This one may take a little time, but trust us it’s well worth the wait. Made from scratch this New York style bagel recipe can be adapted to any taste.
You may have dabbled in a bread recipe or two, or maybe you’re new to the baking scene. Either way this is a fun task to give yourself or to do with the family.
These bagels have been served with two fillings, the first with smoked salmon, fresh spinach and cream cheese. The second is filled with mashed avocado, sliced red onion, pea shoots, poached egg with a sprinkling of sea salt & cracked black pepper.
Which will be your favourite?
What You’ll Need
For the Sponge:
• 1 tsp dry active yeast
• 4 cups bread flour
• 2½ cups water, at 104° F
For the Dough:
• 1 batch Sponge
• ½ tsp dry active yeast
• 1 tbsp coarse salt
• About 3 cups bread flour
• 2 tsp brown sugar
To prepare the bagels:
• 3 quarts water
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• Poppy seeds and/or sesame seeds
• Corn meal or semolina flour
Instructions
To make the sponge:
1. Mix together the yeast and flour in a bowl, pour over the water and stir together until all combined and mixture is lump free. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place for about 2 hours, until sponge is bubbly.
To make the dough:
1. Add yeast, sugar and salt to the sponge and stir. Add the flour about ½ cup at a time until the dough is stiff and not sticky. Knead the dough in a mixer for 10 minutes or for 15 minutes by hand, make the windowpane test if the dough is too dry add a tablespoon of water to the dough and continue to knead for a few minutes and repeat windowpane test.
2. When dough has the right consistency divide the dough into 16 equal pieces and roll into tight little balls. Cover with cloth and let rest for 30 minutes.
3. Shape the bagels by making a hole in the middle of a ball using your fingers and stretch the dough so the hole is approximately an inch in diameter, repeat with all pieces of dough. Place bagels an couple of inches apart on greased baking sheets and let bagels rise, covered by cloth, for another 30 minutes. Transfer to fridge and refrigerate overnight.
4. The next morning, preheat the oven to 459° F, prepare baking sheets with parchment paper and spinkle parchment with corn meal or semolina.
5. Let 3 quarts of water come to a boil in a large pot. Lower the heat and let water simmer when adding the baking soda. Place 2 bagels at a time upside down in the water, boil for a minute then flip bagels and let boil for another minute. Remove bagels from water and place on prepared baking sheets. immediately sprinkle bagels with seeds. Repeat with all bagels.
6. Bake the bagels in the upper half of oven for 10 minutes then rotate baking sheet and bake until deeply golden, for about another 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool on a wire rack covered by cloth for 30 minutes before serving.
For this and more breakfast recipes, head on over to On a Sweet Sugar Rush.