These rich chocolate & cherry stuffed bagels are not your average breakfast treat. You'll have a hard time resist the allure of this warm, chocolate-filled bagel, especially when it's packed with the delightful combination of chocolate and cherries. Made with a thick chocolate dough and stuffed with chocolate chips, each bite of this bagel is a decadent delight.
Here's why I love this recipe
- No eggs, dairy 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.
Ingredients Used to Make Black Forest Chocolate Chip & Cherry Stuffed Bagels
**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. 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.
- Sugar - I used raw cane sugar, but you can use regular granulated white sugar, or healthier alternatives like coconut, date, or maple sugars. Sugar-free substitutes such as monk fruit sweetener or stevia powder can be used in the filling, but for what goes inside the bread, I would NOT RECOMMEND using sugar-free substitutes since they can cause the bread to not rise properly.
- 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.
- Dark Cocoa Powder – any kind works, but I like using the dark chocolate kind (like this one) for this recipe to give it that dark color.
- Milk of Choice – I used unsweetened almond milk, but any milk (dairy or dairy free) works in this recipe.
- Cherries - I used frozen cherries which I thawed to room temperature and drained of excess liquid. Feel free to leave out if desired.
Filling Ingredients
- Chocolate Chips - you can use any chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate) in this recipe. I like this lower sugar, stevia-sweetened brand. If you want, you can also use unsweetened chocolate.
More Breakfast Recipes (HERE)
Chocolate Chip & Cherry Stuffed Bagels
Ingredients
Bagel Dough Ingredients
- 2 cup bread flour 240 g
- ½ cup almond flour 54 g, or use ¼ cup (30g) of bread flour for traditional bagel texture. READ NOTES!*
- 2 tsp instant yeast 6 g
- ¼ cup sugar 37 g
- ½ tsp salt 3 g
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder , I used dark cocoa powder
- ½ cup almond milk 136g, plus 2 Tbsp more if needed
- ½ cup chopped cherries , thawed to room temperature from frozen
Filling Ingredients
Instructions
Combine the Dough Ingredients
- In a clean mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients: the bread flour, almond flour, instant yeast, sugar and salt.
- Add almond milk, using your hands or a danish dough whisk to incoporate it into the dry ingredients best you can.
- If there are still dry ingredients left, add more almond milk 1 Tablespoon at a time, until all ingredients are combined. I had to add 2 Tablespoons*the bagel dough is supposed to be firm and somewhat stiff, since bagels require a lower water-to-flour-ratio.
- Add the chopped cherries.
- No kneading is required at this time. Loosely cover the dough with a clean wet towel or plastic wrap. Let rise, at a slightly warm place, for 60-90 minutes, until puffy.
After the First Rise (Choose ONE method below)
- For no-knead (overnight) method: gently deflate the dough, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap loosely so that air can escape. Transfer the bowl to the fridge and chill overnight, at least for 8 hours and up to 48 hours.
- For kneaded (quick) method: continue to knead the dough by hand or using a stand mixer, until the dough becomes smooth, supple, and pulls easily away from the bowl. The kneading should not take too long (about 3 minutes by hand) since we allowed the dough to relax and hydrate in the previous step.
Shaping the Dough
- Gently place the prepared dough onto a floured surface. If you chilled the dough in the fridge overnight, let the dough first come to room temperature (about 3-4 hours) before proceeding to the next step.
- Shape the dough into a ball, and divide into 4 equal sized pieces
Filling the Bagel Dough
- In a clean mixing bowl, mix the filling ingredients. Set aside.
- Use a rolling pin to roll out each piece of the bagel dough into a thin, 5 x 7 inch rectangle (thinner the better!)
- Spoon about 2-3 Tablespoons of the filling onto the bagel dough.TIP: For a thick cresent-shaped filling, place the filling towards one end of the rectangle. For a swirled effect, spread the filling throughout the dough so that it is evenly distributed. See the step-by-step image guide HERE
- Roll the bagel dough over the filling, and seal the ends by pinching the seams of the dough. TIP: wet your fingers with some water to help with the sealing
- Bring together the two ends of the bagel dough by inserting one end of the rolled dough into the other end and pinching the seams together so that it won't fall apart during the boiling process.
- Place the stuffed bagels on a parchment lined baking pan, and loosely cover with plastic wrap or clean wet paper towel.
- Let rise for 40-60 minutes, until the bagels look slightly puffed up.
Boil the Bagels
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Bring the heat down to medium-hot so that it's gently boiling.Also, preheat the oven to 350F
- Use a wide slotted spoon or spatula to gently transfer 1 bagel into the water.
- Cook the bagel for just 30 seconds on each side. TIP: If the bagel won't float up to the surface by the end of the 60 seconds, it probably means the bagel needs to proof longer.
- Take the bagel out of the boiling water using a wide slotted spoon or spatula and back to the parchment lined baking sheet.
- Repeat the boiling process for the rest of the bagels.
Bake the Bagels
- Bake the boiled bagels in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are glossy and slightly browned.
- Let cool to room temperature before serving. TIP: If slicing the bagels crosswise, you'll get the cleanest cut if the bagels (and the filling) are completely cooled.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Variations and Optional Add Ins:
Here are some awesome ways you can make this bagel recipe your own 🙂
- 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
- Dried Fruit - chopped apricot, raisins, cranberries, dried cherries, candied ginger, citrus zests, etc.
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 ¼ cup of bread flour instead of ½ cup of almond flour.
- The almond flour can be subbed with other nut flour like pecan, cashew and walnut flour.
How to Store
- For unstuffed bagels, 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 for Black Forest Chocolate Chip & Cherry Stuffed Bagels
- 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.
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