I don’t know about you and your people situation but my people, they are bagel people, like my whole entire family (and it is a big one). I swear that they (especially the littles) could eat bagels every day and be happy about it They like them so much that we even do bagels at just about all of our special family get togethers, which is fine by me because the get togethers are always at my house and they don’t make as big a mess as lets say spaghetti. They can really make a mess with that. So bagels, they are good.
I made this batch for the littles. (And that is why I made them plain. Can’t go wrong with plain). They have winter break right now so they came over for an afternoon of sledding, hot cocoa, and lunch. I asked them the day before what they wanted me to make for lunch and they said bagels. Big surprise. HA! But really, they all know what they like so why mess with a good things?
A little about these bagels. It is not the fastest recipe you will find. The hands on time commitment is no too much but there is a good amount of time that the dough is spent rising in the fridge. Because they are sourdough the dough needs at least 12 hours to rise so if you want bagels right now then this is not the recipe to use. But the great thing about this bagel dough is that you can make it and leave in fridge for 12 hours but I have left it in the fridge for like 3 days and the dough was still great. If you want bagels anytime in the next few days, then this is the recipe for you. Also a lot of bagel recipes have barely malt and that is not always easy to find or buy in not gigantic quantities but this recipe just uses molasses and the results are pretty close to perfect. So time yes, but fancy ingredients no. And they taste amazing. Plus who doesn't want to make their own bagels and just be that bad ass? Because yes. Bagel making is badass.
Now to the bagels!
The stuff. Flour, water, salt, ripe sourdough started, yeast, and molasses.
Day one. Mix the water with the starter, yeast, and a bit of the molasses until combined. Add in the salt and flour and mix unit it becomes a shaggy dough.
Dump dough onto a floured surface and… get to kneading. About 10 minutes, (a few extra if you are slow). Have about 1/2 a cup of extra four on the side to flour the counter as needed.
soft and suple and kneaded all nice. Place kneaded dough into a clean wet bowl and cover.
Before rise and after rise dough.
Dump risen dough onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 8-12 pieces. (8 for larger bagels, 12 for smaller)
Shape bagels. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and stick a whole into the middle. Carefully stretch the hole out about twice as big as you think it should be. (it will shrink). Place shapped bagels ontoa lined and or greased baking hseet, giving each a bit of room to groww.
Now it all looks like bagels. Cover and let them sit and proof for about 35-45 minutes.
Before bagels are comeplety done their second proof, prepare the molasses water bath. Just add water and molasees to a big wide pot and bring to a boil.
Once water bath is boil and bagels are done the second proof it is time to boil. Carefully drop bagels inot boiling water and boil for 2 minutes. Flip then boil for another minute. REmove boiled bagelss with a slooted spaturla and place back on lined or greased baking sheet.
boiled bagels. Now pop the into hot oven and bake. 22-25 minutes, until nice and golden brown.
Gorgeous!
Place them on a wire rack to cool just a bit.
And then you serve them up and eat them. How do you eat the bagels is up to you. My people are easy. Plan cream cheese or peanut butter so that is what they get.
-C
Sourdough Bagels
makes 8- 12 (depending on size)
5 1/2 cups al purpose flour
1/4 cup active starter
1 teaspoon active yeast
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups warm water
WATERBATH
6-7 cups water
2 tablespoon molasses
In a large bowl mix the warm water, starter, yeast, and molasses until combined. Add in salt and 5 cups of flour and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Dump dough onto a floured surface and start kneading, dusting counter (you might use 1/2 cup or even a little more) whenever dough gets too sticky, for 10 minutes (add a few extra minutes if you are kind of slow). The dough should be smooth and not sticky and feel dense.
Place kneaded dough into a wet large bowl, cover with plastic or a silicone lid, and place in fridge for 12-24 hours.
After dough had risen in fridge, remove and dump dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8-12 equal sized pieces. Pinch and roll each piece into a ball then punch your thumb into the middle all the way through. Carefully stretch the hole about an inch in diameter then place the shaped bagel onto a lined and greased baking sheet. Repeat with all dough. Once the bagels are all shapped, lightly cover and let them sit and proof for another 35-40 minutes.
While bagels are proofing, pre heat oven to 450 degrees and get the water bath ready.
For water bath combine water and molasses in a pot as wide as you got and bring it to a boil.
Once bagels are done their second proof, carefully drop bagels (a few at a time so not to overcrowded) into the boiling water. Boil first side for 2 minutes then flip and boil other side for 1 minute. Remove boiled bagels with a slotted spatula and place back on baking sheets. Repeat until all bagels are boiled and once they are, pop them into hot oven. Bake for 22-25 minute, rotating baking sheets half way, until bagels are nice and golden brown.
Remove bagels from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Eat right away or whenever you want. Bagels can be stored in airtight container or bag for 3-4 days at room temperature but if you are not eating them within a day or two, it is better to slice and freeze them. Frozen bagels last a few months and are easy to pop from oven and toast!
