- Servings 14
- 40 minutes
- 30 minutes
- piesandtacos.com
Ingredients
- 300 grams sourdough starter 1 1/2 cups, 10.6 oz.
- 295-350 grams warm water 90-100F (1 1/4 cup- 1 1/2 cup, 10-12 oz.)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon barley malt syrup or honey
- 2 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (13.5 oz, 382 grams)
- 3 cups whole wheat flour (13.5 oz, 382 grams)
- To boil bagels
- 1 tablespoon baking soda for boiling bagels
- Topping
- 1/4 cup milk
- Everything Bagel Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon dried onions
- 1 teaspoon dried garlic
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt I use Maldon
- 1 teaspoon Za’atar.
Directions
Start by mixing the sourdough starter, 1 1/4 cup of water, vegetable oil, malt syrup, sea salt, and flours together in a bowl.
Mixture will seem extremely stiff. That’s ok. Just make sure all the flour is getting hydrated. If necessary, pour that remaining 1/4 cup of water in, if you see too much dry flour that won’t incorporate into the dough.
Cover bowl with a damp towel and let dough sit for 10 minutes.
Kneading: I would recommend a stand mixer to knead this dough. Or a lot of elbow grease.
Bagel dough should be kneaded at least 7 minutes by machine, probably double by hand. And it’s a very stiff dough, so it’s not the easiest to knead.
It’s very important that you knead this dough properly, so the bagels will have their proper texture and gluten development.
At the end of kneading, dough should be smooth, but still pretty stiff and dense.
Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl.
Cover with a damp towel.
Let it rise in a warm place for about 4 hours.
If your place is cold, let it rise 5 hours.
Transfer dough to the counter.
I split mine into 100 g (3.5 oz.) pieces, and ended up with 14 pieces.
Turn pieces into balls by rolling them against the counter, with your hand in a cup shape.
Use the counter to push the dough against itself and turn into a perfect round.
There are plenty of videos on youtube that show this technique properly. Very easy, and you’ll always end up with perfectly shaped rolls, bagels.
Now that you’ve rolled all the pieces into balls, start by making a hole in the center of each ball with your finger. Expand the center out with your hands, by rotating the bagel as you shape the hole in the middle.
Check pics above to see how I did it.
Then, place bagels in 2 baking mat or parchment paper lined baking sheets.
I put 7 bagels in each baking sheet.
Cover both trays with a damp towel. Let them sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
Once the dough is springing back as you touch it, means your bagels are ready to go.
Pre-heat oven to 425F.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Once water comes to a boil, add baking soda to the pot.
Boil bagels in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan.
You should boil bagels about 20 seconds on each side. I don’t like to boil them over 1 min total, or their crust might turn out too hard.
Remove bagels with a slotted spoon after they have boiled about 20 seconds on each side.
Place boiled bagels in a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat, and sprinkled with semolina/cornmeal, if you’d like.
Brush bagels with milk.
Sprinkle with whatever seasoning of your preference. I used sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried onions, dried garlic, coarse sea salt, and even some Za’atar I had in my spice cupboard. Za’atar is a tangy spice blend you will love, once you try it.
I just keep it in a shaker, and shake on top of toasts and other savory goodies.
After sprinkling your bagels with the seasoning, place trays in the oven.
Bake for about 10 minutes. Rotate pans. Bake for another 5-15 minutes. It will really depend on your oven and what size bagels you decided to make.
Once bagels have a deep golden color, remove them from the oven. Let them cool and enjoy them fresh. STORAGE: I like to enjoy the bagels when they are very fresh. That’s when they are the best. However, nothing wrong with leftover bagel toast in the morning. Keep bagels in an air-tight container for up to a couple of days, I wouldn’t go longer than that. You can also freeze them wrapped in foil and inside of a ziplock bag or freezer container for up to 2 months.
For variations: For other variations, check out this Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bagels.