Easy Homemade Bagel Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to making bagels? ›

Bread flour – Because of its high protein content, bread flour makes these homemade bagels delightfully chewy. This recipe also works with all-purpose flour, they're just a bit less chewy than bagels made with bread flour. Maple syrup – It activates the yeast and gives the bagels a hint of sweetness.

Ingredients for Homemade Bagels:

You can use all-purpose flour if you absolutely must, but the texture will suffer. Instant yeast – You can also use active dry yeast, just note your dough may take longer to rise. Learn more about active dry vs. instant yeast here.

When too much flour is kneaded in, bagels become dense, hard and tough, instead of crisp and chewy. It can easily take 10 minutes of mixing and kneading before the right texture and gluten strength is achieved. This is what the inside of a well-made bagel should look like.

To make bagels properly you need to give them a bath. Make sure you use only baking soda and not baking powder. The baking soda helps the bagels form that beautiful golden crust and give them the distinct bagels taste.

Baking soda makes the water more alkaline, giving the bagels a pretzel-like quality that contributes to their chewiness. Just one teaspoon helps the bagels develop a shiny, dark-brown exterior as they bake. One thing to keep in mind: Keep the water bath at a constant simmer.

Usually, one standard ball of pizza dough will make about 4 large or 6 mini bagels, but this recipe is all about eyeballing, so don't overthink. The dough you buy is already proofed, so it is just about forming, boiling, and baking!

All-purpose flour can also make great bread — many professional bakers use and love it in their loaves. It can be particularly good for Irish soda bread or other quick bread recipes that use baking soda instead of fermentation to leaven the dough and are meant to have a denser crumb.

Sift flour into a large bowl. Mix in sugar, yeast and 11/2tsp fine salt. Add melted butter to a jug with 325ml lukewarm water. In one go, add butter mixture to flour bowl and mix quickly to a rough dough.

Do you need lye to make bagels? ›

Well yes, lye can do that but did you also know it is used to make bagels? Some bakers will dip the bagel in a lye solution as it speeds up the process that creates the distinctive bagel crust and taste.

Ever wondered why bagels have holes in the middle? The basic shape is hundreds of years old and serves lots of practical advantages besides an even cooking and baking of the dough. The hole also allowed them to be threaded or piled high on a dowel which made them easier to transport and display.

Add honey and baking soda to boiling water in a large pot. This will help give the bagels a nice sheen and golden brown color when out of the oven. Add a few bagels at a time to the pot, making sure they're not crowded. They should float immediately when added to the water.

According to Molly, “If the bagels proof too much, they'll deflate in the water bath.” If you're keeping an eye on your dough, she advises pulling it a little too early rather than a little too late (and definitely before they double in size), as it's better to be underproofed.

a regular bagel is the water you boil them in. Much like a specific vineyard terroir is used to make a wine, certain minerals in New York City tap water are attributed to creating the best bagels. These include low concentrations of calcium and magnesium and a high level of sediment.

If you want a thinner crust and airier texture in your bagels, shorten the boiling time slightly (around 45 seconds, instead of the 60 seconds called for in the recipe). The shorter boil means the crust has less opportunity to preset, which allows more rising, and thus a “fluffier” bagel.

A New York–style bagel is always boiled in water that has had barley malt added, which gives a bagel its signature taste, texture, and leathery skin.

Add honey and baking soda to boiling water in a large pot. This will help give the bagels a nice sheen and golden brown color when out of the oven. Add a few bagels at a time to the pot, making sure they're not crowded. They should float immediately when added to the water.