New York Style Bagels

This bagel recipe is the best!

Other bagel recipes I have tried were all more trouble than the bagels were worth.

This recipe has it's fair share of trouble, but the bagels are worth every bit. And I mean it! :) 

They are so chewy and delicious! The crust is my favorite part. It is blistered and crisp. So good! Mmmm!

I hope you give them a try! :)

 I have made these bagels with 1 cup of whole wheat graham flour and the results were still fabulous!

I copied this recipe from Cooking Up A Story.

East Coast Style Bagel Recipe

24-hour bagels
Yield: 12 (2.5 ounces each) bagels
Oven temperature: 500ºF
courtesy of Nicole Rees and Lisa Bell

Ingredients:

Biga(aka Starter)

• 16 oz. (About 3 1/3 to 3 1/2 cups) flour
• 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
• 1 1/2 cups very warm water
• 2 tsp. barley malt syrup or dark honey or molasses

Final Dough

• 4 oz. (Almost 1 cup) flour
• 2 Tbs. very warm water
• 2 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. barley malt syrup or dark honey or molasses

Method

Day 1

1. 10:30am-12:30pm Knead together ingredients for the biga and let rise on counter, covered, in oiled bowl for 2 hours.
2. 12:30pm- 7pm Refrigerate the poolish.
3. 7:30pm-8pm Make the final dough, kneading in the remaining ingredients into the biga. Dough will be extremely firm and difficult to knead at the first, just keep at, kneading at least 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and stretchy.
4. 8:00pm-6am Let dough rise overnight, covered, in an oiled bowl, in the refrigerator.

Day 2

1. 6am-6:30am Let the dough warm up on the counter.
2. 6:30am-6:45am Divide the dough into twelve 2 ½ ounce pieces. Form pieces into rounds by rolling with cupped palm against surface in circular motion
3. 6:45am-7am Rest the dough rounds for 10 minutes; form round into bagels by poking thumb through the center and then stretching gently with thumbs and fingers into rings. Place the bagels on a semolina-dusted baking sheet ; cover lightly with oiled plastic.
4. 7:00am-8am Let the bagels rise in a warm place 1 hour.
5. 8am-8:10am Turn on oven and preheat to 500* F. Bring a large pot filled with at least 4” of water and ½ tsp. salt to a boil. Add the bagels to pot (in 2 batches). When they rise to the top, cook for 1 minute. Turn the bagels and cook for one more minute. Remove the bagels with the round handle of a wooden spoon inserted into the holes, letting the water drip off. Return bagels to semolina-dusted pan and top with seeds as desired.
6. 8:10-8:25 Bake the bagels on a preheated pizza stone or baking sheet in the top third of oven for 14-15 minutes or until nicely browned on the tops. Repeat for remaining 6 bagels.
7. Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes before slicing.
8. 9:30am Serve bagels with cream cheese and lox or other toppings as desired.

Reading through this recipe can make you think making these bagels is quite intimidating, at least I would. :) 

It is much easier for me to learn and understand by watching rather than reading. If you are the same way you may find this video helpful. Nicole and Lisa make the whole process look so easy!