Abstract: Bagel products are formed by (a) mixing flour and water together with yeast to form a sourdough; (b) preparing an activated malt extract by mixing barley malt extract, a second amount of yeast, and water; (c) mixing the sourdough, the activated malt extract, and salt with flour to form a final dough; forming bagel shapes from the final dough; (d) fermenting the shapes for at least 30 minutes at around room temperature, and then further fermenting and storing the shapes for at least 10 hours under refrigeration at a temperature of from about +2° C. to about +8° C.; (f) boiling the shapes one side at a time or, in an initial baking step, baking the shapes in a steam environment; (g) baking, in a final baking step after the boiling or initial baking step, the formed bagel shapes; and, optionally, (h) freezing the baked bagel shapes.