Pickled Pepper & Cheddar Sourdough Beer Bagels

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Welcome to Ale and Apron! Today I’m sharing my recipe for Pickled Pepper & Cheddar Sourdough Beer Bagels. These cheddar sourdough bagels get their incredible flavor from homemade pickled peppers, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, and my husband’s homebrewed Festbier, which replaces the traditional water in the dough. The result is a chewy, savory bagel with plenty of cheesy flavor and a little tang and heat from the peppers.

My husband brews beer, so we usually have a variety of beers on tap. For this recipe, I selected a Festbier that he had recently brewed because the fall season was approaching. You can also use a commercial Festbier or Oktoberfest in this recipe. Some good options are Samuel Adams Octoberfest or Weihenstephaner Festbier.

I made the pickled peppers using a mixture of cubanelle and jalapeño peppers harvested straight from my garden. You can find the recipe for my Refrigerator Pickled Peppers, but you can also use your favorite pickled peppers for these cheddar sourdough bagels.

The Inspiration Behind These Cheddar Sourdough Bagels

My husband and I took a road trip to the Upper Midwest in August. We stayed in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, for a few days to visit some of his family. We visited Klockow Brewing a few times. The brewery was within walking distance of our hotel, and they had fantastic beers on tap.

The wife of one of the beer tenders was sitting next to us at the bar, and I overheard her talking about making sourdough bagels. I asked her a few questions about her method and found out that she sells her bagels! I thought that was pretty cool, and it gave me some inspiration to try making them myself.

I found a sourdough bagel recipe on a trusted website, The Clever Carrot, and followed the recipe exactly. The bagels turned out so well and were fairly easy to make, so I decided to try making a batch using beer in place of the water. Those bagels turned out well, too.

Next, I tried adding pickled peppers and cubed cheddar cheese, inspired by my popular jalapeño cheddar sourdough bread loaf. My friends, family, and co-workers love that loaf, so I wanted to try those same flavors in a bagel. They turned out well, so I had to make them again—the second time using shredded cheddar cheese in place of the cubed cheddar.

What I Learned Making These Cheddar Sourdough Bagels

I’ve made these bagels a few times, and, to be honest, they are a bit of a pain to make. Working mix-ins into a dense dough—especially chopped pickled peppers, which retain moisture no matter how much you attempt to pat them dry—was tricky, and a few of the bagels even came apart during the boil.

Despite them being a bit of a pain to make, the work is worth the outcome. These bagels were a hit with everyone who tried them! A co-worker even said, “I’d pay for those,” after trying one.

Shredded Cheddar vs. Cubed Cheddar

For my first batch, I used cubed cheddar, which resulted in the dense texture you’d expect from a bagel. For my second batch, I used shredded cheddar and was surprised by the result: the bagels were fluffier, with a slightly layered texture.

I think the shredded cheddar distributed throughout the dough contributed to that lighter texture. It may not be the most traditional bagel texture, but I really enjoyed it. My husband even mentioned that they seemed lighter and less dense.

Why Use Beer in Sourdough Bagels?

Well, it’s quite simple—my husband and I like beer, and he’s a homebrewer, so we usually have plenty of beer at our house.

Beer gives bread recipes a pleasant depth of flavor, introducing subtle malty notes that you don’t get from water alone. If you try this recipe, smell your sourdough dough ball and you’ll notice the difference compared to one made with water. To me, the dough almost smells buttery and reminds me of the aromas you smell when driving by a bakery.

Pickled Pepper & Cheddar Sourdough Beer Bagels

Author: Julie Degel

These cheddar sourdough beer bagels are made with festbier, tangy pickled peppers, and shredded cheddar cheese for a savory bagel with malty flavor, a slightly fluffy texture, and plenty of cheesy, peppery goodness.

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Prep Time:15 minutes mins

Cook Time:45 minutes mins

Dough Rising:17 hours hrs

Total Time:18 hours hrs

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: beer bagels, cheddar bagels, pickled pepper bagels, sourdough bagels, sourdough beer bagels

Servings: 8 bagels

Cost: $7

Equipment

• 1 Baking Sheet
• 1 Silicone Baking Mat
• 1 Mixing Bowl
• 1 Cheese Grater

Ingredients

Dough

• 150 g bubbly active sourdough starter
• 250 g flat beer festbier used for this recipe*
• 24 g granulated sugar
• 500 g bread flour
• 9 g fine sea salt
• 80 g pickled peppers finely chopped and pat dry with a paper towel
• 2 garlic cloves minced on a microplane
• 110 g of sharp cheddar shredded

Water Bath

• Large pot of water
• 1 tbsp honey

Topping

• 4-6 oz freshly shredded cheddar

Instructions

Method

1. Prep the mix ins: store the pickled garlic and peppers in one bowl and the shredded cheddar in another bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Prep the topping: store the shredded cheddar topping in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the Dough

1. Whisk together the starter, beer, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
2. In another mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Then add this mixture to the wet mixture. Stir with a spoon until it comes together and then use your hands to finish mixing until a rough, stiff dough is formed. If the dough seems too dry, add more beer in half teaspoon increments until the dough comes together but is not sticky. The dough should be firm and dense.
3. Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap and let rest for about one hour. No need to be exact here.
4. Add mix ins: Remove the dough from the bowl and stretch it out into a large square/rectangle/circle shape (maybe around 12×12 or 12 inches in diameter or a little more) on a silicone mat or your counter. Don’t worry if the shape is not perfect. Pat your peppers/garlic dry again and then sprinkle them over the dough. Then sprinkle your 110g of shredded cheddar over the dough.
5. Roll up the dough: Roll the dough like you’re rolling up a cinnamon roll – or a yoga mat – grab one side and gently roll up so it looks like a log. Then take the bottom of the log and roll it up. Then form a ball. Place the dough ball back into the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.
6. Rise: Let the dough rise overnight for 8-12 hours or until doubled in size. I live in Florida, my house is around 74 at night, and I let it sit out all night. In the morning, put the dough into the fridge. Leave the dough in the fridge for a few hours – I have left it all day while at work for nearly 12 hours and it was fine. You want to get the dough cold so it is easier to work with.
7. Shape: Weigh the dough. It should be around 1000g/1kg. Then divide that number by 8. That number will be the weight of each bagel dough ball. Don’t worry if one or two are smaller than the others-it’s ok, it won’t be enough to notice. Cut the dough into pieces (weigh each piece to match the number you previously calculated) and then roll each piece into a ball. Set them on a silicone mate lined baking sheet. You can also use parchment paper instead of a silicone mat. Let the dough rest uncovered for 12 minutes. I rest them for 12 minutes but you can rest them from 10-15.
8. After the dough has rested, shape the dough balls into bagels. Poke a hole in the middle of each dough ball with your index finger. Pick up the dough and work it to create the hole and the bagel shape. I like to but the bagel around my index finger and spin it a few times to help with shaping. Don’t worry if they don’t look perfect. They will puff up during the boil and baking processes. Place the shaped bagels on to the silicone mat or parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with a damp paper towel or teal towel and let rest for 17 minutes – that’s how long I rest them. You can rest them for 15-20 minutes. They will barely rise during this rest.
9. Boil: Add water and honey to a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil two bagels at a time for 30 seconds per side. I use my phone timer to track this. The bagels will puff up now! Use a slotted spoon or a fish spatula to add to, flip within, and remove the bagels from the water. Place them back onto the lined baking sheet. Repeat until all bagels are boiled.
10. Bake: Bake at 425 for 17 minutes. Then add the shredded cheese topping to the top of each bagel. Return to the oven and bake for 6 more minutes. Allow the bagels to cool on a wire rack.
11. Store in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap/ziplock bags for 2-3 days. You can also wrap them well in plastic and then put them into freezer bags and freeze them.

Notes

• Beer: if your beer is not flat, let it sit out until it’s flat. To quicken this process, whisk the beer, scrape off the foam, then continue the process until the foam is minimal after whisking.
• Working with the dough: the dough is pretty tough to work with once the mix-ins are added. Be patient with it. I promise you, the hassle is worth the final product.
• Some of the bagels might not look perfect or extremely pretty, and that is ok. I describe them as rustic. Delicious and rustic.
• Commercial options for festbier: Sam Adams Octoberfest, Weihenstephaner Festbier.

 

This recipe was adapted from The Clever Carrot’s sourdough bagel recipe, with beer replacing the water and the addition of pickled peppers and cheddar cheese.