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Bagels
Bagels is a traditional Jewish recipe for a classic bread that's first boiled and then baked. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Jewish version of: Bagels.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
40 minutes
Total Time:
60 minutes
Additional Time:
(+20 minutes proving)
Makes:
10–12
Rating: 
Tags : Bread RecipesJewish Recipes
I do love bagels, especially for breakfast. However, they’re one of the bread types not easily available here. Spar did sell some for a while, but they were sprinkled with sea salt and tasted too salty for me. There was also the texture and taste… which was not quite right.
The disappointment spurred me to try making my own bagels. Though the theory is simple... make a bread dough, shape into doughnuts, boil them and then bake them, the practice takes a bit of work. Finally, I managed to get a few batches that worked and now I am pretty confident I will get what I want each time I prepare them.
This is a pretty versatile bun that I like to split and toast. They go well with jam and/or cheese for breakfast and which cream cheese and meat or vegetable toppings for a light lunch.
Ingredients:
500g (4 cups) strong white bread flour
25g (1 ½ tbsp) fine sea salt
1 sachet active, dried, yeast
250ml (1 cup) lukewarm water
2 tbsp sugar
Oil for greasing
Maize (corn) meal for dusting
1 egg yolk, to glaze
Method:
Combine the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl. In a separate mixing bowl add the lukewarm water.
Whilst whisking constantly add half the flour mix to the water. Continue beating until you have a smooth, soft, batter.
Knead the remaining flour into the batter, until you have a quite firm, smooth, dough that’s easy to handle without being too sticky.
Turn the dough onto a lightly-floured work surface and knead thoroughly by hand for about 15 minutes until shiny and smooth. Note that this dough should be much firmer than bread dough. If you need to work in a little more flour whilst kneading.
Lightly grease a bowl, form the dough into a ball and transfer to the bowl. Turn to cat in the oil then cover with a clean tea towel and set aside to prove in a warm place, until doubled in volume.
Turn the dough onto a lightly-floured work surface and knock back. Knead for about 4 minutes then divide the dough into 10-12 even-sized portions and shape these into balls. Taking on ball of dough at a time, poke your thumb into the middle, then using your fingers open a hole in the centre of the bagel so that your bagel is about 7.5cm (3 in) in diameter.
Set the bagels, some distance apart on a floured board or work surface and allow to rise for 20 minutes, or until doubled in size.
In the meantime, pre-heat your oven to 200C (400F) and bring a 3-4l (2 ½ to 3 ½ quart) pot of water to the boil. Once boiling reduce to a gentle boil.
Sprinkle a baking tray with maize meal then beat the egg in a bowl with 1 tbsp water.
When the bagels have risen carefully transfer to a slotted spoon and lower into the boiling water. Keep adding bagels until you have a single layer on top of the water. Cook for 8 minutes, turning them occasionally to ensure that they boil evenly. Once done, remove the bagels with a slotted spoon, drain and place on the baking tray. Continue boiling any remaining bagels.
Once all the bagels have been boiled and transferred to the baking tray brush the tops with the egg wash. Transfer to your pre-heated oven and bake for between 20 and 25 minutes or until well browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
