Fig cinnamon bagels are a modern re-imagining of the classic cinnamon raisin bagel. Make the cinnamon bagels recipe with whipped vanilla honey butter for the holidays. We have a hunch this fig bagel recipe will become a new favorite year round!
Fall for Baking Szn
Every year when fall arrives, we can’t help but get excited about tackling all kinds of baking—big weekend projects and weeknight sweets that keep the house warm and smelling cozy. We teamed up with our friends at C&H Sugar, Danish Creamery, Red Star Yeast, and Rodelle to bring you fresh ideas you’ll be excited to bake, including fig cinnamon bagels by Karlee Flores.
Cinnamon Bagels: Baking Pro-Tips
For the cinnamon bagels recipe, we suggest using our Sun-Maid and Orchard Choice Golden Figs. They bring a delicately sweet and tangy taste that’s perfectly paired with the warming spices. Chopping the figs to a cashew-size ensures a nice bite of fruit in the bagels.
Two kinds of sweetener combine to give the bagels the right flavor: maple syrup and dark brown sugar. You’ll warm them until the sugar dissolves.
The recipe uses instant yeast which means you don’t have to bloom the yeast first for it to work. Instead, you’ll start by mixing together all of the dry ingredients until combined.
Once you slowly start streaming in the water, this begins to activate the gluten in the flour and you’ll knead the dough with the stand mixer until the dough cleans the edge of the bowl. A note here—often in bread baking recipes it will say that the texture you’re looking for is satin and elastic. This dough will be stiff. Karlee particularly suggests trusting the process when kneading and letting the dough rest when it gets too hard to move.
Resting the dough at this step in a covered bowl is critical. This allows the gluten to relax and will ensure the dough is easy to work with. After the rest completes, you’ll flatten the dough, spreading the figs over the top. Then, you’ll roll the dough up and knead it into a ball. At this point, place the ball back into a bowl and cover it, resting the dough for 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
After the dough finishes proofing, you’ll portion it out into 6 even pieces and then roll each of them into balls. Working your thumb into the middle of a ball and pressing into the center, open up the dough of each ball into an even circle.
Next the bagels will be boiled in salted water on each side before transferred to a parchment lined sheet pan and baked until deep golden brown. Cool the fig cinnamon bagels before eating.
Festive Homemade Condiment: Whipped Butter
Rather than going for cream cheese, we like to whip rich and creamy European-style butter with spices, vanilla paste, and a touch of honey for the ultimate (and easy) spread to pair with this fig bagel recipe.
Fig Cinnamon Bagels with Whipped Vanilla Honey Butter
Ingredients
Bagels
- 1 cup Sun-Maid or Orchard Choice Golden Figs
- 3 TBSP C&H dark brown sugar
- 2 TBSP real maple syrup
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 packet Red Star Platinum yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup warm water
Whipped Butter
- 2 sticks Danish Creamery European-Style Butter
- 2 teaspoons Rodelle Vanilla Paste
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
Make the Bagels
- Slice one cup of whole figs into cashew-sized pieces and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix dark brown sugar and maple syrup.Microwave for about 5 seconds at a time, mixing between, until sugar isdissolved.
- In a stand mixer bowl, combine bread flour, yeast, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add water and knead on low until all flour is absorbed ,about 4 minutes. Continue to knead on medium/low speed until a ball forms and it starts to clean the edge of the bowl. Turn out onto a clean surface and knead for about a minute—the dough will be tough. Place in a bowl and cover, resting dough for 30 minutes.
- When the rest is complete, flatten dough on a clean work surface and spread out figs on top. Roll up dough and knead into a ball. Place back into the bowl, cover and rest dough for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 450°. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- When dough finishes proofing and is doubled in size, portion into 6 even pieces. Roll into balls. Using your thumb, press down in the center of the ball. Open up the dough into an even circle. Repeat with remaining dough.
- In a large pot, boil about 4 quarts of water—enough to come up 4 inches from the sides. Add one tablespoon of salt to flavor the water. Drop 2 to 3 bagels in at a time and boil on each side, about 45 seconds each. Remove from the water with a spider, slotted spoon, or fine-mesh strainer. Set bagels onto the sheet pan.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until deep golden brown. Cool for at least 15 minutes or until room temperature.
Make the Whipped Butter
- In the clean bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, add butter, vanilla paste, honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whip on medium high speed and slowly drizzle in water. Scrape down the sides then whip on high speed for about 5 minutes, until the mixture becomes pale, almost white.
- Slice the bagels and enjoy with a generous amount of whipped butter.
5 Comments on “Fig Cinnamon Bagels with Whipped Vanilla Honey Butter”
Can I use liquid vanilla instead of the paste? If so, would I need to reduce something so that it would not be runny?
You can swap in vanilla extract in place of the vanilla paste. It shouldn’t be runny since it’s only 2 teaspoons—just make sure to mix it well.
Hi – could you do the vanilla honey blend with cream cheese? You have another bread recipe here that sounds amazing with something like this.
Thank you for all the Fig infused recipes.
Can’t wait to try so many of them!
You could definitely try that. It sounds delicious!
Looks easy to make with kids helping and enjoying the holidays.