Bagels
My family loves bagels and I spent a good couple of months trying many different recipes and changing them before I came up with this one. The toppings you can put on bagels are endless. Our favorite bagels are Cinnamon-Raisin, Asiago Cheese, Blueberry and just a cinnamon/sugar topping. I like to make mine smaller than the bakery bagels, but you can make them any size you want.
Recipe:
Yield: 19-24 three ounce bagels
Sponge
1 tsp instant yeast
3½ C flour (I use 1½ C hard whole wheat flour & 2 C bread flour)
3 Tbs raw wheat germ
2½ C water, room temperature
Dough
½ tsp instant yeast
2½–4 C bread flour
1 Tbs salt
2 tsp malt syrup
1 Tbs sucanut
To Finish
1 tsp baked baking soda (can sub 2-3 tsp regular)
⅓ C malt syrup or honey
cornmeal (optional)
Optional Toppings: sesame seeds, poppy seeds, rehydrated dried minced garlic or onions, sliced white sharp cheddar or Asiago cheese, cinnamon/sugar or sucanut. If you plan on freezing your bagels don't dip the tops in sugar or sucanut. It makes a mess.
(To bake the baking soda, spread some out onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 250°F for 1 hour. This creates something like lye and is toxic. Try not to touch or breath it and store it in a sealed container away from children. This is what gives the bagel skin it's chewy texture)
1. Day one: To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or lid and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the counter top.
2. To make the dough: in the same bowl, use the dough hook and add the additional yeast, salt, malt, and sucanut and rest of flour half cup at a time, slowly working it in to stiffen the dough.
3. The dough should be firm, but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour – all ingredients should be hydrated. If the dough seems too dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems sticky, add more flour to achieve the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable and tacky but not be sticky. Total kneading time approximately 10-20 minutes.
4. Immediately divide the dough into 3 oz pieces. Form the pieces into balls. This is the most important part of the shaping. This will determine how well shaped your bagels are.
5. Cover the balls with a damp towel or plastic wrap and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.
6. Line 2 sheet pans with baking parchment and spray with oil. Proceed with shaping: Poke hole in ball, place both pointer fingers in hole and roll fingers around each other to stretch hole, then lightly shape bagel.
7. Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pans. Lightly spray oil tops and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
8. Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the “float test”. Fill a small bowl with cool water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float in the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately pat it dry and return it to the pan, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (or at least 4 hours and it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 3 days). If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats but DO NOT over-rise. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the ambient temperature and the stiffness of the dough. If your bagels overrise in the fridge then your fridge isn't cold enough and you can put them directly into the fridge after shaping.
9. The following day (or when you are ready to bake the bagels), preheat the oven to 500°F preferably for an hour with the rack set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the pot the better), and add the baking soda and malt syrup.
10. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit. After 30-50 seconds flip them over and boil for another 30 seconds. Take out bagels and put on damp cloth for a few minutes. Dip bottoms in cornmeal if desired and place back on baking pan. Don't get ahead with the boiling. You want to bake the bagels immediately or soon after boiling them.
11. When a pan full (6 bagels) is ready, bake approximately 5 minutes, then rotate the pan. Bake another 5 minutes. Adjust your temperature according to your oven.
12. Remove the pan from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.
Cinnamon Raisin Bagels: Increase the yeast in the final dough to 1 tsp, and add 1 Tbs of ground cinnamon and 3 more Tbs sucanut to the final dough. Soak 2 C raisins in water for at least 10 minutes, drain. Add the raisins with a small amount of flour during the final 2 minutes of kneading. Proceed as directed but after dipping bottoms in cornmeal, dip tops in cinnamon and sugar if desired (this is very good for fresh bagels but don't do this if you plan on freezing them, the sugar dissolves and makes them messy).
Blueberry Bagels: Same as raisin only omit cinnamon and use dried blueberries instead of raisins. Can dip tops in sucanut or sugar.
Chocolate-Cherry Bagels: Same as raisin only replace cinnamon with 5 Tbs cocoa and replace raisins with 2-3 C dried sweet cherries and 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Sun-dried Tomato Jalapeno Bagels: Same as plain but add ½ C chopped sun-dried tomatoes and ¼ C chopped pickled jalapenos during the final 2 minutes of kneading.
Multi-Grain Bagels: Same as plain but substitute the whole wheat flour for multi-grain flour in the sponge and add 1 C raw or roasted sunflower seeds during the final two minutes of kneading.
Pizza Bagels: Same as plain but add 1½ C coarsely chopped pepperoni, ½ C grated Romano cheese, 2-3 tsp dried basil, crushed and ¾ C chopped sun-dried tomatoes in the last two minutes of kneading. After boiling them, top with Asiago or sharp cheddar cheese before baking.
Breakfast Bagels: Cut an Asiago Cheese bagel in half. Spread one size with a generous amount of cream cheese. Fry 1 slice of ham and then 1 egg in frying pan. Place ham and egg on cream cheese and top with other half of bagel.
Recipe:
Yield: 19-24 three ounce bagels
Sponge
1 tsp instant yeast
3½ C flour (I use 1½ C hard whole wheat flour & 2 C bread flour)
3 Tbs raw wheat germ
2½ C water, room temperature
Dough
½ tsp instant yeast
2½–4 C bread flour
1 Tbs salt
2 tsp malt syrup
1 Tbs sucanut
To Finish
1 tsp baked baking soda (can sub 2-3 tsp regular)
⅓ C malt syrup or honey
cornmeal (optional)
Optional Toppings: sesame seeds, poppy seeds, rehydrated dried minced garlic or onions, sliced white sharp cheddar or Asiago cheese, cinnamon/sugar or sucanut. If you plan on freezing your bagels don't dip the tops in sugar or sucanut. It makes a mess.
(To bake the baking soda, spread some out onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 250°F for 1 hour. This creates something like lye and is toxic. Try not to touch or breath it and store it in a sealed container away from children. This is what gives the bagel skin it's chewy texture)
1. Day one: To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or lid and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the counter top.
2. To make the dough: in the same bowl, use the dough hook and add the additional yeast, salt, malt, and sucanut and rest of flour half cup at a time, slowly working it in to stiffen the dough.
3. The dough should be firm, but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour – all ingredients should be hydrated. If the dough seems too dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems sticky, add more flour to achieve the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable and tacky but not be sticky. Total kneading time approximately 10-20 minutes.
4. Immediately divide the dough into 3 oz pieces. Form the pieces into balls. This is the most important part of the shaping. This will determine how well shaped your bagels are.
5. Cover the balls with a damp towel or plastic wrap and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.
6. Line 2 sheet pans with baking parchment and spray with oil. Proceed with shaping: Poke hole in ball, place both pointer fingers in hole and roll fingers around each other to stretch hole, then lightly shape bagel.
7. Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pans. Lightly spray oil tops and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
8. Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the “float test”. Fill a small bowl with cool water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float in the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately pat it dry and return it to the pan, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (or at least 4 hours and it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 3 days). If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats but DO NOT over-rise. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the ambient temperature and the stiffness of the dough. If your bagels overrise in the fridge then your fridge isn't cold enough and you can put them directly into the fridge after shaping.
9. The following day (or when you are ready to bake the bagels), preheat the oven to 500°F preferably for an hour with the rack set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the pot the better), and add the baking soda and malt syrup.
10. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit. After 30-50 seconds flip them over and boil for another 30 seconds. Take out bagels and put on damp cloth for a few minutes. Dip bottoms in cornmeal if desired and place back on baking pan. Don't get ahead with the boiling. You want to bake the bagels immediately or soon after boiling them.
11. When a pan full (6 bagels) is ready, bake approximately 5 minutes, then rotate the pan. Bake another 5 minutes. Adjust your temperature according to your oven.
12. Remove the pan from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.
Cinnamon Raisin Bagels: Increase the yeast in the final dough to 1 tsp, and add 1 Tbs of ground cinnamon and 3 more Tbs sucanut to the final dough. Soak 2 C raisins in water for at least 10 minutes, drain. Add the raisins with a small amount of flour during the final 2 minutes of kneading. Proceed as directed but after dipping bottoms in cornmeal, dip tops in cinnamon and sugar if desired (this is very good for fresh bagels but don't do this if you plan on freezing them, the sugar dissolves and makes them messy).
Blueberry Bagels: Same as raisin only omit cinnamon and use dried blueberries instead of raisins. Can dip tops in sucanut or sugar.
Chocolate-Cherry Bagels: Same as raisin only replace cinnamon with 5 Tbs cocoa and replace raisins with 2-3 C dried sweet cherries and 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Sun-dried Tomato Jalapeno Bagels: Same as plain but add ½ C chopped sun-dried tomatoes and ¼ C chopped pickled jalapenos during the final 2 minutes of kneading.
Multi-Grain Bagels: Same as plain but substitute the whole wheat flour for multi-grain flour in the sponge and add 1 C raw or roasted sunflower seeds during the final two minutes of kneading.
Pizza Bagels: Same as plain but add 1½ C coarsely chopped pepperoni, ½ C grated Romano cheese, 2-3 tsp dried basil, crushed and ¾ C chopped sun-dried tomatoes in the last two minutes of kneading. After boiling them, top with Asiago or sharp cheddar cheese before baking.
Breakfast Bagels: Cut an Asiago Cheese bagel in half. Spread one size with a generous amount of cream cheese. Fry 1 slice of ham and then 1 egg in frying pan. Place ham and egg on cream cheese and top with other half of bagel.
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