Bagels

Catching up with my sister last week, she described her Sunday brunch menu in mouth-watering detail. But it was her pronouncement that the bagels were “the best that I ever made”, that really gave me pause. “You made your own bagels!”, I sputtered. Slightly warm, with a crispy golden crust and a soft, chewy interior with a schmear of cream cheese, a well-made, fresh bagel is the ultimate comfort food. Making bagels was something I had to try, and I begged my sister for a tutorial.

Bagels

According to Serious Eats food consultant and New York Times food columnist J. Kenji López-Alt, a good bagel should have a thin, shiny, crackly crust spotted with the kind of micro blisters that you can only get from proper boiling followed by a high-temperature bake. It’s these little bubbles that add both surface area and crunch. That crust should give way to a crumb that’s dense and chewy, but tender and easy to bite through. Baking the perfect bagel didn’t sound like the work of amateurs. However this clearly written recipe by baker, author and one of the foremost baking educators in America, Peter Reinhart, published in Fine Cooking magazine, makes a home-baked bagel within the reach of even the most inexperienced bagel buff. I invited my sister and sister-in-law over for a baking session followed by lunch featuring fresh, hot bagels. 

Assemble your ingredients. According to recipe author Peter Reinhart, high-protein flour makes bagels with a tight, springy crumb. Although the average home baker does not have access to the really high protein flours that bakeries use, bread flour, easily sourced in your neighborhood grocery store, is a good substitute.  All-purpose flour, however, doesn’t contain enough gluten to make a proper bagel. Malt syrup also known as barley malt syrup, a sweetener, gives bagels their characteristic flavor. I found barley malt syrup in my local health food shop.

Make the dough: This recipe calls for a sponge starter or preferment. This easy extra step pays off in spades, improving the bagels’ flavor and texture. It also makes them freeze and thaw better which is very important unless you are planning on eating a dozen bagels at one sitting. A sponge is  a mixture of yeast, high-gluten flour, and water that sits at room temperature for about two hours, while the yeast begins converting the natural wheat sugars into carbon dioxide and ethanol. The foamy, fermented mixture is then combined with flour and other ingredients to make the dough. I make the sponge for the bagel dough in the bowl of my mixer. You can also mix the sponge by hand.

After letting the sponge rest for a couple of hours, I add the rest of the yeast to the sponge mixture. Combine 3 cups of flour with the salt. Add this to the sponge and finally add the barley malt syrup. Using a dough hook, mix the bagel dough on the lowest speed working in the remaining cup of flour. Bagel dough is extremely stiff. This stiffness allows you to boil the bagels before baking them without losing their shape. Knead the dough in your mixer for about 6 minutes. If you notice that the mixer is struggling, remove the dough and complete the kneading by hand. (You can also knead the dough completely by hand. This should take about 15 minutes.) The finished dough should be very firm, but smooth and satiny.

Shape the bagels: Divide the dough. This recipe makes 14 bagels that are approximately 3 ounces each. That size suits me. If you want larger or smaller bagels, divide the dough accordingly. Reserve a walnut-sized piece of dough. Wipe the counter to remove any flour. Shape each piece of dough into a smooth ball by pinching the dough around to one point on the bottom. Shape your hand into a claw and gently roll each ball of dough on the counter until rounded and smooth. Cover with a damp towel and let the dough balls rest for 20 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spray with vegetable oil or baking spray. 

To shape the bagels, poke a hole in the center of each ball of dough with your thumb and then rotate the ring of dough around both thumbs, slightly stretching the dough ring until the hole in the middle of the dough measures about 2 inches. The dough ring should be evenly thick all around. Set the shaped bagels on the parchment-lined baking sheets 2 inches apart. Cover with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with baking spray. Place the walnut-sized piece of dough that you are holding in reserve on the sheet as well. Let the bagels sit at room temperature until they swell slightly (15-20%). After 15 minutes, drop the walnut-sized piece of dough that you set aside into a small bowl of water. This is known as the “float test”. If it floats within ten seconds, the bagels are ready for their overnight rise. (You can also do the float test with one of the shaped bagels. Dry it off after it floats and put it back on the baking sheet). Refrigerate the covered baking sheets for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake the bagels, preheat the oven to 450 F. and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with baking spray and sprinkle it with cornmeal.

Remove one of the pans of bagels from the refrigerator. Fill a large, wide, pot  2/3 full with water. Add 1 tablespoon of baking soda to the water. Dissolve 1/4 cup of barley malt syrup in the water as well. The water should be the color of strong tea. Bring the water to a boil. Drop the bagels into the boiling water only cooking as many bagels as fit comfortably in the pot. I err on the side of caution and only boil two bagels at a time. Set your timer for 1 minute. After 1 minute elapses, using a skimmer, slotted spoon or spatula, gently flip the bagels over and boil for another minute. As the bagels finish cooking, lift them out of the water one at a time with a skimmer or slotted spoon and let the water drip back into the pot. Place the boiled bagels onto the prepared baking sheet that is sprinkled with cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops of the bagels with sesame seeds, poppy seeds or everything bagel mix.

Place the pan of bagels in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning and bake for another 5 minutes. Transfer the baked bagels to a cooling rack and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.

Remove the second pan of bagels from the refrigerator. Continue cooking, sprinkling and baking the second baking sheet as outlined above.

Print Recipe

Bagels

Breakfast, Bread and Muffins

By Peter Reinhart, Fine Cooking magazine, issue 43 – Serves: 14

Prep Time: 60 minutes – Cooking Time: 60 minutes – Total Time: 2 hours + resting time

Fresh homemade bagels with a crispy golden crust and a soft, chewy interior.

Ingredients

• For the sponge:
• 4 cups (18 oz.) unbleached high-gluten flour (or bread flour)
• 1 tsp. instant or quick-rise yeast
• 2-1/2 cups lukewarm water (about 70°F)
• For the bagel dough:
• 1/2 tsp. instant or quick-rise yeast
• 4 cups (about 18 oz.) unbleached high-gluten flour (or bread flour), divided
• 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons salt (3/4 oz.), depending on the coarseness
• 1 tablespoon barley malt syrup (honey, or brown sugar can be substituted but use barley malt syrup for the most authentic bagel flavor)
• For shaping, boiling, and baking:
• Vegetable oil spray
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup barley malt syrup
• Cornmeal for sprinkling
• Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, everything bagel mix (see notes for the recipe)

Instructions

To make the sponge:

1

In the bowl of your stand mixer using a flat beater, mix the flour and 1 teaspoon yeast. Add the water and stir on low speed until a batter-like dough forms. Remove the flat beater. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the mixture to stand at room temperature for 1-2 hours until the mixture is bubbly. The sponge can also be mixed by hand in a large bowl.

To make the bagel dough:

2

If using a stand mixer, add 1/2 teaspoon yeast to the sponge and stir. Mix 3 cups flour with the salt. Add it to the sponge along with the barley malt syrup (or honey or sugar). Using a dough hook, mix on the lowest speed slowly working in the remaining cup of flour. Keep kneading until the dough is very stiff and firm, about 6 minutes by machine. If the mixer begins to sound like it's struggling, stop the mixer and complete the kneading by hand. The dough can also be kneaded completely by hand. This will take about 15 minutes.

3

Reserve a walnut-sized piece of dough. Divide the remaining dough into 12-15 even pieces depending on the size bagel that you like. I weighed out 3 ounce pieces.

4

On a clean flour-free counter, shape each piece of dough into a ball by pulling the dough down and around to one point on the bottom. Pinch the bottom closed. Make your hand into a claw shape and gently roll each ball of dough, on the counter, until it is rounded and smooth. Cover the dough balls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for 20 minutes.

Shape the bagels:

5

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spray them generously with baking spray.

6

To shape the bagels, poke your thumb through the middle of the ball of dough. Fit your other thumb into the hole and rotate the dough ring around both thumbs stretching it as you rotate it. Enlarge the hole in the middle of the dough until it is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Set the shaped bagels on the prepared pans. Cover them with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with baking spray and allow the bagels to sit at room temperature until they expand slightly by about 15-20 percent.

7

After 15 minutes, drop the reserved walnut-sized piece of dough into a bowl of water. If it floats within 10 seconds, it is time to refrigerate the covered bagels for at least 8 and up to 24 hours. If the piece of dough doesn't float, repeat the "float-test" every 10 minutes until it floats. You can also do the float test with one of shaped bagels. Pat it dry before you return it to the pan.

Boil and bake the bagels:

8

When you're ready to bake the bagels, preheat the oven to 450 F. Set out the toppings that you would like to use on the bagels in small bowls. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, spray the parchment with baking spray and sprinkle it with cornmeal.

9

Fill a large wide pot 2/3 full with water and dissolve 1 tablespoon baking soda and 1/4 cup barley malt syrup in the water. Bring the water to a boil. Lift each bagel off the baking sheet and drop it into the water, boiling only as many bagels as fit comfortably in the pot at one time. I boil the bagels two at a time because I don't like to crowd the pot. Boil the bagels for 1 minute. Using a skimmer or perforated spoon, flip each bagel gently and boil for an additional minute.

10

As the bagels finish cooking lift out each bagel using a skimmer or perforated spoon, gently waving it over the pot to allow the excess water to drip back into the pot. Set each bagel on the baking sheet with the cornmeal and sprinkle the tops of the bagels with the topping of your choice.

11

When the bagels in the first pan are boiled and sprinkled, put the baking sheet in the oven for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan for even baking and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the bagels to a cooling rack. Remove the second pan of bagels from the refrigerator and repeat the boiling, sprinkling and baking.

Notes

For an excellent recipe for everything bagel topping please see: https://www.loveandlemons.com/everything-bagel-seasoning/