Recipe background
Oh, the wonderful bagel! Imagine this: yeasted wheat dough shaped into a perfect ring, boiled and then baked. The result? A mouth-watering treat with a dense, chewy inside and a crispy outside. From poppy to sesame seeds, and dough types like whole-grain and rye, the variety is endless. My favourite is the humble slightly chewy white bread variety, topped with loads of poppy seeds, which I detail in the recipe below.
This recipe balances the softness with the iconic chewiness expected from a top tier bagel. And its up to you to top them with your favourite herbs & spices, or seeds or cheeses! This is a recipe that you’ll love to show off to your friends, and to enjoy at home with loads of delicious toppings.
Bagels have won hearts all over the world, particularly in areas with a large Jewish population. In fact it hails from the Jewish communities in Poland, taking its name from the Yiddish beygl and Polish bajgiel. In North America, the bagel craze exploded in the late 20th century thanks to automation, starting with the invention of the first commercial bagel machine in 1958, and the mass production and distribution of frozen bagels in the 1960s. The “bagel brunch” became a hot trend in New York City in the 1900s, and bagels topped with everything from cream cheese to lox continue to be a favourite in the United States.
To this day, bagels are undeniably iconic and a sure find at any reputable brunch spot. However, if you really want to taste the best bagels, then you’re going to have to bake them yourself!
How to make this bagel recipe
Ingredients
Staple bread ingredients are used here, including flour, yeast, sugar, water and salt. Then its on to the toppings, which can be absolutely anything your heart desires!! I like to use poppy seeds, or grated parmesan cheese
Equipment needed for bagels
No fancy equipment required, but a mixer with a dough hook will help save your arms from kneading fatigue. Otherwise, just a bowl, large pot of boiling water, and an oven to bake.
Experience
Although this is a simple enough recipe to follow, I have upgraded it to an intermediate simply because you need to be comfortable shaping dough and placing the slippery bagels in and out of hot water.
Tips and tricks to make the perfect bagel
Weigh you dough to make sure you get nice and even bagel sizes. The iconic ring design, used for hundreds of years, ensures an even cook and easy handling. Make the hole in the centre bigger than you think you’ll need – when the dough rests it’ll continue to puff up, and when its boiled it will puff up again making the hole smaller.
Bagels
Ingredients
Topings
Instructions
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Add sugar and yeast to 120ml warm water. Wait 5 mins, then stir - should be nice and foamy.
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Mix together flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add yeast/sugar/water mixture AND remaining water ~180ml.
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Mix for 5 min with dough hook on mixer, or hand knead for 10 mins until firm, smooth, elastic dough forms.
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Grease a clean large bowl with olive oil and place the dough in, cover with cling film, and set somewhere warm with no draft for 1 hour/until doubled in size. Punch down and rest for 10 more mins.
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Divide the dough into 8 pieces, form in to a ball, poke a central hole and expand it until ~⅓ of the size of the bagel. Rest for 10 mins.
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Preheat oven to 220 C bake. Boil large pot of water. Boil each bagel for 1 min each side (the longer you boil, the chewier). Cover in toppings, then bake for 20mins.
