The real secret to turning out consistently great bagels is practice and patience. Don’t worry if they don’t look perfect on your first attempt as there’s no doubt they will still taste delicious.
In the bowl of a stand mixer - attach your dough hook then add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl followed by the remaining wet ingredients.
Start the speed on low until all ingredients are incorporated and the dough ball is just combined into a shaggy lump.
Invert the shaggy dough lump onto your work surface and start kneading. To do this I like to fold the top third of dough down to about the middle of the lump with my fingers and and push away with my palm. Rotate roughly 90 degrees and repeat. I promise you’ll get into a groove with it and it will start to feel a bit smoother. Precision isn’t really important here - you just want to transform the shaggy lump into a smooth lump.
Once you reach the smooth lump dough ball stage - weigh the total ball and divide the weight by 12.
Cut the ball into 12 pieces, weighing each portion as you go to ensure they are consistent. (You can skip this step if you’d like and just divide the total lump in quarters, then each quarter into thirds - this will likely result in arguments at the breakfast table, but you were warned.)
Shape each portion into rounds as you go by holding it in two hands and wrapping the top of the lump over and under - a bit like a water balloon.
Leave the dough balls, loosely covered with a clean tea towel for 10-20 mins.
While the balls are resting, start preheating your oven to 220°C (that’s 425°F)
To form your lumps into bagel shapes, take a ball and roll with two hands into a chubby looking snake shape.
Wrap the length of dough around three fingers to form a loop and smush the ends together. Gently roll/twist the loop from the inside out to turn the joined end part over and through in the direction of the middle of the bagel. (this is the only tricky part and takes practice - the impact is really only on appearance, so if you’re struggling just keep practicing.)
Let each formed bagel rest for another 10-20 mins.
At this point I line my oven-sized baking tray with baking/parchment paper. If you don’t have a tray type shelf for your oven, you may need two large cookie sheets or baking trays. (Just line enough baking trays to hold 12 bagels, or be prepared to cook in batches)
While they’re taking their second rest - bring a large pot of water to the boil. I use a 4L Stockpot, but you could manage with a large saucepan if you’re patient enough to boil one bagel at a time.
By now the formed bagels should be looking a little puffy, it’s time to drop them carefully into the boiling water. I usually do 3 at a time - you don’t want to over-crowd them as they will puff up to roughly their final size.
Let the bagels bubble away for 1 - 5 minutes then flip over in the water with a fork and repeat another 1 - 5 minutes, depending on how distracted you get with other things - like folding laundry or scrolling through facebook.
Carefully lift each bagel out of the water with a slotted spoon, pace on the lined baking tray and sprinkle with the sesame seeds (if using).
Repeat this process with the remaining bagels.
Once all bagels are lined up on your tray(s) - pop them in the oven for at least 20 minutes or until nice and golden.
After removing them from the oven, truly the hardest part here is waiting for them to cool down. You really must be patient with this step as it allows the crumb to set. I give it a solid 20mins.
Once cool enough to slice, I generally prefer to toast them before consuming with my favourite breakfast spread - but please proceed however you feel best at this stage and enjoy your fresh bagels!
0 servings
1 Bagel
* The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.