everything bagels
A freshly made everything bagel toasted and topped with plain Philadelphia cream cheese, alongside a cup of coffee. It’s a satisfying thing. Any Starbucks CHONGA (acronym for cheese, onion, garlic) bagel lovers out there? The catalyst for making bagels at home was two-fold. We were getting bagels from Costco, who was selling Einstein Bagels in their bakery department for quite a while. These bagels were a huge step up from anything you could find on the bread aisle of your grocery store. After having really good bagels (and even mediocre bagels, like Costco’s Einstein), grocery store bread aisle bagels (and yes, even Starbuck’s CHONGAs) aren’t even in the same category. Ok, they’re both bagel-shaped, so they have that going for them. But the texture, flavor, and taste are so different that it’s worth trying to make them at home, or at least seeking out someone who makes great bagels. I fear a New Yorker reading this post and rolling their eyes. Give us a break out here on the west coast – bagels are hard to come by and we have loads to learn from you in this category.
Costco stopped carrying Einstein, which prompted Mike to research how to make bagels at home. In addition, I think I’ve mentioned a couple of times now, one of our goals this year was to make all the bread products we consumed at home. Mike dove into the deep end. There were sourdough recipes, instant yeast recipes. Cedar being cut for bagel boards and burlap being stapled. Everything bagel seasoning and build your own everything bagel seasoning. Trips to a local homebrewing shop for diastatic malt powder. Trips to high-end grocery stores for barley malt syrup. He went deep. He’s the bread maker in this house. He gets bread, and I’m so thankful he does as my success with bread has been inconsistent.
After all of that, we can confidently share with you a really good bagel recipe. There are a couple of bagel shops in our area that serve excellent bagels. They set the bar for what we try to achieve at home. It’s good to have that. You need inspiration and a standard for what really good looks like. Otherwise, we think we’re good, when we have so much opportunity to be better.
everything bagels
The best everything bagel recipe we've found. If you're going to make bagels, make extra and freeze them!
Ingredients
POOLISH
- 2 1/2 cups + 4 TBSP (332 grams) all purpose flour
- 1/2 TSP instant yeast
- 1 1/2 cups + 4 TBSP (396 grams) lukewarm water (75-80 degrees)
DOUGH
- 3 cups (680 grams) lukewarm water
- 11 cups (1,320 grams) all purpose flour
- 5 1/2 TSP (34 grams) salt
- 1 1/2 TSP instant yeast
BOILING BATH
- 2 TBSP (42 grams) barley malt syrup or molasses
- 1 TBSP (18 grams) salt
EVERYTHING TOPPING
- sesame seeds
- dried minced onion
- dried minced garlic
- poppy seeds
- coarse salt
Instructions
First, make the poolish. If possible, weigh your flour. If you don't have a scale, measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then skimming off any excess. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and yeast. Add the water, mixing until smooth. Cover and let rest at room temperature for at least 4 hours, but up to 8. More time will yield more flavor, but even a few hours will be enough to make a noticeable difference.
Next, make the dough. In a large mixing bowl combine the poolish with the water, mixing by hand to break up the poolish. Add the flour, salt, and yeast, combining by hand or on low speed of a stand mixer until the dough forms a cohesive, shaggy, tacky mass. Be sure not to add more flour. Place the dough in a bowl, cover, and allow it to rest for 2 hours, stretching and folding the dough over onto itself three or four times in the bowl after 1 hour. Without touching the dough again, place the bowl in the refrigerator overnight, or for at least 8 to 12 hours.
The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours. Divide the dough into 24 pieces; if you have a scale each piece will weigh about 114g. Shape each piece into a tight ball, place on a lightly floured surface, then cover and let rest for 15 to 30 minutes.
To shape the bagels, use your fingers to poke a hole in the middle of each ball and gently expand the hole until it’s 2” to 3” in diameter. Return the shaped bagels to the floured surface, cover them again, and allow them to rest for 20 to 30 minutes. While the bagels are resting, preheat the oven to 475°F. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
Next, prepare the water bath by putting 4” of water in a shallow (wide) 6-quart pot. Add the barley malt syrup or molasses and the salt. Bring to a medium boil. You're going to have to two this in two batches. Each batch will be 12 bagels. Carefully place three bagels at a time (until your reach 12) in the water bath. Boil the bagels for 30 seconds on one side. Using a slotted spoon, flip them over. Boil the bagels for another 60 to 90 seconds. Remove the bagels from the water, allowing them to drip dry for a few seconds before placing them 2” to 3” apart on the prepared baking sheets. You should be able to get six bagels per sheet. Dip the bagels into a shallow bowlful of the toppings, coating both the top and bottom of the bagel, and then return to the baking sheet. Bake the bagels for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. The bagels are done when the bottoms and sides are a deep mahogany brown and firm. Remove the bagels from the oven transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store bagels at room temperature for up to one day, or place in a gallon size freezer Ziploc and freeze for longer storage.
Notes
Inspired by: King Arthur