These honey za’atar bagels are chewy, glossy and deeply flavorful, with aromatic Middle Eastern spices balanced by sweet, sticky honey, butter and flaky salt. They’re based on my original New York Bagels recipe but the topping is everything here and I can’t say enough how good they are.
You might not imagine this to be true, but bagels are surprisingly achievable for a regular home baker, and even more so if you have a steam oven. The dough is straightforward, the shaping is forgiving, and the steam oven takes care of the trickiest part of traditional bagel making – no boiling necessary! You can go from start to finish in around an hour if you use your steam oven to prove the dough, so they’re also quick to make.
The result is a batch of deeply golden bagels with a chewy interior, crisp crust and a topping that’s salty, sweet and savory all at once.
This honey za’atar bagels recipe actually came about as a loose interpretation of the most amazing focaccia I’ve ever eaten. Made by a sweet little cafe local to me, it’s a towering, crispy-chewy loaf (not your usual flat focaccia) that’s positively soaked in honey syrup and liberally seasoned on top with za’atar spices and salt. I have dreams about the stuff and when they removed it from their regular menu I wanted to find a way to easily recreate the same textures and flavors at home. I decided bagels were the perfect vehicle – faster than focaccia and perfect for single portions. Plus, steam oven bagels are a true thing of beauty no matter how you top or fill them.
Why does this recipe work well in a steam oven?
Traditional bagel recipes require boiling each bagel individually before baking, which can be messy and fiddly. In a steam oven, the initial steam phase replaces the boiling step entirely, giving the bagels their characteristic chewy crust and glossy finish without needing a pot of water on the stove. The humid proving environment also helps the dough rise beautifully without drying out, making the whole process simpler, cleaner and more consistent.
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Honey Za’atar Bagels: ingredients and substitutions
See the recipe card further down for full method and ingredient quantities.
- Bread flour: Bread flour, with its higher protein content, gives bagels their signature chewy texture. You can use all-purpose flour if needed, but the bagels will be slightly softer due to the lower protein.
- Yeast: Instant yeast keeps the process simple and quick. Active dry yeast works too, though your proving time may be a little longer.
- Honey: Honey adds sweetness and creates the sticky glaze that helps the za’atar cling to the bagels. It’s a wonderful flavor pairing with the za’atar as well.
- Butter: Mixed with the honey for the topping, butter gives the finished bagels richness and shine. You could substitute it with good olive oil.
- Za’atar: This Middle Eastern spice blend brings earthy, herbal, tangy flavor from dried thyme, sesame and sumac. You can make your own, or buy it ready made. I guarantee you’ll find plenty of things to sprinkle it on, it’s so good!
- Flaky salt: A final sprinkle of salt balances the herbal za’atar and sweetness of the honey, and makes the flavors pop.
Honey za’atar bagel variations
These bagels are very adaptable, and once you’ve mastered the basic technique you can change things around to suit your mood.
- Make smaller bagels for brunch platters or lunchbox portions. Or, flip it and make one or two giant bagels that can be cut and shared from the center of the table.
- Add a little cayenne pepper to the topping if you enjoy some heat.
- Use maple syrup instead of honey for a slightly different sweetness.
How to make honey za’atar bagels
View, save and print the recipe card further down in this post; read on for the visual walk-through.
Mix the warm water, sugar and yeast together first so the yeast can activate. Add the flour and salt, then knead until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Bagel dough is firmer than many bread doughs, so don’t be tempted to add too much extra water unless it seems very dry.
Place the dough into your steam oven on a low-temperature steam setting to rise. The humid environment keeps the dough supple and encourages quick, even proving. It should double in size during this step.
Divide the dough into equal portions and shape each into a ball before stretching a hole through the center. Make the hole larger than you think necessary, because it will shrink as the dough rests and cooks.
Instead of boiling the bagels in water, we steam them in the oven. This gives them their chewy outer texture while keeping the process far simpler and less messy than stovetop boiling.
Once steamed, switch the oven to combi steam and bake the bagels until they’re deeply golden brown and glossy.
While the bagels are still hot, dip them into the warm honey-butter mixture and then into the za’atar. Finish with flaky salt while everything is sticky and warm.
Tips for success
Use a light hand when shaping the dough. Overworking it during shaping can make the finished bagels a little dense.
Steam ovens vary slightly in how efficiently they generate heat and humidity, so if your bagels seem pale at the end of the recommended baking time, tweak the timing a little to suit.
Have all your topping ingredients ready before the bagels come out of the oven. The honey-butter glaze sticks best while the bagels are piping hot.
If your ingredients/kitchen are cold, your initial proving time may take a little longer than specified. Look for dough that feels puffy and airy, and which has doubled in bulk, rather than watching the clock to the minute.
Honey za’atar bagels serving suggestions
- These bagels are at their absolute best served warm on the day of baking. I love them split and spread thickly with cream cheese, which balances beautifully against the sweet honey and savory za’atar topping.
- They also work wonderfully with labneh, smoked salmon and sliced cucumber for a substantial brunch.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for about a day and gently reheated using combi steam to refresh the texture. If you’d like to freeze them, it’s best to do so before adding the topping, then reheat and finish with the honey and za’atar just before serving.
Honey za’atar bagels are one of those recipes that feel a little special without requiring complicated techniques or hard-to-find ingredients. The steam oven simplifies the entire bagel-making process, while the sweet, salty and aromatic topping makes them memorable enough for brunch gatherings, holiday breakfasts or slow weekend mornings at home.
Once you make these outstanding bagels, you’ll see that it’s very hard to go back to store-bought!
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Za’atar and Honey Bagels
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups water lukewarm; increase quantity as needed to get the right dough consistency
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 3 1/2 cups unbleached white bread flour plus extra for kneading
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup za'atar see notes
- 1 tsp flaky salt
Instructions
Make dough
- Put water in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the sugar and yeast over the top. Leave for 5 minutes until the yeast is beginning to bubble, then add the flour and salt. Mix well with a dough hook until the dough comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and elastic – about 5-7 minutes. If it’s looking too dry, add just enough extra water for it to come together in a single clean ball.1 1/4 cups water, 2 tsp sugar, 2 tsp instant yeast, 3 1/2 cups unbleached white bread flour, 1 ½ tsp salt
- Put the bowl into your steam oven and set the oven to steam, 100°F/38°C (100% humidity). Alternatively, if you have a dough proving setting you can use that. Prove the dough until it's doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Remove the dough from the oven and turn it out onto a flour-dusted bench.
- Set the oven to steam, 212°F/100⁰C (100% humidity). Line two sheet pans with silicone or baking paper and set aside.
Shape Bagels
- Gently press and knead the dough to knock it down, then divide into 8 equal portions.
- Roll each portion into a ball, then use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke a hole in the middle of each dough ball. Gently stretch and pull each piece of dough until the hole is about 2 inches (5cm) in diameter, then put them onto the lined pans – 4 on each tray, allowing plenty of room for expanding.
Cook Bagels
- When all your bagels are shaped, put the trays into the oven and steam for 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and change the setting to Combi Steam 400°F/200⁰C, 50% (medium) humidity.
- When the oven has heated up, return the bagels to the oven and cook until they are golden brown, shiny and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom – about 12-15 minutes.
Top Bagels
- While the bagels are baking, heat the honey and butter together in a small saucepan over low heat to melt. Mix really well so they come together, and pour the mixture onto a lipped plate or shallow bowl – you're going to dip the tops of the bagels directly into it, so the dish needs to be wide enough to accommodate. Spread out the za'atar on another plate, and have the flaky salt ready to go in a small dish.1/4 cup honey, 1/2 cup za'atar, 3 Tbsp butter, 1 tsp flaky salt
- As soon as the bagels come out of the oven, use tongs to pick them up and dip the tops of the bagels into the melted honey butter, then straight into the za'atar. Turn them right side up and set onto a cooling rack. When you've dipped and topped all the bagels, sprinkle them liberally with the flaky salt. You'll have a good amount of the honey butter left over – drizzle as little or as much of this as you like over the bagels. I use most of it, for a very sticky, salty, sweet finish.
- These bagels are best eaten warm, on the day of baking. They can be gently reheated the next day using combi steam.
Notes
- New York vs Montreal bagels: these chewy, dense bagels sit squarely in the New York style bagel camp, as opposed to the Canadian/Montreal style bagels which are smaller, sweeter and use a dough enriched with eggs.
- Mixer or hand kneading: this method calls for a stand mixer and dough hook attachment but you can certainly make the dough by hand, as long as you don’t mind some hard work with the kneading. Just mix the dough with a spoon until it starts to come together, then turn it out and knead for 5-10 minutes by hand until it’s smooth and elastic before proceeding with the rest of the steps.
- Za’atar: this is a traditional Middle Eastern spice blend that varies a little from country to country and family to family. It’s fantastic stuff that’s good to sprinkle on all kinds of roasted vegetables, eggs, fish and chicken. The critical elements are dried thyme, sumac, sesame seeds and salt. You can make your own, using this recipe I’ve made several times now, or you can buy it ready-made online.
- Serving: these bagels are really best eaten warm, on the day of baking. I like to split and fill them with cream cheese, which is a great counterpoint to the sweet and aromatic za’atar and honey topping. They can be gently reheated the next day using combi steam, but they won’t be as sticky and perfect.
- Storage: Store leftovers at room temperature in an airtight container, for up to 24 hours. I do not freeze the topped bagels as the topping hardens and peels off when they’re thawed. If you want to bake ahead, you could hold off the topping and freeze the ‘naked’ bagels for up to a couple of months. Thaw and reheat them using combi steam when you want to serve, and top immediately before serving.
