Homemade bagels

Keeping with my goal, I chose another recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  This time I chose to make bagels.

As you can see, my bagels need some work. The recipe didn’t say that I needed to roll or knead the dough, but I think I needed to smooth out the dough more before dipping it in the water for a quick boil because as soon as I dropped the dough in the water, the dough became very wrinkly. Since I chose to skip out on decorating the tops with sesame seeds (I like my bagels plain), I couldn’t even hide the wrinkly texture.

I’ll probably read some more bagel recipes to get more tips before attempting this again.

So far, my experience with Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a day has been so-so. They have definitely simplified bread recipes and eased my fear of yeast recipes. I’m always so surprised at how quickly I’m done with mixing my dough. I basically just throw all the ingredients together and then let it sit. I could use it right away after a few hours or I can let it sit in the fridge for up to two weeks. I haven’t loved the recipes I’ve made so far, but I’m not sure if that’s because I’ve never been good with yeast recipes before this or because of the recipes themselves.  The other recipe I’ve attempted so far is chocolate bread.

The bagels tasted better than they look. The outside was nice and crispy when these were fresh out of the oven, thanks to the use of a pizza stone. My first time using one! The inside dough had a bit of sourdough taste, which I wasn’t expecting.

You can view step by step photos of how to make these bagels here. The recipe can be found on the site as well. The only difference is that the master recipe calls for all purpose flour, but the bagel recipe in the book requires bread flour.

Homemade Bagels

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

These bagels are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside with a bit of a sourdough flavor. For this recipe it’s good to use a pizza stone to bake the bagels and use a pizza peel for transferring the bagels to and from the hot oven.

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Ingredients

For the Dough

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1 ½ tbsp granulated yeast
• 1 to 1 ½ tbsp kosher salt to taste
• 6 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

For the Bagel Boil

• 8 quarts of water
• ¼ cup of granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda

Optional Bagel Toppings

• Sesame seeds or poppy seeds
• Cornmeal for the pizza peel (see note)

Instructions

• In a large bowl or bucket, stir together the water, yeast, salt, and flour. Let the mixture to sit at room temperature for two to five hours. At this point, you can proceed with making bagels or you can store the dough in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
• When you are ready to make the bagels first line a cookie sheet with a dish towel and dust it with flour. Preheat the oven (with the pizza stone inside) to 450°F.
• Take the dough and break off enough to form a 3-ounce ball. Depending on how many bagels you want to make repeat this with the rest of the dough. Loosely cover the balls with plastic wrap and let them rest for 20 minutes.
• Bring the 8 quarts of water to a boil. Add the sugar and baking soda. If you are using toppings have them ready to go.
• While you are waiting for the water to boil, form the bagels. First, dust each dough ball with more flour. Poke a hole in the center of the dough ball and stretch the hole to make a bagel shape. You will want the stretch the hole a lot because it will shrink back once you stop stretching it. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.
• Place the bagels in the boil water. Be careful not to overcrowd the pot. Boil the bagels for one minute before flipping them over. Boil them on the other side for 30 seconds.
• Use a slotted spoon to remove the bagels from the water and let the water drain off. Transfer the bagels to the cookie sheet lined with a dish towel. If you are boiling multiple batches of bagels get the first batch of bagels in the oven before boiling the second batch.
• If you are using toppings, dip the boiled bagels in them to coat them. If you aren’t using toppings you will need to use the cornmeal on the pizza peel. Otherwise you don’t need it.
• Transfer the bagels to the pizza stone in the oven using the pizza peel. Add water to a boiler tray to create steam while the bagels bake. Bake the bagels for 25 to 30 minutes or until they are golden brown and crisp on the outside.

Notes

• If you are using sesame seeds or poppy seeds for your bagels you don’t need to use cornmeal on the pizza peel.
• Recipe source: Artisan Bread in Five

The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.

Did you make this recipe?I'd love to see it! Mention @KirbieCravings and tag #kirbiecravings!