Posted By: The Ironic Chef
May 23 # 1 of 1
It's a nice cool breezy morning and Bagels have been requested.
Category: Baking
Description:
Growing up I never had a bagel. I never even heard of one. As a young adult when I had my first one, I do believe a frozen Lenders bagel that was toasted in the toaster served with butter I thoroughly enjoyed it and was hooked instantly. (The same with Chinese food but that's another story)
Moving to New Jersey I have found that bagels are a way of life here. We have bagel joints all over the place. The breakfast sandwich here usually comes on a bagel. When Dunkin Donuts started making bagels the door opened for so many varieties of bagels. The Everything Bagel seemed to have been invented around that time.
Also in this area we have the famous Philly Soft Pretzels. I love these pretzels. The reason that I mention these pretzels will become clear soon enough.
I have searched and searched for a decent bagel recipe and it seemed that they are out there a dime a dozen but are in most cases recipes that were developed to throw a person off the track concerning making a good homemade bagel. It worked well at throwing me off for I did give up. I seemed to accept the fact that if I wanted a good bagel then I would have to just buy them.
Several years ago I came across a recipe for making Homemade Soft Pretzels. These pretzels became a favorite snack for my family. There is nothing like a hot fresh soft pretzel dipped in a nice brown mustard. Soft pretzels are a Comfort Food to the extreme.
Through a logical assumption I came to a conclusion that pretzels and bagels were related. Some of the old bagel recipes that I had used were similar to making the Pretzels with only one variation. So one day I put myself to the task of attempting to make some homemade bagels with the theories that I developed making the pretzels and with my first attempt I had 100% success.
IC's Soft Pretzels
Ingredients
Dough
1 cup of luke warm water
1 packet of yeast
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
3 cups of unbleached flour
Boiling Solution
4 cups of water in a wide pan
4 teaspoons of baking soda
Topping
1 egg and a tablespoon of water for an egg wash
½ cup of course salt
Directions
Prepare the dough as you would bread dough and knead it very well for at least 4 minutes. Allow the dough to rise and double in size. Gently deflate the dough and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Allow the balls to rest for 10 minutes. Place the water and baking soda into a wide pan and bring to a boil. Roll each ball of dough into a rope about 12 to 15 inches long and shape into a pretzel shape pinching the 2 ends together. Let the pretzel shapes rest while the water solution comes to a boil. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Place 2 pretzels gently into the boiling water. Boil for exactly 1 minute and then gently turn the 2 pretzels over and boil the second side for exactly 1 minute longer. The 1-minute is a must or the pretzels will get to tough. After the pretzels are finished boiling place them gently onto a sheet pan. Repeat this process until all of the bagels have been boiled.
After the boiled pretzels have cooled slightly brush them to coat the tops with the egg wash. Sprinkle the tops of the pretzels with the course salt to your liking. Place the pretzels in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or to a nice golden brown color. Remove the pretzels from the oven and try to allow them to cool enough so as not to burn the inside of your mouth. After you taste these pretzels you will find that doing this is the biggest challenge to making these pretzels.
The Ironic Chef's Bagels
Ingredients
1 cup of warm water
1 packet of yeast
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
3 cups of unbleached flour
Boiling Solution
4 cups of water in a wide pan
1 tablespoon of salt
Toppings
1 egg with a teaspoon of water for an egg wash
Fresh garlic minced, onion minced, salt to taste and a pinch of sugar. For everything bagels, I like to also use some Good Seasons Italian Herb mix.
Course salt
Directions
Prepare the dough as you would bread dough and knead it very well. Let the dough rise for bout 3 hours or until doubled in size. Gently deflate the dough. I like big bagels so after deflating the dough I only divide it into quarters. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes and then roll into balls. Flatten each ball slightly and poke finger through the canter of each and make a hole. Allow the bagel shapes to rest for 10 minutes while bringing the water and salt solution to a boil and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Place one bagel into the boiling water and boil for exactly 1 minute. Gently turn and allow the second side to boil for exactly one minute more. Remove the bagel from the boiling water and place on a baking sheet. ( My kids like it when I sprinkle the sheet pan with a bit of cornmeal. The cornmeal gives a nice texture to the bottom of the bagels) Repeat this process with the remaining bagels. After the bagels have cooled slightly brush them with the egg wash and apply the toppings that you would like to use. I have suggested the garlic and onion and the course salt but you can apply whatever you want or leave plain. Bake the bagels for 20 to 25 minutes or until a nice golden brown.
For bagels that have a flavor, Onion, Cinnamon Raisin, Blueberry, Cranberry or other filling you would like, Gently knead the filling into the dough after deflating it and then allow the dough to rest for a few minutes.
These bagels have such a wonderful texture. You will get a nice crispy exterior. No commercial made or frozen bagel will match the quality. I am sure that if you love homemade bread you will truly enjoy these bagels. The Old World state of mind will hit you s you enjoy the taste, texture and quality of these bagels.
Just a special note. If you would like to make a sweet bagel using a fruit in the dough do not use salt in the water bath. Use about a quarter cup of sugar instead.