Bagels
Before You Start- Have enough space in your fridge for 12 bagels on baking sheets (or six if you’re halving the recipe). Be ready to knead a firm dough by hand for about 25 minutes, depending on your strength and technique.- Bagels are best served fresh. - Eat the bagels (not all by yourself!) preferably on the day of baking or toasted the day after. Do a half batch if 12 is too many. - Allow an hour to make the dough, portion out, and shape (45 minutes if doing a half batch).- Start at least a day ahead (assuming you’re not making them for dinner). The dough rings need to rest in the fridge for at least 12 hours, up to 36 hours (a day and a half).- Allow another hour after taking them out of the fridge before serving. You need to poach them, bake and let them cool first 😊
Servings: 12 bagels
Ingredients
Dough
- 910 g bread flour
- 18 g salt
- 7 g instant dry yeast (two teaspoons)
- 2 Tablespoons rice malt syrup 40g (note)
- 540 g lukewarm water
Poaching Liquid
- 3 litres water
- 30 g rice malt syrup
- Tablespoon baking soda
- teaspoon salt (3g)
Optional Toppings
- seeds - sesame, poppy, sunflower, chia
Instructions
- Make Dough – in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and yeast. Mix the barley malt syrup into the warm (not hot) water (or (important!) cool it down to tepid before using). Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the sugary water. Use a flexible spatula to combine (it will be very craggy and dry at first). Then tip out onto a un-floured work surface.910 g bread flour18 g salt7 g instant dry yeast2 Tablespoons rice malt syrup540 g lukewarm water
- Knead Dough – knead for 10-20 minutes until the dough is smooth and slightly sticky (but not tacky). You want to be able to stretch a small portion of dough into a window shape between your hands without it tearing. If it tears, resume kneading for another 5 minutes and re-do the 'window pane' test.
- Prepare Baking Sheets – line sheets with baking paper, sprayed lightly with vegetable oil.
- Portion Dough – punch down the dough to get rid of any big air bubbles. Divide into 12 equal portions and keep them covered with plastic wrap unless you’re working with it.
- Form Balls – gather up each portion so that one side becomes a taut dome and the other is pinched together. Place the seam side down on an un-floured work surface beneath a clawed palm (like you’re playing the piano). Apply pressure on the ball with the palm of your hand and your fingertips on the work surface. Move in small, circular motions to form a tight ball, leaving no more than a tiny seam along the bottom. Keep checking the underneath. If the seam becomes a deep groove, squeeze the dough ball on the domed side to open the groove. Sounds counter-intuitive? This allows you to close the groove completely instead of sealing the surface and trapping air inside. Try to place the dough balls so that you know what order you made them for forming into rings next.
- Make Hoops - the dough balls need a little time to relax again after you form them. By the time you’ve shaped the last ball, you can go back to the first one to puncture and stretch. Punch a hole in the centre by pressing the tips of your thumb and index finger together on either side of the bagel. Insert the fingers (not thumbs) of both hands into the hole pointing towards you. Then gently pull your hands apart to stretch it open. Rotate the ring in your hands, squeezing slightly to make it an even thickness all the way around. To prevent 'belly button' bagels, where the hole closes to form a slit, make the hole bigger than you want it to be. It will shrink back a bit. About 3-4cm will be fine.
- Refrigerate - place the bagels on the lined baking sheets. Spray the tops of the bagels lightly with oil spray. Cover loosely but securely around the edges with plastic wrap. Leave in the fridge for 12-36 hours.
- Preheat Oven - to 200°C. Adjust oven rack to the middle position.
- Float Test (note) – fill the saucepan with the water. Carefully peel one of the bagels off the baking paper and place in the water. If it floats, shake excess water off and return to the fridge with the other bagels. If it sinks, shake off excess water and remove all the bagels from the fridge (keeping them covered). Repeat the float test with one of the bagels every 15 minutes until it floats. When this happens, the bagels are ready to boil. Return all the bagels to the fridge until the oven is up to temperature and the poaching liquid is boiling.3 litres water
- Prepare Poaching Liquid – add the syrup, baking soda and salt to the water. Bring to the boil over high heat.30 g rice malt syrupTablespoon baking sodateaspoon salt
- Prepare Toppings – put any preferred bagel toppings in shallow bowls before taking the bagels out of the fridge.
- Boil Bagels - line a plate with a thick layer of paper towels. Working in batches, so that the bagels float in a single layer, boil the bagels for about 30 seconds per side. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and return to the baking sheet.
- Top Bagels - while the bagels are still very wet, tip the rounded top surface into any toppings of your choice. Set uncoated side down on the lined baking sheet. Repeat poaching, draining and topping bagels until they are all done. Ensure you bring the water back to a boil between batches.seeds - sesame, poppy, sunflower, chia
- Bake - for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown all over (including the underneath). Turn tray halfway through.
- Cool - for at least 30 minutes before splitting and filling.
Notes
Rice Malt Syrup – barley malt syrup is traditionally used by bakeries. I use this alternative because it's easier to find. Use barley malt if you prefer. Or replace with the same amount of brown sugar, maple syrup or honey.
Float Test – I don’t usually bother with this, only because I’ve made this recipe so many times. I know that the bagels float as soon as I put them in the boiling water. If you’ve had the bagels in the fridge for at least 24 hours, feel free to skip this step.