Bagels (hand-made)
about 3 cups of flour, preferably whole wheat bread flour
1 tablespoon of yeast
1 1/4 cup water
salt
Mix yeast and 1 1/3 cups of flour in a bowl. Heat water (with maybe 1 teaspoon of salt) until warm to touch. Combine water with flour/yeast and mix. Once it is even, start kneading with your hands, combining with the other 1/2 cup of flour. continue kneading for about 10 minutes. The dough should be a tiny bit sticky.
Roll into a cylinder and cut into 8 equal pieces. Take one piece at a time and roll into into a ball, then, pushing with your fingers in the center, into the O shape of a bagel (if it is not an O shape, it will collapse when baked).
Place on a floured baking sheet. Let rise for 20-30 minutes, then flip them over and let rise for another 20-30 minutes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (add about a tablespoon of salt) and boil each bagel for 2 minutes, flip and boil for another 2 minutes, then place back on the floured pan. Once all are boiled, bake for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees F.
Whole Wheat Bread Flour works the best, for me. I have also used regular Bread Flour with good results, and a mix of regular Bread Flour with Whole Wheat Flour. All have turned out nicely (except the time I didn't make them into an O!)
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Just made these and they are great! I added some garlic powder, onion salt and dill to the dry mix. Fabulous!
These weren't a total disaster for me. They came out tasting and having the texture of more of an english muffin. Also, my dough turned out way sticky and I had to use a good bit of flour to get the dough to unstick itself. They were yummy overall. Next time I think I will experiment a bit with the ingredients.
i don't know what i did wrong.. but these turned out like they belonged in the house of horrers... They were really good don't get me wrong, but i couldn't make them liik like real bagels for NOTHING! :'( they were really good tasting though.. but i will try a few more times.. but i think i didn't use enough flour.. i think you need to make sure they have enough to move around on.. but over all was good..
These didn't really work out for me either. They taste ok, and their shape is bagelish but they didn't rise very much, or rather, when i flipped them or placed them in the boiling water, they sank a bit,. I ended up with super flat, bagel shaped pieces of bread.
These bagels were great. Glad to finally find a recipe that didn't require a bread machine! I added about 2-1/2 cups of whole-wheat flour gradually before I started kneading, then kneaded the dough in the remaining 1/2 cup. I was gonna make cinnamon raisin bagels but forgot the raisins before kneading, doh! So they just have a slight sweet taste from the cinnamon. I also brushed some olive oil on the top halfway through baking to give it some shine and make the outside crispy. Thanks for the recipe!
I used unbleached white and whole wheat, both bread flour. Just purchased the flours and yeast, so I know they are fresh. Would love advice, as I'd really like to make these bagels (or bagels period ;))
Well, these bagels turn out oh so slightly different each time i make them, so there are a few things that I can think of that might cause issues.
First, I have always been told that the weather affects breadmaking, and I believe it. Once recently I made these bagels on a very warm, humid morning and the dough was so incredibly sticky that after I'd let it rise once I had to throw it all out because it got so spongy and unhandleable. I used white flour too.The next batch I made was with whole wheat, and they were fine. I am not sure why the weather affects dough like that, but I am sure you might be able to find out more about it somewhere. If you have significant humidity where you live, it could affect the dry flour before you even start mixing ingredients. When I make the bagels, my mixture actually seems a bit dry until I dump it onto the countertop to knead it.
Second, I use only all purpose whole wheat flour. I find that, like the recipe says, my dough comes out slightly sticky, though the degree of stickiness changes each time a little bit. My guess, and not a well-informed one, is that the bran in the dough soaks up more or less water on any given occasion, and I think it's usually more. Mind you this would be a very small amount more, so I am wondering if using white flour would make a different since without the bran it might be a little more dense? Also, I am thinking that bread flour might be different than all purpose flour. Then again, that might just be a marketing strategy to get us to buy more of the same thing thinking its actually different.
I know altitude can have an effect on the bread rising, so I wonder if it could also have an effect on the quality of the dough too? And air pressure could have an effect...
You say that you had a problem flipping them...The only time I had a problem like that was when I first used quick-rise yeast and let the bagels rise for too long. This recipe, i think, relies on using regular yeast, not quick-rise. So I adjusted my rising time to half of what the recipe calls for and my bagels turned out much better.
Are you sifting your flour at all? I know that can change the texture, and since this recipe doesn't call for it I can see how that would definitely have an effect on the dough.
I use exactly 3 cups of flour, and I use metal cups to measure, as well as the blunt side of a knife to measure off the top of the cup so that it's an exact measurement. Then I end up using a fistful more of flour while I am kneading it.
Try the recipe again, using exactly 3 cups flour + a little more for kneading. And try using all whole wheat flour. Let me know what happens.
I used unbleached white and whole wheat, both bread flour. Just purchased the flours and yeast, so I know they are fresh. Would love advice, as I'd really like to make these bagels (or bagels period ;))
Was so excited to make these, but they really didn't work for me. Followed the recipe exactly and had to add a LOT more flour to make not just a sticky blob. They rose, but then I had an awful time flipping them. Actually gave up before the boiling as I saw no way that I could salvage them. Any thoughts?
What kind of flour did you use?
Was so excited to make these, but they really didn't work for me. Followed the recipe exactly and had to add a LOT more flour to make not just a sticky blob. They rose, but then I had an awful time flipping them. Actually gave up before the boiling as I saw no way that I could salvage them. Any thoughts?
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