How To Make Stuffed Cranberry Bagels With Canned Cranberry Sauce

Cranberries are sweet, tart, and almost as pretty as rubies — there’s no other way to describe the northern fruit, and just how pretty they are stuffed inside these pink stuffed cranberry bagels. Tart, chewy and a bit juicy, these beauties have the nicest fruitiness and color. And the main ingredient? Canned Jellied Cranberry Sauce.

Here’s why I love this recipe

• No eggs, milk or butter and vegan friendly!
• The added almond flour gives these bagels a rich, buttery flavor.
• Minimal kneading is required, and the stuffing part is actually fun to make.
• There’s a good source of antioxidants, vitamin and fiber, thanks to the cranberries and added almond flour

Ingredients Used to Make Stuffed Cranberry Bagels Recipe

_{**I’ve linked some of these ingredients to amazon.com to give you an idea of what they are, but you should also be able to find them in your local grocery store (usually, the baking aisle, or the natural & organic food section). They are also affiliate links, which means that I earn a commission as an Amazon Associate if you decide to purchase the items. The price will be the same for you, link or no link 🙂}

• Bread Flour – Bread flour is highly recommended for this recipe for the best texture and structure. TIP: For the best texture and chew, use a higher protein bread flour like King Arthur Bread Flour. Please read the note in the substitution section below if using other flours.

• Almond Flour (optional)- I used blanched almond flour, but if you want, you can substitute the almond flour with more bread flour (more details on the recipe card).

Why almond flour? Almond flour is not a traditional ingredient for bagels, but I like adding it for the extra boost in flavor and nutrition. It also produces more tender (easier on your jaws) bagels which my family prefers.

• Instant Yeast – you can find instant yeast in the baking section near the flours. My favorite is SAF Instant Premium Yeast, which works quickly and consistently produces great results. I recommend using instant yeast over active yeast for this recipe since active yeast needs to be activated in water.

NOTE: this bagel recipe uses more yeast than my other bagel recipes to compensate for the addition of cranberry sauce (which contains sugar and other ingredients that slow down yeast growth).

• Salt – Pink Himalayan salt is what I have at home, so it’s what I use, but you can use any kind for this recipe.

• Canned Cranberry Sauce (jellied) – you’ll need one (14 oz) can of jellied cranberry sauce to make this bagel recipe. You can use homemade cranberry sauce, as well as whole berry cranberry sauce instead, but you’ll most likely not need the extra water than the recipe calls for. To adjust, make sure you add the water at the very end, and only add 1 Tbsp at a time so you can stop adding when the dough is just combined.

Filling Ingredients

• Dried Cranberries – While this is not required, I soaked the dried cranberries in water for 10 minutes to make the cranberry filling inside the bagels more moist and soft.

More Breakfast Recipes (HERE)

Step by Step Guide

Recipe Variations and Optional Add Ins:

Here are some awesome ways you can make this bagel recipe your own 🙂

• Add more texture! Adding chopped nuts, seeds, or dried fruits or oats is a fantastic way to increase the nutrition and flavor in breads, including this one. If you’re feeling indulgent, you can also add chocolate chips.

• Want to add more fiber? Substitute white whole wheat flour for up to half of the bread flour called for in this recipe. You’ll need to add a few more tablespoons of water to adjust the hydration since whole wheat flour absorbs more water than white flour.

• Go Unstuffed! If you prefer bagels without any stuffing you can always just make these bagels without any filling, like below.

More Bagel Stuffing Ideas:

• Make these bagels healthier by adding a handful of nuts, seeds and old-fashioned oats to add texture and nutrition. Here are some ideas
  • Nuts – chopped walnuts, pecans, cashews
  • Seeds – poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flaxseeds or chiaseeds
  • Other Dried Fruit – chopped apricot, raisins, cranberries, dried cherries, candied ginger, citrus zests, etc.

How to get the Swirled Filling Effect

Note on Substitutions

• Unfortunately, gluten-free flours cannot be substituted for bread flour in this recipe.
• If you don’t have bread flour, you can also use All Purpose Flour instead. AP flour has less protein than bread flour, so it will yield softer bagels with less chew/ bite.
• As I mentioned in the Ingredients Section, almond flour makes these bagels more flavorful and more nutritionally balanced, but it also makes the bagels less chewy (and more tender). If you prefer a traditional bagel texture, use 1/4 cup of bread flour instead of 1/2 cup of almond flour.
• The almond flour can be subbed with other nut flour like pecan, cashew and walnut flour.

How to Store Stuffed Cranberry Bagels

• For unstuffed bagels, or bagels stuffed with dried fruit/nuts only, you can store these bagels in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
• For bagels with cream cheese filling, these bagels can be out at room temperature for a maximum of 1 day. For longer storage, you can place the bagels in a plastic freezer bag or airtight container and keep them in the fridge for up to 7 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, toast inside an air fryer or toaster with the filling side up.

Final Tips

• Weigh your flour for the best results. 1 cup of bread flour = 120 grams / 4.23 oz. This is recommended since scooping the flour directly from the bag can pack the flour into the measuring cup, and this means you’ll end up with more flour than what’s called for in the recipe. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, you can measure the flour by spooning pre-sifted flour into the measuring cup, then using the straight end of the spoon to level the flour across the top to sweep off the excess.

More Bagel Recipes (HERE)