EXCLUSIVE: Our Top-Rated Recipe That Jennifer Garner Has Made “100 Times” (2024)

Jennifer Garner is as much a homemaker extraordinaire as she is an A-list actress, and at the holidays, her baking skills really shine.

“I bake every morning," she said of her holiday hosting. "They’re traditional things that my niece and nephews and kids and sisters and brothers-in-law and parents—they all wait for. That is kind of my thing.”

When we spoke with the Pretend Cooking Show star about her holiday partnership with KitchenAid appliances, we were honored to find out we’re the home of one of those go-to traditional recipes: Real Homemade Bagels. “I’ve made these 100 times. I’m sure I have,” she said.

There’s a reason this recipe is bookmarked on Garner’s phone—it’s been tested and approved by our Allrecipes Test Kitchen, and it’s pretty much as easy as homemade bagels can get. It delivers crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside bagels with an authentic bakery-style flavor and texture—but fresh out of your very own oven.

These homemade bagels are simple, satisfying, and guaranteed to impress your house of guests in the morning. Don’t get us wrong, homemade bagels are a labor of love, but with the right foolproof recipe, even the most intimidating baking projects are possible (and even fun!). Just take Jennifer Garner's word for it.

How to Make Jennifer Garner’s Favorite Bagel Recipe

Garner starts the bagel-making process the afternoon or evening before to make the morning assembly a breeze. “I get them totally shaped and set and covered before I go to bed,” she says. Typically, she'll also double the recipe to ensure there are plenty of bagels to go around.

To start this recipe, combine water, flour, sugar, salt, vegetable oil, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. To give the bagels Garner’s favorite flavor spin, you can mix a bit of rosemary and thyme right into the dough, but that’s totally optional.

Garner starts the mixing with the standard paddle attachment, then switches to the dough hook as she adds in more flour, but you can also just go with the dough hook all the way. Mix on low speed until the dough is consistent, smooth, and elastic (about 8-10 minutes).

Next, transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, and let it rise for two hours. After it has doubled in size, punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.

Now for the fun part: shaping. With a knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough into six even segments. To make the shape the old-fashioned way, roll each piece into a thick log, then join the ends together to make a loop. Or, you can use Garner’s method of rolling the dough segments into balls, then poking a hole through the center with your fingers. Next, let the bagels rest for 15 minutes (or sit, covered, in the fridge until the morning).

When you're ready to go, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Optional: you can add honey or barley malt syrup to the boiling water bath to give the bagels a chewy texture with a hint of sweetness. Cook the bagels, three at a time, in the water bath until they rise to the surface, about a minute on each side. Remove them with a slotted spoon and move to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Finally, sprinkle on your favorite bagel toppings (coarse salt, poppy seeds, onion flakes, or Everything seasoning) and bake them in a very hot 475-degree F oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

In conclusion, here is Garner’s sage wisdom on bagel baking: “The amount you proof them the last time is the most important thing. If you underproof them, they will start to sink when you start to boil them, If you overproof them, then you get the ‘Jennifer Garner special,’” she jokes. “Kind of a flat bagel, kind of a pancake-y bagel.”

Inspired to try your hand at scratch-made bagels? This top-rated recipe won't let you down. After all, it is Pretend Cooking Show-approved.