Every bit of work is worth the effort for these delicious, {almost} whole wheat everything bagels
I take great pleasure in making things from scratch that most people buy at the grocery store. Tortillas, graham crackers, chicken broth, hummus, crackers, and many other things that I haven't posted.
Why?
Well, first, you control the ingredients.
Not into consuming 500 mg of salt in a measly bagel? Don't add 2 tablespoons of salt to the dough. Want to make them whole wheat? Use whole wheat flour. Avoiding high fructose corn syrup or other unnecessary ingredients? Don't add those either! Simple as that.
Another reason is that it's so much cheaper.
And the best reason of all is that something homemade tastes almost 100% better than store bought. That in and of itself is reason enough to make things from home {box mixes not included!}
I used a recipe from Baking Perfection, and the old post did a great job at explaining exactly how to make a bagel. Since it's no longer around, here's my best effort at describing how to make your own bagels at home.
Honestly, when the bagels came out of the oven, I giggled with excitement. My bagels looks just like real bagels!
That sounds so silly, but they are just like a bagel you'd buy from a bakery. And that, my friends, makes me very happy.
Please know that you do need to make these a day in advance because you need them to rest in the refrigerator overnight, but it's kind of nice because it breaks up your work time. Total hands on time is about 45 minutes to an hour, but these are worth every single second of work!
A little note: if you don't want to make them "everything" just use whatever toppings you'd like. And trust me on using only 2 TBSP salt for the topping. I used more and it was way too salty
Everything Bagels
Ingredients
for the Sponge:
- 1/2 tsp yeast divided
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup bread flour 1/2 cup + 2 TBSP
- 1 1/4 cup room temperature water about 72°F
for the Dough:
- 1/4 tsp yeast
- 1 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp honey or sugar
for boiling water:
- 5 cups water
- 2 tsp baking soda
for the topping:
- 3 TBSP dried onion flakes
- 3 TBSP garlic powder
- 3 TBSP poppy seeds
- 3 TBSP white sesame seeds
- 2 TBSP kosher salt or sea salt
Instructions
- Stir together the ingredients for the sponge in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit for 2-3 hours until it's bubbly.
- When the sponge is ready, add all the dough ingredients. Mix on low using a dough hook {or regular beater} for about 6 to 10 minutes or until the dough is very stiff. {Add more dough if necessary}
- Shape the dough into 8 {3 oz.} balls of dough. Cover lightly with a towel and set aside for 15 minutes to rest.
- Roll each ball of dough into 6-8 inch ropes. Wrap the dough ropes around your hand and overlap the ends. Press & twist the ends a little to get them to stay together. Repeat with remaining balls of dough. Place on a parchment lined or silicone lined baking sheet.
- Cover bagels and refrigerate overnight.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Bring water to a boil in a large pot and add baking soda.
- In a small bowl, stir together all the topping ingredients. Set aside.
- When the water is boiling, carefully drop in 2-3 bagels and boil for 1 minute per side.
- Take a bagel out, put on parchment lined baking sheet, and immediately sprinkle with topping mixture.
- Repeat with remaining bagels.
- Transfer boiled bagels to oven and bake for 5 minutes in 450°F oven. Rotate pan & decrease oven temperature to 425°F, and bake another 7-10 minutes until bagels are golden brown. Let sit for about 10-15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Meme
Virginia says
So if I leave off the topping, is it just a whole wheat bagel??? also, could I add like Blueberries to the dough to make blueberry bagels?!
memeinge says
Yes, you could totally do that!