The ultimate act of devotion, for the making the quintessential Jewish sandwich, is the homemade bagel. A praiseworthy task that cannot be accomplished in only 1 day, bagel making is part art and part ardor.
A word of caution before making homemade bagels. Your friends, family, and you, yourself will be spoiled forever and will never go back to purchased bagels. They are perfect paired with any toppings, such as cream cheese and lox.
Once you master baked bagels, do as the Montreal bageleries (I made that word up!) do, and bake your bagels in a wood fired oven or BBQ grill for a smoky flavor and uber crispy crust.
Homemade Bagels
Servings
12 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 4 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
- 2 ½ cups water room temperature
- ½ teaspoon instant yeast
- 3 ¾ cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
- 2 ¾ teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons malt powder or 1 tablespoon dark or light malt syrup honey, or brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of baking soda
- Cornmeal for dusting
Instructions
- To make the sponge, stir yeast into flour in a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. The mixture will form a delicate matrix that will double in size.
- In the same mixing bowl add additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of flour and all of the salt and malt. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining ¾ cup flour to stiffen the dough.
- Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes. The dough should be firm, stiffer than French bread dough, but still pliable and smooth.
- Divide the dough into 4 ½ ounce pieces for standard bagels, or 2 ¼ ounce pieces for mini bagels.
- Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.
- Shape the bagels: Roll the dough into 8-inch long ropes, wrap it around your hand, and then seal the ends together, or, form the dough into a “bun” shape, poke a hole in the middle, and work your fingers in the hole to widen it slightly. Spray the bagels with cooking spray and cover with a towel to rise for about 2 hours, or refrigerate overnight to bake the next day.
- When you are ready to bake the bagels, preheat the oven to 500°F. with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water (I use a deep sauté pan) to a boil and add the baking soda.
- Gently drop the bagels into the water, in batches. After 1 minute flip them over and boil for another minute, (for chewier bagels, increase the boiling time to 2 minutes per side). Sprinkle cornmeal on parchment-lined sheet pans while boiling the bagels.
- Transfer the bagels to the prepared pans and bake for 5 minutes. Rotate the pans and decrease oven temperature to 450°F. Bake for another 5 minutes until golden brown and crusty.
- Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.
Sorry about that, there are no notes needed, everything you need to know is here.
I don’t see any notes, such as the note for the flour as well as the note for the malt etc. Can you please assist?
It probably could be done with a mixer, as long as your mixer is big enough and strong enough, sometimes these stiff strong doughs don’t mix as well in the mixer and can break them even if you are not careful.
Thanks. Bagels are one of the main reasons I bought my stand mixer (and Costco was having a sale on the Kitchenaid that was a dramatic discount). I already made the KIing Arthur bagel recipe in the stand mixer, and it handled it without any apparent strain or difficulty, so I was just wondering if there was some difference in the quality of the dough when kneaded by hand. Sounds like there isn’t, I’m glad to hear.
After mixing in a stand mixer, why do you say the kneading itself should be done by hand on the counter? Is there some reason not to use a dough hook on the stand mixer and let the machine do the kneading?
there are 3 types of yeast. instant yeast/active dry yeast (which is what I believe you are using), rapid-rise/quick rise yeast and finally soft fresh yeast. the amount should be the same for the recipe. the rise times would change but you will be fine with instant yeast.
I use regular yeast for my baking. Do I have to use instant yeast? If not are there any changes I need to make to the recipe to accommodate that change?
Thank you
So does this one.
The traditional bagel recipe calls for boiling the bagels prior to baking.
In step 2 with the flour it says to add the malt, it is best to use it or one of the other options. Can’t wait to hear what you think.
There was no note re the malt, honey or brown sugar. Is it necessary?