Taste of Home

This recipe for sweet Cinnamon Crunch Bagels will bring Panera to your kitchen. It's time to get your crunch on!

Few decisions in life are as stressful as bagel selection at Panera. OK, we might be exaggerating a bit, but when you’re faced with choices like chocolate chip, blueberry and Asiago before 8 a.m., it can get overwhelming.

When in doubt, we think a Panera Cinnamon Crunch Bagel is always a great choice. There’s something magical about that crunchy, cinnamon-sugar topping once it’s toasted and slathered with a smear of flavorful cream cheese. Delicious!

Re-create a bit of that bagel magic at home (and avoid bagel decision stress) with this copycat Panera Cinnamon Crunch Bagel recipe, complete with that addicting crunch topping. Keep reading to learn how to whip up a batch of homemade bagels that are better than the bakery.

Panera Cinnamon Crunch Bagel Recipe
This recipe makes 12 heavenly bagels.
Ingredients

• 2-1/4 cups (530ml) water, between 105-115°F
• 3-1/4 teaspoons (10g) instant or active dry yeast
• 6 cups (720g) bread flour, plus more for dusting
• 1-1/2 tablespoons (19g) light or dark brown sugar, packed
• 3 teaspoons (18g) salt
• 8 cups water
• 1/4 cup (60g) honey
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon water

Cinnamon Crunch Topping:

• 1/4 cup (60g) unsalted butter, melted
• 2/3 cup (134g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon (8g) ground cinnamon
• 2-1/2 tablespoons (20g) all-purpose flour or bread flour

Editor’s tip: While all-purpose flour can be used in a pinch, we don’t recommend it. To achieve the right chewy bagel texture, stick with a high-protein flour, like bread flour, for the best results. 

FOR THE DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE AND COOK THESE CINNAMON BAGELS, CLICK HERE...

In Between Doctor Appointments

After my chemo treatment this morning, my wife and I stopped by Panera Bread for a couple of heated bagels and coffee on our way to her doctor's appointment for her back.  Since our two appointments were only an hour apart, we decided to ride together.  She had an apple cinnamon crunch bagel with her soft drink and I had an Asiago cheese bagel with my Cappuccino...

While the guests were not required to wear face masks inside as was the case in other stores, all the workers wore face masks and all the orders were still take out only.  We start in the car in the parking lot and ate our bagels.

What I find most interesting here is that Panera Bread has a coffee club where for $8.99/month you can have unlimited regular or decaf coffee (but no specialty coffee)...  Hell, I could drink $9 worth of coffee over the weekend.  If it was not so far from the house (45 minutes) I would have joined today.