Foodie Favorite: Bagels

Ingredients:

Dough

• 1 tablespoon (9g) of instant yeast
• 4 cups (482g) of bread flour
• 2 teaspoons (12g) of salt
• 1 tablespoon (14g) brown sugar
• 1 1/3 cups (303g) of lukewarm water (between 98 and 105 degrees)

Water Bath

• 2 quarts (1814g) of water
• 2 tablespoons (28g) of brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon (14g) of granulated sugar

Directions for making the dough:

• Combine all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Kneed the dough vigorously by hand for 15 minutes or using a hook attachment on your mixer for 10 minutes. The dough will be quite stiff and keep its shape.
• Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover. Let the dough rise for 1.5 hours (noticeably puffy, but not exactly doubled in size).
• Lightly grease a baking sheet, or use parchment paper (also lightly greased). Move dough to a clean work surface and divide into 8 (for larger bagels) or 12 (for standard sized bagels) pieces.
• Take each piece and roll it into a smooth ball. Place the balls of dough on the baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Let them rise for 30 minutes. They should puff slightly.
• While the dough rests, preheat your oven to 425 degrees and get the water bath prepared. Using a large pot (preferably one with a larger width) dissolve the sugars in the water and heat until it’s a gentle boil.
• For each ball of dough, press your index finger into the middle to create a hole. Twirl and stretch the center hole until it’s 1.5 to 2 inches wide (the hole will not stay this large). Place them back on the prepared baking sheet.
• Transfer bagels (however many will fit – 2-4) into the simmering water. Let them bathe for 2 minutes and then turn them to bathe for 1 more minute. If water stops simmering when placing the dough in the water, adjust temperature to a low simmer again. Place the boiled dough back on the baking sheet.
• Bake the bagels for 20-25 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn them over and allow them to finish baking. Remove bagels and enjoy!

Variations:

• Top your bagels off with some fun toppings.
• Make a quick egg wash by whisking 1 egg and 2 tablespoons of water. When there’s about 3 minutes of baking time remaining for the bagels, remove from oven and cover the tops with the egg wash using a brush. Sprinkle everything bagel seasoning, minced dried onions, Asiago cheese, etc. and bake for the remaining 3 minutes.
• For a sweeter treat, rub melted butter on top of the bagels and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixer. Return and let finish baking.

Tips:

• Weigh your ingredients! Purchase a digital scale to truly create perfect baked goods. Using grams will elevate your final product. If you don’t have a scale, scoop using measuring cups and then take the back of a knife to push off any extra ingredients.
• When forming the dough into balls, I recommend watching this video. This method of forming balls is common, but highly effective:

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/videos/bake-it-better-with-kye/how-to-shape-bagels.