Bagels 🥯
Chewy. Versatile. Simple, yet incredible: The Bagel.
There is something comforting and irreplaceable about a fresh bagel. Lately, I’ve been exploring foundational foods and bread and have challenged myself to bake the bread I eat as much as possible. This bagel experiment comes as a close second to the marathon of sourdough bread baking that preceded it (and continues, because let’s be real, who doesn’t love sourdough!?!).
Not knowing much about bagels, I dove into this challenge and learned a lot! Overall, it was a huge success, and the smell of fresh bagels that flooded my kitchen when I made these beauties was unmatched! If you haven’t tried making bagels homemade, you are truly missing out! Although there are several styles for making bagels, this recipe is an adapted one that borrows from the New York style and Montreal style since the latter style boils the dough in honey while still resembling the NY style in texture and density. Additionally, for this recipe, I added a bit of greek yogurt used in a lot of modern adaptations of the recipe. Regardless, this recipe is a perfect blend of traditional and fun!
INGREDIENTS
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
4 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups (you may need ± ¼ cup more)
1 ¼ cups greek yogurt
2 tablespoons honey
1 egg
3 ½ cups bread flour or high gluten flour (you may need up to 1/2 cup for kneading)
1 ½ teaspoons salt
Toppings:
You can keep these bagels plain, or add your favourite toppings. I went ahead and added dried herbs/parmesan for half the batch, and everything but the bagel seasoning for the second half of the batch.
DIRECTIONS
Add the sugar and yeast to ½ cup of warm water and let sit for a few minutes without stirring. After a few minutes, stir in until the solids dissolve.
In a separate large bowl, mix the flour and salt. Make a small well in the middle and pour in the yeast-sugar mixture. Then, add ¼ cup of plain greek yogurt and mix well.
Add an additional ⅓ cup of water to the well and mix, adding up to ½ cup of water as needed. The hydration level of the bagel depends on numerous factors, essentially you are looking for a relatively moist and firm dough once mixed well.
Generously flour a countertop and knead the bagel dough for about 10 minutes until the gluten has formed and you feel that the dough is elastic and firm.
Lightly grease a clean bowl with olive oil and coat the dough to prevent it from sticking. Cover the dough, and let rest for one hour in a warm space. Once the dough has risen to double its size, push it to push out any excess air and let rest for another 10 minutes.
Using a bench scraper, divide your dough into eight equal parts and shape the parts into round balls *making sure to cup your hand and moving your hand in a circular motion to maximize roundness and tightness of the dough without putting too much pressure on the top of the ball. This ensures that the bagels rise and don’t come out flat.
In each of the balls, press in your floured finger in the middle of the bll to form a bagel ring shape. Gently pull the dough to stretch out the ring.
Place the bagels on a baking sheet with parchment paper to rest for 10 minutes.
At this point, you can preheat your oven to a towel and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425ºF.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add to it a couple of tablespoons of honey. Reduce the heat. Slowly lower in the bagels into the water making sure to not overcrowd the pot. (I boiled 4 at a time, but you can boil an amount that works best for your equipment).
Boil the bagels for about 1.5 minutes, the longer the boil the chewier the bagel.
Remove the bagels and place them back on the baking sheet with parchment paper. Let cool for 30 seconds.
Beat an egg and using a brush or your fingers, coat the top of the bagel with a layer of egg wash.
Optional: Add your favourite savoury or sweet toppings to your bagel. Spices, herbs, seasonings, cheese, seeds, or anything you would like!
Bake the bagels for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.
Cool bagels, slice, and serve with some butter or preferred spread!
