Bagels

Got to love a tasty, chewy bagel - I especially love them around the holidays! This recipe has been tried and tested extensively. For research purposes, of course.

“You make your own bagels?”

People seem blown away by this but honestly, it’s not much harder than bread, rolls or other similar baked recipes -except for the super fun added step of boiling your dough it is very similar in many ways. I first learned how to make authentic New York-style bagels from Sophisticated Gourmet’s recipe, but over time I have changed it up slightly to cut down on sugar and salt, and experiment with wholemeal flour to make them slightly healthier (it’s just because I want to eat them all the time!). And it has worked perfectly! I’ve also cut down on the baking time slightly.

Bagels

Makes about 8

Time: Prep 20 mins | Rise time 80 mins | Cook time 18 mins

• 2 tsp (7g, usual sachet size) dry yeast

• 2 tsp sugar

• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

• 4 cups of flour: I do 2 cups plain and 2 cups wholemeal

• 1/2 tsp salt

• Optional: 1 tsp Pumpkin Spice

• Toppings (optional): sesame seeds, poppy seeds (I do both!)

• 1 egg (this is just to get the toppings to stick, so you can avoid if needed!)

Instructions

In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup of lukewarm water, and pour in sugar and yeast. Don’t stir until it has sat there for about 5 minutes. Then mix it well until the sugar and yeast dissolves.

In a large bowl, mix flour and salt (and, if you’re adding it, pumpkin spice). Add in the water/sugar/yeast mix. Then slowly add in the final cup of lukewarm water, bit by bit - you might not need it all so be careful. You want the dough to be nice and firm.

Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it feels nice and firm, yet elastic. Put the dough back in the big bowl and let it rise for 1 hour. Then punch the air out of the dough with a quick knead, and let it rest for 10 more minutes.

Divide the dough into 8 sections and roll them all into nice, even buns. Use your finger (make sure you have flour on your hands so the dough doesn’t stick to much to you!) to make the holes in the middle of each, and really stretch the dough out so the hole is a decent size (it will close up a bit again). Place each bagel on a baking paper placed on a baking tray.

Cover the bagels and let them rest for another 10 minutes. Heat the oven up to about 210ºC (410ºF).

In a saucepan, bring water to a boil and then reduce the heat slightly. Carefully, with a slotted spoon or similar, lower a bagel into the water and let it simmer in the water, 1 minute, and then flip it over and let it do the same for another minute. Do this with each bagel and place back on the baking tray.

Mix the egg in a bowl and brush the eggwash on top of each bagel, then drizzle your chosen toppings (sesame and poppy seeds for me!) on top of each.

Bake in the oven for about 18 minutes - each oven is different so keep an eye on them.

Let the bagels rest on a wire cooling rack when they are out of the oven. Delicious with scrambled eggs, cream cheese, salt beef… There are SO many ways to enjoy these babies!

Did you make the bagels? What did you top them with? Share on Instagram and tag @TheFromScratchBody and hashtag #TheFromScratchBody so I don’t miss it!