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Baking bread, or in this case bagels, really makes me happy. Â There is something about the way dough takes on a life of its own, and fulfills some silly primal need deep inside my culinary soul. Â It grows, puffs and expands and turns a gorgeous shade of brown all while filling the kitchen with the unmistakable aroma of fresh baked bread.
 I love a good crisp, chewy bagel and if you do too, please make these soon.  It all starts the night before with a fermentation starter called the poolish or mother dough.  Don’t you just love the sound of that?  Mix together some bread flour, yeast and water in small bowl.  Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate the poolish overnight.
The next day combine the remaining ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Â Once the dough is mixed it is allowed to rise for about an hour or until doubled in size.
 
 Divide the dough into 12 pieces and form into tight balls.  Cover them loosely with plastic wrap and allow them to rest for 30 minutes.  To form the bagels, poke your finger in the center of each ball.  Return the bagels to the baking sheet and allow them to rise for another hour.
 The bagels are then quickly simmered in a large pot of boiling water mixed with baking soda.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the bagels from the water and generously top with sesame seeds, poppy seeds or a combination of both.
Bake until golden brown and enjoy!
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Homemade Bagels
Yield: 12 Bagels
Course: Bread
Weekend baking at it's best!
Ingredients
For the poolish:
- 1 â…“ cups bread flour
- ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 cup lukewarm water, not more than 90-95 degrees
For the dough:
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 â…” cups lukewarm water, not more than 90-95 degrees
- 5 â…“ cups bread flour
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon salt
- unflavored vegetable oil for oiling the bowl
- 1 tablespoon baking soda, divided (must be fresh)
- poppy seeds, sesame seeds and coarse sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
The night before baking:
- Add 1 ⅓ cups bread flour, ¼ teaspoon yeast and 1 cup lukewarm water to a medium mixing bowl. Stir together using a wooden spoon until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Baking day:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the 1 teaspoon yeast, honey and 1 â…” cups of lukewarm water (not more than 90-95 degrees or it could kill the yeast). Mix in the poolish. Add the bread flour, whole wheat flour and salt. Beat a medium speed until a smooth, stiff dough forms, about 5 to 7 minutes. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand for about 1 minute. Form the dough into a ball and place in a large, oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm location free from drafts, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and brush generously with vegetable oil. Divide the dough into 12 pieces form each into tight balls. Transfer the dough balls to the baking sheet and cover loosely with sprayed plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- To form the bagel, poke your finger in the center of each dough ball to make a ½-inch hole. Return the bagels to the baking sheet, and cover with the plastic wrap. Let the bagels rest for about an hour or until risen and puffed.
- In the meantime preheat oven to 475°F. Position the oven racks in the lower and middle thirds of the oven. Line 1 baking sheet with a clean, lightly moistened kitchen towel and line 2 others with parchment paper. Spray the paper with oil. Bring 2 large, deep pots of water to a boil. Add ½ tablespoon of baking soda to each pot. Add 2 bagels to each pot, without crowding (as the bagels will swell) and simmer for 1 ½ minutes. Flip the bagels and simmer for another 1 ½ minutes longer. Using a large slotted spoon remove the bagels to the kitchen lined sheet pan to drain. Before the are able to dry, sprinkle the bagels generously with the toppings, then immediately transfer them to the parchment lined-baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining bagels.
- Bake the bagels for about 20 minutes shifting the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until deeply browned. Let cool slightly, then serve.
Recipe Notes
- TIPS: Be sure to read the entire recipe several times to understand the instructions. It's easy but does require a few steps. I also think the bagels could be divided into 16 pieces instead of 12. They are very large bagels and I guess I would prefer a smaller bagel. Be sure to watch the rise, boiling and baking times if making them smaller.
- (adapted from a recipe by Zoe Nathan of L.A.'s Milo and Olive, via Food and Wine Magazine)
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Nutrition
Calories: 310kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 860mg | Potassium: 121mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg
I would also like to try making bagels with Asiago cheese. Â I am in love with baking, no doubt about it! Â Hope you have wonderful plans for the weekend and maybe you’ll be lucky enough to have sunshine and a warm breeze. Â I think we might need to head south to get away from this never ending snow. Â Thanks so much for stopping by!
Tricia
Bea Didio
Can these be made with regular flour. I do not have bread flour and do not want to buy it for one recipe/ Thank You
Tricia Buice
Hi Bea. Yes it will be fine but the bagels may not be as fluffy. Enjoy!
Kari Lindsay
I bought a bread making book by a fancy baker just for a bagel recipe, and I've yet to make the bagels! Your bagels look so pretty and perfect Tricia!
Anna and Liz Recipes
Tricia, we never made bagels before. But can I place an order to buy some from you? I'd like to do that instead!<br />Have a great day!! xxoo
Daniela Grimburg
I couldn't agree more with you Tricia.<br /> Baking bread at home has something magic and is so relaxing.<br />The bagels look fantastic and I can't wait until the next weekend when I'll prepare my own, following your recipe 🙂
Monica
Oh boy – those bagels look gooood! I am so glad I started to play with yeast so I now know exactly what you mean about working with it. It is pure magic and it really engages all your senses. I would love one of your sesame bagels toasted right now. I have a feeling I wouldn't even need a spread.
Pam
The bagels look fantastic! I love to bake bread and now it's time to move on to bagels after seeing this!
Elzbieta Hester
They look very bagel to me! And so much better! Beautiful work. 🙂 ela
Angie Schneider
These bagels have turned out perfect, Tricia. Bread with starter tastes so much more flavourful and better.
Abbe@This is How I Look
My favorite bagel is from Bruegger's. But my next favorite bagel might be from you. I love making bialis which are very hard to find. Kind of the bagels cousin. One day maybe I'll get around to posting them. Hope it gets warm soon, Tricia!
scrambledhenfruit
The bagels look great! Add a little cream cheese and smoked salmon, and that's all I'd need to be content for a while. I hear the weekend is going to be a wet one- a good time to stay inside and bake! 🙂
Cheri Savory Spoon
Wow! your bagels look amazing. I bet they are delicious!
Tanna at The Brick Street Bungalow
I'll bet once you ate these, store bought ones would never do!! Evan loves bagels. So far, the many steps have kept me from giving it a go… but, these look sooooo good. One of these days, I may have to try them. I LOVE the asiago ones from Einstein's blessings ~ tanna
Sue/the view from great island
I've never tried to make homemade bagels, but I had such luck with English muffins, I'll have to try these. The process seems a little bit like making soft pretzels.