Enter the number of bagels you want to make and your preferred bagel weight, then choose your dough style — the Bagel Dough Calculator scales all your ingredients automatically. You'll get exact gram measurements for flour, water, salt, yeast, and malt syrup, plus a full baker's percentage breakdown so your dough comes out perfectly every time.
Flour
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Water
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Salt
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Yeast / Starter
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Malt Syrup / Sugar
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Total Dough Weight
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Baker's percentages express each ingredient as a proportion of the total flour weight — not the total dough weight. Flour is always 100%, and everything else is relative to it. This system makes it simple to scale a bagel recipe up or down for any batch size without recalculating from scratch.
Bagels use a stiff, low-hydration dough — typically 55–60%. This is much lower than most bread doughs and is what gives bagels their dense, chewy texture. A higher hydration will produce a softer, more bread-like result, while going lower creates a tighter, denser crumb.
The boiling water bath (often with baking soda or barley malt syrup added) gelatinizes the outer starch before the bagel hits the oven. This creates the characteristic shiny, chewy crust that sets bagels apart from regular rolls. Boiling for 30–60 seconds per side is typical.
Yes — sourdough bagels are made by replacing commercial yeast with active sourdough starter, typically at 15–25% of flour weight. The process is slower (often requiring an overnight cold retard), but the result is a more complex, tangy flavor and a naturally leavened crust.
Barley malt syrup adds a subtle sweetness and a deep, golden-brown color to the crust through the Maillard reaction. It also slightly strengthens the dough and is a key ingredient in authentic NY-style bagels. If you don't have malt syrup, a small amount of honey or sugar can substitute.
A typical NY-style bagel weighs around 105–125 grams before baking. After baking, some moisture is lost, so the baked weight will be slightly lower. Mini bagels are usually around 60–70g, while oversized bakery bagels can reach 150–175g.
High-protein bread flour (12–14% protein) is strongly recommended for bagels. The higher gluten content gives bagels their signature chewy, dense texture. All-purpose flour can work in a pinch but produces a softer, less chewy result. For whole wheat bagels, substitute 20–50% of the flour with whole wheat.
Simply enter the number of bagels you want in the calculator and it automatically scales every ingredient. The baker's percentages stay constant — only the total gram amounts change. This ensures your dough hydration, salt, and leavening remain perfectly balanced regardless of batch size.