Pumpkin Spice Crunch Bagels

I’m all about the Fall breakfasts lately. These pumpkin spice crunch bagels have just the right amount of pumpkin and spices. Top each half of the bagel with my maple pecan cream cheese. These are perfect to have on hand for quick meals or for a larger gathering.

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Ingredients

Bagel Dough

Fresh-milled hard white wheat flour

Warm water

Pumpkin Puree

Instant yeast

Local honey

Salt

Ground ginger

Ceylon cinnamon, ground

Ground nutmeg

Ground cloves

Vanilla extract

Tangzhong

Hard white wheat flour

Water

Honey Pumpkin Spice Water Boil

Local honey

Ceylon cinnamon, ground

Pecan Crunch Topping

Chopped pecans, toasted

Hard-white fresh milled flour

Coconut or sucanat sugar

Grass-fed butter, melted

Ceylon cinnamon, ground

Pumpkin spice

Pinch of salt

Maple syrup

Maple Pecan Cream Cheese

Full-fat cream cheese

Maple syrup

Ceylon cinnamon, ground

Pumpkin pie spice

Vanilla extract

Directions

Tangzhong

1. Whisk 30 g flour + 150 g water in a saucepan.
2. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens.
3. You should be able to drag your whisk through it and see the bottom of the pan briefly.
4. Set aside to cool.

Dough

1. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Combine wet ingredients with the dry. This includes the cooled Tangzhong (see instructions below and in the recipe card at the end of this post). Don’t add all the water. Depending on what flour you use, you may need less. Firstly, begin with 1 cup and add more in 1 tbsp increments, if needed.
3. Knead the dough for 8 minutes in a stand up mixer. Alternatively, knead by hand, allow around 500 strokes or the equivalent to 10 minutes.
4. Cover the bowl with a towel and allow to rise for 60-90 minutes.
5. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and shape into balls. You can weigh them and they should be around 85-90 g per ball. Allow to rest for five minutes.
6. Shape the Bagels: Poke a hole in the middle of the ball using your thumb. Twirl it around until a large hole is created. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
7. Refrigerate overnight: Cover the shaped bagels with a towel. Place them in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours.

Pecan Crunch Topping

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.
2. Mix together throughly until combined.
3. It should be crumbly. Set aside until bagels are ready to go in the oven.

Bake

1. Next morning: Take the bagels straight from the refrigerator. Refer to the Honey Pumpkin Spice Water Boil above. In a large stock pot, bring the water to a boil. Add the honey and cinnamon. Prepare an egg wash and the crunchy pecan topping. Preheat your oven to 425° F.
2. Boil: Boil the cold bagels for approx. 30 seconds per side. Remove with a slotted spoon and place them back on the parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with an egg wash. (Whisk 1 egg + 1 tbsp of water) Sprinkle the crunch topping generously on top of each bagel. Gently press it into the dough.
3. Bake: Place the baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. I’m using a convection oven so you might need to adjust your time accordingly. Tent with foil to make sure the topping doesn’t burn (if needed). They should be a beautiful brown color when finished. Lastly, allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing.

Maple Pecan Cream Cheese

1. Beat the cream cheese, maple syrup, spices, vanilla and salt until fluffy.
2. Fold in the toasted pecans.

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Tips

• If using all-purpose flour, omit the Tangzhong method.
• Feel free to substitute any sweetener of your choice. The maple syrup and coconut sugar gives these bagels more of a fall taste plus they are low glycemic.
• Make your own Vanilla Extract. It’s my secret ingredient in all my baked goods. It makes great gifts as well.

Other Pumpkin Recipes You May Like

Pumpkin Protein Waffles

Pumpkin Maple Sourdough Scones

Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Why Use Ceylon Cinnamon?

Ceylon cinnamon (also called true cinnamon) is the spice made from the dried inner bark of the evergreen tree Cinnamomum verum (synonym Cinnamomum zeylanicum), native primarily to Sri Lanka (formerly called Ceylon).

Most ground cinnamon sold in grocery stores is cassia. It has thicker, harder, single-layer sticks that are darker reddish-brown, a stronger/spicier flavor, and much higher coumarin. Ceylon cinnamon is valued not only for its milder, sweeter flavor. But, it also has potential health benefits linked to its bioactive compounds, including cinnamaldehyde, polyphenols (such as proanthocyanidins), eugenol, and other antioxidants. It is notably lower in coumarin than cassia cinnamon, making it safer for regular or higher-dose use.

Specifically, using Ceylon cinnamon extract have shown significant reductions in fasting blood sugar (e.g., greater effects in those with type 2 diabetes) and improvements in insulin resistance and beta-cell function. One 4-month trial with 250 mg or 500 mg extract daily in type 2 diabetes patients found declines in fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c, plus reduced insulin resistance.

What is Tangzhong?

The Tangzhong method is a traditional Asian bread-making technique that makes bagels and bread exceptionally soft, fluffy, and moist, while also helping it stay fresh longer.

It works especially well with fresh-milled wheat, which can otherwise produce a denser or more fragile loaf.

How Tangzhong works

You take a small portion of the flour and liquid from your recipe and cook them together into a thick paste before adding it to the dough.

Typically:

1 part flour : 5 parts liquid

For example:

• 25 g flour
• 125 g milk or water

Heat them gently while stirring until the mixture reaches roughly 149°F / 65°C. At this point, the flour gelatinizes and absorbs much more liquid than it normally would.

Lastly, let the Tangzhong cool until warm or room temperature and add it to the recipe.

Why it makes the bagels fluffy

The cooked flour essentially locks extra moisture into the dough. That gives you:

• A softer, fluffier crumb
• More moisture without making the dough soupy
• A lighter texture
• Bread that stays soft for several days
• Better texture when using fresh-milled whole-grain flour

Whole Grains vs. Refined Grains

Whole Grain Benefits

• Whole grains offer a “complete package” of health benefits, unlike refined grains, which are stripped of valuable nutrients in the refining process.
• As stated above, all whole grain kernels contain three parts: the bran, germ, and endosperm. Each section houses health-promoting nutrients. The bran is the fiber-rich outer layer that supplies B vitamins, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, antioxidants, and phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are natural chemical compounds in plants that have been researched for their role in disease prevention. The germ is the core of the seed where growth occurs; it is rich in healthy fats, vitamin E, B vitamins, phytochemicals, and antioxidants. The endosperm is the interior layer that holds carbohydrates, protein, and small amounts of some B vitamins and minerals.

These components have various effects on our bodies:

• Bran and fiber slow the breakdown of starch into glucose—thus maintaining a steady blood sugar rather than causing sharp spikes.
• Fiber helps lower cholesterol as well as move waste through the digestive tract.
• The fiber may also help prevent the formation of small blood clots that can trigger heart attacks or strokes.
• Phytochemicals and essential minerals such as magnesium, selenium and copper found in whole grains may protect against some cancers.

Refined Grains

The invention of industrialized roller mills in the late 19th century changed the way we process grains. Commercial milling strips away the bran and germ and leaves only the soft, easy-to-digest endosperm. Without the fibrous bran, the grain is easier to chew. The germ is removed because of its fat content, which can limit the shelf life of processed wheat products. The resulting highly processed grains are much lower in nutritional quality. Refining wheat creates fluffy flour that makes light, airy breads and pastries, but the process strips away more than half of wheat’s B vitamins, 90 percent of the vitamin E, and virtually all of the fiber. Although some nutrients may be added back by fortification, other health-promoting components of whole grains such as phytochemicals cannot be replaced. 

Do you ever buy flour that says “Enriched” Flour? Well, don’t. The word enriched just means they have added synthetic forms of the nutrients back into the flour. The millers did this because people were getting sick from having a B1 (Thiamine) deficiency called Beriberi. That was an illness that affected both the cardiovascular and nervous system. Pellagra, a vitamin B3 (Niacin) deficiency, was a horrible skin disease. Specifically, they both lead to death back then. This all started happening in the early 1900’s when the millers decided to remove the bran and the germ from the flour. It was and still is sold to pet and livestock feed companies for an ingredient in feed. 

We shouldn’t be consuming altered food. Eating real food like fresh fruits, vegetables, grass-fed meat and nutrient dense grains (straight from the field), is what God gave us to consume. This is why I started milling my own flour 14 years ago. Wheat is a near perfect food.

How to Store Pumpkin Spice Crunch Bagels

Leftover bagels can be wrapped in these beeswax wraps that I am loving. They can be placed either in the fridge for 2-3 days or will last on the counter for 1-2 days. For longer storage, freeze them in an airtight container for 1-2 months.

Items Used in This Recipe

Baking Sheet

Parchment Paper

Pumpkin Cake Cloche

Pastry Brush

Old Country Dough Whisk

Resources

Ranasinghe P, Galappatthy P, Constantine GR, Jayawardena R, Weeratunga HD, Premakumara S, Katulanda P. Efficacy and Safety of Cinnamomum zeylanicum (Ceylon cinnamon) for diabetes mellitus: a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2025 Dec;19(12):103357. doi: 10.1016/j.dsx.2025.103357. Epub 2025 Dec 12. PMID: 41412108.

https://nutritionsource.hsps.harvard.edu/whatshouldieat/wholegrains

Wang J, Chatzidimitriou E, Wood L, Hasanalieva G, Markelou E, Iversen PO, Seal C, Baranski M, Vigar V, Ernst L, Willson A, Thapa M, Barkla BJ, Leifert C, Rempelos L. Effect of wheat species (Triticum aestivum vs T. spelta), farming system (organic vs conventional) and flour type (wholegrain vs white) on composition of wheat flour – Results of a retail survey in the UK and Germany – 2. Antioxidant activity, and phenolic and mineral content. Food Chem X. 2020 May 4;6:100091. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2020.100091. PMID: 32420543; PMCID: PMC7215096.

www.wholegrainscouncil.org

The Essential Home-Ground Flour book by Sue Becker

I hope you enjoy making this recipe for you and your family all year long. Please share this post over on Pinterest and tag me on Instagram.

Wendy Lea Walker, NTP

Nutritional Therapy Practitioner

I’m Wendy. A wife, empty-nester mama, homemaker, homebaker, gardener and small-time farmer. I love sharing wisdom and knowledge I’ve learned along the way. Anyone can garden or homestead, no matter where you live. It’s a mindset. You just have to start somewhere. I believe food is medicine. Feed the body real whole foods and healing will begin. I’m an advocate for eating real food and enjoy sharing all my fresh-milled flour recipes. I’ve learned to slow down over the years from all the noise that came with life and enjoy creating a simple cottage home.