Editors' Pick
Home-Baked Bagels
"These bagels are better than any store bought or frozen varieties. They are so fresh and the possibilities are endless :) Have lots of real butter and cream cheese on hand! Oh...and you might want to double the recipe...they never last long around here."
photo by Izy Hossack
- Ready In:
- 2hrs 5mins
- Ingredients:
- 12
- Yields:
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12 Bagels
ingredients
- 1 1⁄2 cups water
- 2 packages yeast
- 1 1⁄2 ounces sugar (you need a kitchen scale for this)
- 1⁄2 ounce salt (you need a kitchen scale for this)
- 3 1⁄2 cups bread flour
- 2 quarts water, to boil
- 1 egg white
- cinnamon (optional)
- raisins (optional)
- poppy seed (optional)
- dried onion or garlic (optional)
- sesame seeds (Optional)
directions
- Mix yeast, sugar and warm water together and let stand 3 minutes.
- Mix 2 cups of flour with the salt in a large bowl and add the yeast mixture.
- Stir until combined and slowly mix in the rest of the flour (If making cinnamon raisin bagels, add these to dough now).
- Knead on a floured surface for 5 minutes, adding additional flour if needed, dough should be firm.
- Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until double.
- After rising punch down and divide dough into 12 balls.
- Allow to rest for 4 minutes.
- Bring 2 quarts of water to boil.
- With your thumb, make a hole in each ball of dough and pull open about 2 inches, making a bagel shape.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the shaped dough onto a cookie sheet and cover for 10 minutes.
- Lower heat under water for it to be simmering.
- Drop 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the water for about 45 seconds, turning each once.
- Drain and place on greased baking sheets.
- Brush tops with beaten egg white and top with optional toppings.
- Bake for 35 minutes, turning once for even browning.
- Bagels are done when they are golden brown and shiny.
Questions & Replies
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My husband and I live in S. America now, and no decent bagels. This is the fourth recipe I've tried, and the best, by far.. Love the crust and consistency. The only thing I notice is that they flatten.. I haven't achieved what some of you have with those nice rounded bagels. Am I boiling too long? Thanks for all the great tips from the other writers! -
45 seconds on each side, or 45 seconds total? -
Can one use parchment paper instead of greasing a baking sheet? I have this question for baking bread (like French loaves or braided loaves) as well.
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My yeast comes in a 1kg package. So how many tsp/tbsp is 2 packets of yeast?
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No baking soda in the water when boiling?
see 8 more questions
Reviews
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These turned out WONDERFULLY!!! I had never tried making my own bagels and these were completely delicious, not to mention easy! As a reference, one Tablespoon equals 1/2 oz. I was afraid I had let them rise too long (after it doubled in size I realized I didn't have time to finish them and I had to throw it in the fridge for a few hours while I ran errands) - but they turned out just fine. I topped half with sesame seeds and half with sunflower seeds. I will DEFINITELY be making these again!! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe! -
So, this recipe is amazing. I've never made bagels before, but I've done this twice now and my bagels are just delicious! They're still soft and chewy the next day (I microwave mine for 30 seconds before I slather on the cream cheese!). The first time I made these, I followed the instructions exactly. The second time, I did a little bit of altering (some based on other reviewers). I do the dough in my bread machine on the dough cycle (laying from the bottom up: warm water, 1 T salt, 2 cups of bread flour, 3 T sugar, the rest of the flour, and then yeast on top). I used brown sugar and this yielded in a chewier and slightly richer "plain" bagel. Also, I boiled my bagels for 40 seconds per a side, brushed with egg whites, and baked them for 28 minutes on one side, and then flipped for 8 minutes on the other (so that my bottoms would be more brown the the tops). I haven yet to make any flavored bagels, but my husband is begging for a sun-dried tomato and I want to try a blueberry one. The dough is sooooo easy to work with!! Thanks so much for sharing Karen!!! I have given up on going out and buying bagels anymore when I can make them so much for so much cheaper (and they're easy!) at home.
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Excellent recipe with great details! I would add, for those of us who have bulk yeast and not in the little packages, that the "2 packages yeast" equals .50 ounces of yeast, or 1/2 oz. :) Thanks! -
The dough for this wonderful recipe made up well in my bread machine. The ounces converted to 3 Tablespoons of sugar and 1 Tablespoon of salt. If you like green olives, 3 or 4 chopped olives in 4 oz of softened cream cheese is a nice option for a spread. I enjoyed preparing and eating these bagels. Thank you! -
Great recipe! If you've never made bread before you may struggle a bit but a couple things to note if you haven't made bread before 1) Make sure you add the additional flour slowly, you don't want the dough to be sticky but you don't want to add everything at once and risk drying out your dough. I found it really helpful to sprinkle the top of my dough with flour and keep mixing it in the bowl. Resist the urge to take it to the floured surface before you've reached the non-sticky point. 2)You dough balls are not going to be perfect little balls and ITS OKAY :) The "skin" of the dough is soft but a teeny bit dry and can leave creases. This is 100% okay, it doesn't affect the taste of your bagel in any way and it just gives them more of that home made look. 3)Sugar and salt don't have to be exact so Google or look through these comments for helpful conversions. 4)They're delicious baked goods and shouldn't be taken too seriously. If for whatever reason you start to get frustrated, just take a break and relax.
see 80 more reviews
Tweaks
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Made these with some friends, and since one of them is Vegan, we brushed the tops with olive oil instead of egg white.
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These were amazing! My first attempt at making bagels, & I was SO impressed. I substituted 1 cup of whole wheat flour for 1 cup of the white (made them just 2 Weight Watchers points each!), & I made the dough in my bread machine. I sprinkled poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic flakes and onion flakes on top to make Everything bagels; next time, I'll put garlic and onions in the dough to flavor it throughout. I put cinnamon & sugar on two, and my husband grabbed one as it came out of the oven. He loved it, & I loved my warm Everything bagel. Delicious!! No more store-bought bagels for me!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Karen=^..^=
Sharon Hill, 0
<p>I live in Pa (outside of Philadelphia) and cooking, baking, cross-stitching and reading are my hobbies. <br /> <br />I collect cookbooks and cookie stamps/cutters and have a pretty big collection of both. I am also a fan of all things Amish, so I have quite a collection of things picked up in Reading, Lancaster and surrounding areas here in Pennsylvania. <br /> <br />I have 4 kids, who are the loves of my life and cooking for them and my husband keeps me on my toes! ;) <br /> <br />We bought an ice cream parlor in March 04 and it's been quite an experience! <br /> <br />Note: I love getting feedback on my recipes; all I ask is that you actually *make* them before reviewing them. <br /> <br />Also, if you make changes or substitutions, I'd love to see your suggestions and/or comments, but I'd appreciate no rating at all if it's not made as posted. Too many recipe reviews state margarine subbed for butter (if I list butter, it's REAL butter), different spices, low-fat ingredients, whole wheat flour instead of white, etc. The recipes will not work/taste as intended, so it's really not fair to rate them as such. <br /> <br />I'd also really appreciate it if you refrain from rating a recipe if you overcook or overbake it or it you don't refrigerate or store as listed. <br /> <br />I, of course, will adhere to the above when rating recipes, too! <br /> <br />Thanks and have a great day! <br /> <br />My Rating System: <br /> <br />***** A delicious recipe that was thoroughly enjoyed. It has excellent, detailed directions and is perfect as is. If a dish is especially easy, and I'm on the fence, I will give it 5* for ease even if it's very good instead of great. Something I will definitely make again. <br /> <br />**** Excellent recipe but confusing directions that I will make again in my own less confusing way OR Very good recipe that I'll probably make again if I find the time! <br /> <br />*** Good/OK recipe but probably not something I would make again OR Very Good recipe that doesn't have clear, detailed directions. <br /> <br />** Recipe was edible but not really enjoyed and will not be made again. Work involved not a good trade-off for the end result. <br /> <br />* Not edible and probably an error in the recipe. I feel that I pick recipes with ingredients our family likes, so in my opinion, there's an error somewhere. If there's a chance I made the error, I won't rate the recipe. ;) <br /> <br /><img src=http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y164/lauralie41/swapbanner.jpg border=0 alt=Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket /> <br /> <br /><a href=http://s224.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/MidwestMaven/?action=view&current=cookieswapparticip.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/MidwestMaven/cookieswapparticip.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a> <br /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/honey-pot-print-c10069558.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /> <br /><a href=http://s224.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/MidwestMaven/?action=view&current=09holidayparticipationbanner.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/MidwestMaven/09holidayparticipationbanner.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></a></p>
