Are you ready for the most festive Fall recipe you’ve ever made?
Impress your family & friends with this one, or just make ’em for yourself!
And there’s no need to be intimidating: these pumpkin bagels are actually incredibly easy to make.
I got the idea for these bagels when I saw that The Bagel Nook was making them. And while I knew I surely couldn’t make anything that beautiful, I needed to try!
These pumpkin shaped bagels require no yeast, which means you do not need to let the dough sit at all.
Just mix everything together, form, and bake! You can have these pumpkin bagels ready to serve in less than 30 minutes total.
The base of this recipe is the same as my Protein Bagels, which is a play on the “2 ingredient dough” you’ve likely seen floating around by now.
Self-rising flour and Greek yogurt are the main ingredients here, and if you want to bump the protein content up a bit, you have the option to spice things up with a little protein powder. Don’t worry, I’ll add notes on adding protein powder below, and it’s definitely not necessary in these bagels.
How to make pumpkin shaped bagels
These pumpkin bagels look very fancy, but the process of making them is rather simple.
Step 1: Add food coloring to Greek yogurt
Mix both together until you have a deep orange color. When I first mixed mine up the color was not bright enough so I mixed in a little more food coloring.
Remember: we’re adding more ingredients to these pumpkin bagels, so we want to be sure that the color is going to remain the star.
Step 2: Add the dry ingredients
Mix in the self-rising flour (or AP flour + baking powder + salt) until a dough forms. Mix it with your hands to make sure it all comes together.
Step 3: Break into 3 pieces and lightly knead the dough
We want the dough to be smooth. See the photos below for the before/after differences.
On a floured surface, knead the dough ball by folding it over and pressing it down multiple times, then roll it in your hands until it is nice and smooth.
Step 4: Use twine to shape the pumpkin bagels
Cut 3 pieces of twine (roughly 6-8 inches) and place them in the shape of an asterisk, then place the bagel dough in the center.
Tie each piece of tine at the top, pulling them tight enough to slightly indent into the dough.
If there is excess twine after tieing the tops, you can cut the string with scissors.
Step 5: Brush with egg wash and bake
These pumpkin bagels will only take 10 minutes in the air fryer at 350 degrees F, but you also have the option to bake these in the oven if you prefer.
Step 6: Remove the twine
Once the pumpkin bagels cool for about 10 minutes, cut and remove the twine.
Step 7: Add a pretzel stem
You can use anything you’d like for the stems, but I found honey wheat pretzel sticks to work perfectly.
Once the twine is removed, there will be a perfect gap in the top to insert your stem into.
And that’s it, my friends!
How to make these bagels pumpkin-flavored
I kept it simple by making plain bagels, but you can certainly “spice” these up (pun intended).
You can add one teaspoon of pumpkin spice (or cinnamon) to your dough to add a little bit of spice, or you can follow my recipe for Healthier Cinnamon Crunch Bagels if you want something extra cinnamony.
If you want to make these bagels with a little bit of protein, you can swap out 30g of the flour for protein powder (as seen in my Quick & Easy Protein Bagels).
Using pumpkin pie protein will work perfectly, but you can stick with regular ol’ vanilla as well with a teaspoon of pumpkin spice seasoning added.
Any flavor should work just great, so feel free to experiment. Either way, I always recommend PEScience Select Protein. Remember, you can save 10% on any orders with the code “Matt”.
More pumpkin recipes to soothe your “basic” soul
You’re here because you love pumpkins. Well, maybe you just thought these bagels looked really neat (you’re not wrong), but here are some more pumpkin recipes for you to make this Fall!
- Air Fryer Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes
- Chocolate Pumpkin Protein Donuts
- Cheesecake Stuffed Pumpkin Cookies
- Healthy Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream Without An Ice Cream Maker
- No-Bake Pumpkin Pie Protein Truffles
Pumpkin Shaped Bagels (No Yeast Required)
If you're looking for a fun Fall treat to impress your guests with, look no further than these pumpkin-shaped bagels. Make these as plain bagels, or spice them up with some pumpkin spice seasoning.
Ingredients
- 180g (1.5 Cups) All-Purpose Flour (can also use self-rising flour)
- 180g (2/3 Cup) Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt
- 2 Tsp Baking Powder (omit if using self-rising flour)
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 1 Egg for Egg Wash
- Orange (or Red + Yellow) Food Coloring
- Pretzels for Stems
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the Greek yogurt and food coloring until you have a deep orange color. You can always add more later, but mixing the coloring into the Greek yogurt prior to adding the dry ingredients makes this MUCH easier. Note: if you want these to have a little pumpkin flavor, you can also add a teaspoon of pumpkin spice seasoning.
- Add your dry ingredients to the bowl (flour, salt, baking powder) and mix it up until a dough ball forms. You may need to work it with your hands to get it to come together.
- Separate the dough into 3 equal-sized pieces. Add each ball onto a floured surface and knead them by folding them over numerous times, then roll them into smooth balls. See my photo references above this recipe card for how these should look.
- Cut out 3 pieces of twine, roughly 6 inches in length. Lay them flat, crossing them in the middle so they make the shape of an asterisk. Take each piece of twine and tie it at the top of the dough ball. If you have excess twine after tieing, you can cut it off.
- Continue for all 3 pumpkins.
- Preheat your air fryer at 350 degrees F for about 3 minutes. Preheating doesn't take long, but it really helps with the cooking process. Once preheated, add your pumpkin bagels.
- Brush the pumpkin bagels with a light egg wash, then air fry at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, remove from the air fryer and let the bagels cool for 5-10 minutes, Cut the twine and remove from each pumpkin.
- Take your pretzel sticks and break off a small piece. Insert into the top of the pumpkin bagels (where the knots were) and serve!
Notes
Want to make these into a high-protein bagel? Follow the recipe the same way but swap out 30g of flour for 30g (about 1 scoop) of protein powder! See my notes above the recipe card for more.
- No air fryer? You can bake these bagels in the oven at 375 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes.
- The amount of Greek yogurt you need may vary based on how liquidy the yogurt is, so feel free to adjust if needed. A little bit extra will work totally fine.
- These bagels work great as pull-apart bagels to then dip into cream cheese!
- Add a teaspoon of pumpkin spice to the dough if you want these bagels to have some pumpkin flavor to them.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 3 Serving Size 1 Pumpkin BagelAmount Per Serving Calories 235Total Fat 0gCarbohydrates 47gProtein 12g
