We love bagels!The chewier, the better in my opinion, and if freshly baked even better! I know a lot of people are intimidated by making bread, but trust me, bagels are so difficult to get wrong. Follow this recipe and your bagels will come out perfect each time! Well, I'm hoping so, anyway! :D
A few notes to mind:
1) I've used different brands of strong white flour, from the cheapest to the most expensive, but one I came across recently is the Very Strong White Flour, by Tesco (not sponsored!). This is the type and brand I used to make these ones this time and, the dough came out so smooth and pretty elastic within minutes, which surprised me. As I don't own a stand mixer, I usually have to knead by hand for about 30 minutes, depending on humidity, flour and yeast. So I kept kneading in case I was mistaken it was ready, but I have an inkling 10 minutes might be sufficient for this flour. I'll have to try it again with less kneading to see the outcome, and will let you all know. There are different brands of very strong white flour so have a look around if you like. Otherwise, strong white flour will do if you can't get a hold of very strong white flour, and any brand will also do.
2) The longer you leave the bagels in the boiling water, the chewier it will get.Anything longer than this, the bagels will start to separate!
3) There are recipes that say the bagels will be ready to be taken out from the boiling water once they float to the top. I don't know about this one as I've made bagels many times before where they've not sunk to the bottom and floated when ready. I usually find my bagels just float on the top. In this case, flip them over often and push them down into the water as often as you can.
Ok, so let's bake!
Makes 8 Large Bagels
Prep Time: 1h 38m - 2h 55m
Baking Time: 22 - 36 mins
Total Time: 2 - 3.5 hours
Ingredients:
500g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
1 1/2 tsp active dried yeast
400ml warm water
2 tbsp honey or white sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
Semolina, dusting tray
Egg Wash:
1 egg
A couple of tablespoons of milk.
Toppings:
2-3 tsps Sesame seeds
2-3 tspsPoppy seeds
1 Small red onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
You need:
A large oven tray, lined with greaseproof paper
Pot of boiling water
Method:
In a bowl, mix the salt and flour. Make a well in the centre and add the yeast, honey or sugar and half of the warm water. Using a spoon, slowly incorporate the flour into the water. I kneaded this dough for about 45 minutes until the dough was elastic, smooth and bounces back when pressed. If you have a stand mixer, I'd recommend you use it.
Oil the same bowl you used initially with some flavourless or mild oil, I used a light olive oil, and placed the dough in the bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and place in the centre of the oven. Place a wooden spoon in the oven door to keep it slightly open. Let rise until doubled or leave for an hour or 2. This will depend on how cold it is. If not using the oven for proving, just place the covered dough somewhere warm.
Once doubled, place on a lightly floured surface. Place the dough on the surface, knead for about 5 minutes and form a ball.
At this point, you want to boil some water in a large pot.
Divide the dough into 8 and form them into smaller balls. Video down below shows you how. I find the less flour on the surface, the better hold you'll have of the dough when forming them into balls.
Once you've formed them into balls, poke a hole through with your index finger and pull and form into a ring.
Dust the lined tray with a generous amount of semolina, this will help stop the bagels from sticking and will also give you a nice texture.
When the water is boiling, place a bagel or 2 in the pot, if you can. Keep in mind these bagels will double or even triple in size when placed in the water! These bagels are huge! As mentioned in the notes, if your bagels don't sink to the bottom, push them down and flip them as often as you can. I've only ever had my bagels sink once and they turned out pretty dense but still good.
Boil for 2-3 minutes if you're not into chewy bagels. For really chewy bagels like these ones, boil the bagels for 5-6 minutes. Anything over this time, you can see start to see the dough separate. When ready, drain and place in the tray. Leave some space between the bagels.
While the last few bagels are boiling away, preheat your oven to 200°C/ Fan 220°C/392°F / Gas 7.
Brush the bagel tops with egg wash and dip them in the toppings of your choice. If you're not into eggs or are allergic to eggs, you can simply skip this step. Just make sure to sprinkle your toppings as soon as the bagels come out of the water so they stick!
Place in the centre of your oven and cook or about 20-30 minutes. For some reason, I've found the ones with the onions seemed to take longer to brown, so keep an eye out for that.
Once cooked, take out and, if you can wait, let cool on wire rack. We didn't wait and ate some with lashings of butter! It's so good!
Check out the video below!
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