For years now, we've been getting bagels from Costco. Our favorite is the everything bagel. A couple months ago, the light bulb went off in my dim head – why have I never tried making bagels at home? I knew they needed unusual preparation, boiling and then baking, which always seemed daunting on top of the rising sequence. But now that I've got all the time in the world, why not?
I tried one recipe for New York bagels, which was good. Then this one, from Emma Fontanella, which I've settled on but have tweaked a tad. Check out Emma's recipe which gives instructions on how to make a variety of bagels using the same basic dough. For my everything mixture, I use sesame and poppy seeds, dried onion, garlic powder, Italian herbs and kosher salt.
The only thing that can be difficult about making bagels is shaping them. The smoother you can keep the surface, right up until you put them in the oven, the better. Avoid mangling the dough as you handle, move and flip them. I actually do my second rise in NordicWare egg cooking dishes (about 3.5" dia.) to help keep the bagel size uniform and make it easy for me to dump the bagel into boiling water. This can be kind of a tricky step but you'll figure out a shaping/handling method which works best for you. Remember, even if the bagels look ugly, they'll still taste great!
NEW YORK-STYLE BAGELS (based on a recipe by Emma Fontanella)
Makes 11 bagels
750g (5-1/3 cups) all-purpose flour
415g (1-3/4 cups) warm water
2 tbsp. sugar or 3 tbsp. syrup (maple, honey, etc)
2 tsp. salt
1 packet or 2-1/2 tsp. dried yeast
2 T olive oil
Everything mixture: 1/2 cup sesame seeds, 1/4 cup poppy seeds, 1/4 cup dried chopped onion, 1 tsp. kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. Italian herbs
Measure out the flour and put in your mixer bowl. Measure out the warm water, dissolve in the sugar/syrup and salt, and sprinkle the dried yeast on top and mix in. Let the yeast mixture proof for a few minutes. Turn on your mixer with the dough hook, and slowly pour the yeast mixture into the flour. When the liquids have mostly been incorporated, spoon the olive oil right into the middle of the dough near the hook. Let the machine knead until all the flour has been absorbed and the dough is a smooth ball. Take the ball of dough out and let rise in a covered, greased container, until doubled in size. Weigh the dough and divide into 10 pieces (mine typically weigh around 120g). Round each piece into a smooth ball (here's a tutorial on rounding, from the excellent Bake with Jack series on YouTube), place on a greased tray with some room in between and give it a good squish with the palm of your hand to flatten a bit. When all the balls are done, take your thumb and make a slight depression in the middle of each, then use a small round, greased cutter to make a hole right over the depression. Since I like my bagels to have small holes, I actually use an empty pill vial (1-1/4" dia) with the bottom cut off and the lid screwed on, which acts as a handle. Combine all your bagel hole scraps into another ball, and use it to make your 11th bagel. Cover the bagels and let rise for about 30-60 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Get a second tray set up with a sheet of parchment and sprinkle some of your everything mixture on it. A few minutes before your bagels are finishing their second rise, fill a wide skillet, wok or pot with about 3 inches of water and bring to a boil. Use a spatula to pick up your bagels and place gently in the boiling water (don't crowd, do batches of 2-4). Flip over at about 30 seconds, allowing each bagel to cook for a total of about 1 minute (more time makes them chewier, no more than 2 minutes). Lift the bagel out with a skimmer and place on the prepared tray. Immediately sprinkle more everything mixture on top, while the bagel is still wet. Repeat until all the bagels are done. Bake at 450˚F for about 20-25 minutes. The bagels will be golden brown when done. Remove from the parchment and, if not consuming immediately (I dare you not to!), let cool on a rack before packing up into a container or wrapping and freezing.
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