I feel like a grandma baking for friends and relatives, but I had an out of town visitor on monday and recalled that he liked bagels, so i made up a batch of home made bagels (with raisins). They turned out so well that he called me up a day later asking me for the recipe.
Bagels are kind of simple to make, a basic bread dough, that you form into the familiar shape and then boil in water for a few minutes before baking. The boiling in water is responsible for their unique chewy texture.
I was too lazy and don't use precise measurements when cooking but there are any number of standard recipes for bagels on the WWW.
Here is one that I copied, and edited with my notes (in red) for what I did different from the published recipe.
Bagel Recipe
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons of active dry yeast (1 package dry yeast)
1 ½ tablespoons of granulated sugar (maybe 1 teaspoon sugar or less).
1 ¼ cups of warm water (you may need ± ¼ cup more, I know I did)
3 ½ cups (500g) of bread flour or high gluten flour(will need extra for kneading)
1 ½ teaspoons of salt (just a dash of salt <<teaspoon)
Optional Toppings:
Caraway seeds, coarse salt, minced fresh garlic, minced fresh onion, poppy seeds, or sesame seeds. (Everyone in my house prefers plain bagels, but I have no preference, so I just went with the plain, so no one could complain.)
(I added two snack sized packages of raisins )
Preparation:
1. In ½ cup of the warm water, pour in the sugar and yeast. Do not stir. Let it sit for five minutes, and then stir the yeast and sugar mixture, until it all dissolves in the water.
(I put the flour into the mixing bowl. formed a pocket in the middle, added the dry least and sugar then poured in a half cup or warm water and let it sit for a few minutes. You will see the yeast bloom pretty quickly. )
2. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the yeast and sugar mixture.
3. Pour half of the remaining warm water into the well. Mix and stir in the rest of the water as needed. Depending on where you live, you may need to add anywhere from a couple tablespoons to about ¼ cup of water. You want to result in a moist and firm dough after you have mixed it.
4. On a floured countertop, knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Try working in as much flour as possible to form a firm and stiff dough.
(I used my mixer with a dough hook... the easy way).
5. Lightly brush a large bowl with oil and turn the dough to coat. Cover the bowl with a damp dish towel. Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in size. Punch the dough down, and let it rest for another 10 minutes. (I didn't use any oil and just put the dough in the fridge overnight . I covered the bowl with saran wrap, but a cloth or towel would work.)
6. Carefully divide the dough into 8 pieces (I used a scale to be extra precise, but it’s not necessary). Shape each piece into a round. Now, take a dough ball, and press it gently against the countertop (or whatever work surface you’re using) moving your hand and the ball in a circular motion pulling the dough into itself while reducing the pressure on top of the dough slightly until a perfect dough ball forms. Repeat with 7 other dough rounds. (I didn't measure anything or do this so carefully).
7. Coat a finger in flour, and gently press your finger into the center of each dough ball to form a ring. Stretch the ring to about ⅓ the diameter of the bagel and place on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Repeat the same step with the remaining dough. (I used some loose flour to prevent sticking to the raw dough but didn't coat my finger...I did stretch out the bagel to open up the circle. Again no oil on the cookie sheet, just parchment paper).
8. After shaping the dough rounds and placing them on the cookie sheet, cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425ºF / 220ºC / Gas Mark 7. I let it rest for more than 10 minutes, then stretched them again. I did not turn on the oven until later when I was ready to bake. I don't cook by the numbers. bake until right.).
9. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Reduce the heat. Use a slotted spoon or skimmer to lower the bagels into the water. Boil as many as you are comfortable with boiling. Once the bagels are in, it shouldn’t take too long for them to float to the top (a couple seconds). Let them sit there for 1 minute, and them flip them over to boil for another minute. Extend the boiling times to 2 minutes each, if you’d prefer a chewier bagel (results will give you a more New York Style bagel with this option). ( I used a large deep frying pan, you only need a couple inches of water. I didn't boil it but used a high simmer. I turned them over a few times and probably simmered them in water more than 2 minutes. I could only fit about three in my pan.. they will puff up in the water. Longer time in the water makes them more chewy)
10. If you want to top your bagels with stuff, do so as you take them out of the water, you may use the “optional toppings” to top the bagels and if you’re risky like me, make a combination of the toppings to top the bagels with, but before hand, you will need to use an egg wash to get the toppings to stick before putting the bagels into the oven. (an egg wash is how the typical bagel gets the hard brown outer surface.. )
11. Once all the bagels have boiled (and have been topped with your choice of toppings), transfer them to a lightly oiled baking sheet. (again I didn't use any oil...)
12. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown. (I cooked lower temp and longer... but higher temp would probably make harder outer shell..I don't trust my oven temp anyhow).
manga...
JR
