a mini rant about how New York-style bagels are clearly superior.

Aftera quick back and forth, he decided that maybe he should try them again - using my recipe - and judge them on their own merits, as a completely different food item... rather than based on what a New York style bagel was.

Probably for the best - they are QUITE different, both from ingredient and technique standpoints - and that goes well beyond the Montreal bagels’ smaller size!

NY bagels are bigger, but they are also softer and chewier, both from the lack of eggs and longer, lower-temp baking time in a traditional commercial oven. Some claim that NYC water itself contributes to the bagel’s makeup.

Montreal bagels are smaller, sweeter - from the inclusion of malt extract* in the dough, and a boil in honey-sweetened water - and more dense, partially due to the egg in the dough.

Visually, they are less plump, have a larger hole in the middle, and tend to be topped in either poppy seeds or sesame seeds - not with an endless variety of toppings.

The bagel shape can be pretty irregular - ovals or random squashed circles.

They’re baked in wood ovens, at a higher temperature for a shorter time, resulting in a crunchier outer surface.

* When it comes to homemade versions, some use maple syrup or honey. I’m using malt extract for authenticity.

My Montreal-Style Bagel Recipe

Unlike most of my bagel recipes, Montreal style bagels have egg - a whole and an egg yolk - in the dough... but NOT as a pre-baking wash!

Technically, they have to be baked in a wood fire oven in order to be considered legit, but for the purposes of satisfying cravings... well, I won’t tell anyone if you don’t!

* I developed this recipe using malt extract powder. Do NOT substitute liquid malt extract in this recipe!

How to Make Montreal Bagels

My full Montreal bagel recipe is at the end of this post, here's the pictorial overview!

Bagel Dough

Stir yeast and sugar into warm water, allow to stand for 10 minutes – it should get very bubbly.

In a large bowl - or bowl of an electric mixer - combine flour and malt powder. Pour in yeast mixture, 1 egg, yolk, and vegetable oil, stir well to combine.

Dump dough out onto a floured surface, knead until soft and elastic, 5-10 minutes.

Once dough is fully kneaded, place dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C), line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Measure water and honey into a large pot, stir well and bring to a boil while you form the bagels.

Once dough has doubled, punch it down, and divide it out into 12-15 equal sized balls. 12 will get you larger bagels that can be sliced/used as normal bagels, 15 gets more authentically sized bagels.

Roll each lump of dough into a 10-inch rope and secure the ends together. I'll usually hold the wrong of dough join-side-down and roll it back and forth a few times.

Once you have all of your bagels formed, stir honey water and turn the heat down, allowing water to simmer rather than boil.

2 or 3 at a time, drop your bagels into the simmering water, allow to cook for 1 minute, then use a slotted spoon or tongs to flip each and allow to cook for another minute.

Drain well, dip both sides of the hot bagels in either poppy or sesame seeds, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Love Canadian food? Check out my cookbook, "More Than Poutine: Favourite Foods from My Home and Native Land”. "More than Poutine" is a Canadian cookbook like no other - written by a Canadian living away, it includes both traditional home cooking recipes, as well as accurate homemade versions of many of the snacks, sauces, convenience foods, and other food items that are hard to come by outside of Canada! Order your copy here on this site, through Amazon, or through any major bookseller!

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5 from 11 votes

Montreal Style Bagels

This Montreal bagels recipe is surprisingly easy to make. These sweet, chewy bagels are as authentic as you can get without a wood fire oven!

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Rising time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs

Course: Bread, Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: Canadian

Diet: Low Lactose

Servings: 12 Bagels

Calories: 254kcal

Author: Marie Porter

Equipment

• 2 Baking Sheets

• Parchment Paper

Ingredients

Bagel Dough

• 1 ⅔ cups Warm - not hot - water
• 4 teaspoon Active dry yeast
• ¼ cup Sugar
• 4 ½ cups All purpose flour
• ¼ cup Malt extract powder
• 1.5 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Large egg
• 1 Large egg yolk
• ¼ cup Vegetable oil

Assembly

• 1 Gallon Water
• ⅓ cup Liquid honey
• Poppy seeds and/or sesame seeds

Instructions

Bagel Dough

• Stir yeast and sugar into warm water, allow to stand for 10 minutes – it should get very bubbly.

• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and malt powder. Pour in yeast mixture, 1 egg, yolk, and vegetable oil, stir well to combine.

• Dump dough out onto a floured surface, knead until soft and elastic, 5-10 minutes.

• Once dough is fully kneaded, place dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.

• Once dough has doubled, punch it down, and divide it out into 12-15 equal sized balls. 12 will get you larger bagels that can be sliced/used as normal bagels, 15 gets more authentically sized bagels.

Assembly:

• Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C), line baking sheets with parchment paper.

• Measure water and honey into a large pot, stir well and bring to a boil while you form the bagels.

• Roll each lump of dough into a thick “snake” and secure the ends together.

• Once you have all of your bagels formed, stir honey water and turn the heat down, allowing water to simmer rather than boil.

• 2 or 3 at a time, drop your bagels into the simmering water, allow to cook for 1 minute, then flip each and allow to cook for another minute.

• Drain well, place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

• Generously coat bagels in sesame seeds or poppy seeds. I like to do some of each.

• Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Video

Notes

* Malt extract powder can be purchased at home brewing supply stores. Do NOT substitute liquid malt extract.

Nutrition

Calories: 254kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 44mg | Sodium: 32mg | Potassium: 108mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 61IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 3mg