Abstract: Bagels with extended shelf life, preferably at least two weeks, and processes and formulations are disclosed. The process includes the steps of: preparing a dough by mixing flour, water, yeast, salt, and sugar and a freshness-promoting combination of starch-degrading enzyme, monoglycerides, and monosaccharide; holding the dough under conditions of temperature and humidity for a time effective to develop the dough as evidenced by the evolution of carbon dioxide and the degradation of at least a portion of the starch in the flour to oligosaccharides; forming the dough into bagel-shaped dough pieces; and boiling and baking the dough pieces. The freshness-promoting composition preferably includes one or more additional ingredients selected from the group consisting of: a gum, an oil, wheat gluten in addition to that present in the flour, and at least one egg component. It is also preferred to spray the bagel with a solution of an antimycotic following baking.