Bake Your Own Bagels

Ingredients

1 Tbl instant yeast
3 cups unbleached bread flour (I used King Arthur)
1 cup rye flour or whole wheat
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water

Water Bath for Boiling

2-3 quarts of water
2 Tbl molasses
1 Tbl baking soda

Instructions

Whisk yeast, flours, and salt together. Pour in water and mix using a spoon or a stand mixer with dough hook. If using a stand mixer, mix on low for 5-7 minutes. If mixing by hand, use a wooden spoon to mix water into flour mix until no dry remains then knead by hand until smooth, 10-15 minutes. Both methods, transfer dough to oiled bowl or bin, cover, and let double in size, about 2 hours. Punch down and let rise again for 1 hour.

Divide dough into 12 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover, and let rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Make water bath and bring to a simmer. Using your thumb poke a hole in the center of the dough ball and stretch so that it’s bagel shaped. The dough will puff when cooked so you’ll need to stretch slightly beyond the hole size you want for your final bagel shape. Let shaped dough rise for 15 minutes. Boil each bagel for 1 minute on each side. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Pro Tips

If adding a topping like sesame seeds you will need a glaze to bind the topping to the dough. Traditionally egg white is used; however, if you are vegan you can use aquafaba! What’s aquafaba? It’s the liquid from a can of chickpeas.

Boiling in the water bath is necessary for bagels. Boiling first cooks the outside which gives bagels that distinct chew. Don’t boil? You’ll end up with ring shaped bread. Snore. The baking soda gives your bagel the distinct brown color while the molasses makes your bagel shiny and adds that hint of “bagel” smell from a bakery.

The rising time for these bagels are necessary. The first rise allows the yeast to get busy. The second rise relaxes the gluten so that it’s easier to divide and shape into dough balls. Resting the dough balls allows them to be stretched into bagel shape. Resting the shaped dough ensures your bagels won’t be flat or dense. You want a chewy crust but a soft crumb.

Slice your bagels after cooled and freeze in a freezer bag. There are no preservatives in these and won’t be shelf stable for more than a week or days depending on how warm/humid your kitchen is. Refrigerating these will dry them out and make them stale tasting.