For some reason I’ve never made bagels even though I looove to eat them. Especially on my trip to New York I fell in love with a small but very popular bagel cafe selling all kind of bagels you can ever dream of. I ate them for breakfast every day. That happened for years ago, but still just on this new decade I decided to learn the tricks to bake these beauties. And again, it was easier than I thought! And the result – crispy on top, soft inside and finished with delicious sesame and poppy seeds and sea salt flakes – perfect, right? I need to make this my new Sunday brunch routine! Just prepare the dough in the night before and you’ll have perfect bagels the next morning.
Best Bagels with Sea Salt Flakes and Poppy Seeds
- Prep Time: 50 min. + overnight rising
- Cook Time: 30 min.
- Total Time: 1 h 20 min (+ overnight rising)
- Yield: 8 bagels 1x
Scale
Ingredients
- 3.5 dl (350 ml) warm water
- 1 package of dry yeast (11 g)
- 9.5 dl (about 4 cups) wheat flour
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 0.5 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Egg wash:
- 1 egg
- 1 tsbp water
Water bath for bagels:
- 2 litres of water
- 0.5 dl honey
For topping:
- 3 tbsp black poppy seeds
- 4 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp sea salt flakes
Instructions
- Prepare the dough. Whisk the warm water and yeast together in a big bowl. Cover with clean kitchen towel and allow to sit for about 5 minutes.
- Add the flour, brown sugar, and salt to the water-yeast mixture. Mix everything together with the help of a wooden spoon or baking spatula.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. With floured hands, knead the dough for about 4 minutes until the dough is smooth and viscous.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with the olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn it so all the sides coat in the oil. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise slowly in the fridge over night. (If you want to make the quick versiol, allow the dough to rise at room temperature for about 90 minutes.)
- In the morning, take the dough out of the freezer to room temperature 45 minutes before you start baking.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Shape the bagels. Knead the dough a little to get rid of the air bubbles. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Press your index finger through the center of each ball to make a hole about 1.5 inches in diameter. Cover the shaped bagels with kitchen towel and let rest until you’ve prepared the water bath.
- Prepare the water bath. Fill a large and wide pot with 2 litres of water. Mix in the honey until dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-high. Drop bagels into the water, 2 or 3 at a time, making sure they have enough room to float around. Cook each bagel for 1 minute on each side.
- Combine all the toppings together on a plate. Whisk the egg and water together in a glass. Brush the egg wash on top and around the sides of every bagel. Dip each bagel in the topping plate.
- Place 4 bagels onto the lined baking tray. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the bagels are beautiful dark golden brown. Remove from the oven and bake the next 4 bagels in the oven the same way. Allow the bagels to cool on a wire rack.
- Slice, toast and top with whatever you want! Cover leftover bagels tightly so they won’t dry!