Homemade Bagels Recipe | The Prairie Homestead (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.

If your dough is too wet, it'll create large holes in the crumb of the dough and your bagels will be more like French bread, with a fluffy interior (see top photo). When too much flour is kneaded in, bagels become dense, hard and tough, instead of crisp and chewy.

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 good bagel should have a thin, shiny, crackly crust spotted with the kind of microblisters that you can only get from proper boiling followed by a high-temperature bake. It's these little bubbles that add both surface area and crunch.

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. Use bread flour instead if you want, or any high-gluten flour, this will help create more glen in the dough.

If you're ready to make a batch of bagels and wondering which type of malt to go for, we find that barley malt syrup imparts the best color and flavor.

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.

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.

Rotate the baking sheet, and lower the temperature to 450º F., and then bake for another 5 minutes. To be sure the bagels are fully done use a baking thermometer. They are ready when they reach an internal temperature of 210º F.

What if my bagel dough doesn't float? ›

If your bagel doesn't float, cover the unboiled bagels and let them rise for another 10 minutes.

The bagel bath usually contains at least one other ingredient beyond water. Salt is sometimes added for flavor, as is barley malt syrup or non-diastatic malt powder (for a New York bagel), or honey (in the case of a Montreal bagel); sugars like malt and honey also increase the bagel's sheen.

Note that doubling in size might make them seem ready for the oven, but their flavor will be flat unless given enough time to rise." If you rush this proofing step or try to do it faster at room temperature, you'll end up with airy, over proofed bagels that lack flavor and come undone when you boil and bake them.

No boil is No bagel

This prevents the bagel from expanding as much in the oven, making for a firmer, tighter product. It stops the proofing process. Boiling also gelatinizes the starch in the flour. During gelatinization starches absorb water, swell and release starches in the water.

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.

This leaves the bagel with its signature chewy texture, tight crumb and elastic crust. The water in which they are boiled is usually seasoned with lye, baking soda or honey which gives a distinct flavor to the bagel.

In order for the bagels to develop that well-browned exterior and slightly dense chewy texture, they must be boiled briefly before baking. This works because the boiling water sets the exterior crust before it hits the oven, preventing the bagels from rising very much, while further developing that browned exterior.

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.