Bagels

I had always wanted to try making bagels at home for a while but did not start until a while ago, and I have been making them since but I have not been good to take photos and write. I finally did today so I decided to post and share. 

When I decided to try making bagels at home, I looked around and tried some recipes. The one I ended up using is a combination of a few, and the result has been satisfying. 

Ingredients:

For the bagels:

260g + 240g all purpose flour*

3g dry active yeast

260g water

10g salt

10g sugar

10g malt powder/syrup**

1 egg white + 1 Tsp water to make an egg wash

For the water bath:

2 quarts water

2 Tsp malt powder

2 Tsp sugar

*Bread flour produces denser and more chewy bagels but you need to play around with the amount of water.

**I use King Arthur Flour's diastatic malt powder

Method:

Combine the 260g of flour together with the water and yeast in a large bowl. Mix well. Cover the bowl with a (wet) towel and let the yeast work its magic at room temperature for 4-10 hours. 

Once the dough has fermented, add the salt, sugar, and malt to the dough and mix thoroughly. Then, add the remaining flour and knead for about 8-10 minutes. Form a round ball and let it rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes. 

Divide the ball into 7 equal portions and form them into round balls. Let the ball rest for another 5 minutes until they puff up a little. 

Preheat the oven to 425F. Put water, sugar, and malt in a pan that is at least about 2.5in deep. Heat the water bath until the water simmers but does not boil.

Flatten each ball into a flat disc, poke a hole in the middle of the disc and twirl the ball around your finger to form it into a ring. I find it quite quick and easy to do it this way but some people just turn each ball into a rod and paste the two ends together. 

Let the rings rest for about 5-7 minutes, flip them half way through. Once the rings are ready, place enough into the pan without overcrowding it. The bagels should float to the surface in a few seconds. Boil the bagels for about a minute, flip them over and boil for another minute. I find that it is easiest to use a pair of chopsticks to flip the bagels. 

Once the bagels are boiled, use a slotted spoon or a small strainer to remove the bagels and placed them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush each bagel with the egg wash and add sesame/poppy seeds or coarse salt or whatever toppings you prefer. 

Place the bagels in the preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes until the bagels are brown. I over-baked this batch a bit this time :D 

I hope you enjoy making bagels at home!