Best New York Style Bagels Recipes

NEW YORK STYLE BAGELS

Steps:

• Add sugar and yeast to 1/2 cup warm water, without stirring. Let sit for five minutes, then stir until dissolved.
• Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and our in the yeast mixture along with half the remaining water. Begin to mix, adding more water as needed to form a firm dough.
• On a floured counter, knead for 20 minutes (I know its a long time, consider it your arm workout for the day). Cover and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled. Punch down and let sit another 10 minutes.
• Divide dough into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. To form the bagel, dip your pointer finger into some flour and poke it through the middle of the ball to form a rind. Stretch it out so that the hole is about 1/3rd the diameter of the bagel. Continue with remaining pieces. Set on a cookie sheet, cover, and let sit for another 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, add the baking soda to a large pot of water and bring it to a boil. Working in batches, add about 3 bagels to the boiling water. They should float to the top almost immediately. Let boil 2 minutes, then flip over and let boil 3 minutes on the other side. Remove and return to cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining bagels.
• While the bagels are boiling, combine the egg yolk with 2 Tbs water. Brush over the bagel as you remove them from the pot. Sprinkle with any toppings that you desire (ex: coarse sea salt, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dehydrated garlic, etc).
• Heat oven to 450. Bake bagels for 10-15 minutes or until the bagels are a light golden color.

AUTHENTIC NEW YORK-STYLE HOMEMADE BAGELS

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, stir together water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes.
• With a wooden spoon, stir in oil, malt and one cup of the flour. Add salt, then enough of remaining flour to make a stiff dough.
• On a lightly floured surface, knead for 10 to 12 minutes. Cover with a floured dish towel and allow dough to rest on a board for about 15 minutes.
• Divide dough into 12 sections and form each section into 10-inch long strips. Roll the ends together to seal and make a ring. Place on a lightly floured surface, cover, and let bagels rest 15 to 20 minutes, rising about halfway and becoming slightly puffy.
• Meanwhile, fill a large cooking pot or Dutch oven three quarters full with water. Add the malt syrup and salt.
• Bring water to a boil. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with baking parchment and, if desired, sprinkle generously with corn meal. Set aside.
• Line two other baking sheets with a kitchen towel, set near your stove. Reduce boiling water to a simmer and cook 2 bagels at a time (do not crowd the pot). Simmer bagels for about 45 seconds on one side, then turn and cook other side for another 45 seconds and then drain bagels on the towel-lined baking sheet.
• Carefully place bagels on the parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake bagels plain or sprinkle with a topping of your choice. Place in the hot oven, immediately reduce heat to 425 degrees F, and bake about 17 to 25 minutes. When almost baked, turn bagels over (a pair of tongs do the job easily). If you have a baking stone, finish bagels on the stone directly. Transfer bagels to wire rack to cool.
• These freeze well, which helps to retain a just-baked taste, if they aren't all eaten on the first day. To freeze, slice cooled bagels first, place a small strip of plastic between the bagel halves and place in a plastic self-sealing freezer bag. When you're ready for a bagel, they'll come apart easily, ready to pop into the toaster/oven and enjoy.

NEW YORK-STYLE BAGELS

Steps:

• Put potato into boiling water and boil for 15 minutes. Discard potato and let water cool to about 110 degrees F.
• Transfer 1/3 cup of the potato water to a small bowl. Sprinkle yeast over top of water and stir to combine. Set aside for 3 minutes.
• Sift flour, salt, and 1/2 tablespoon of the sugar together into a large bowl. Add yeast mixture. Stir in another 2/3 cup of the potato water and the oil. Add eggs one at a time and stir briskly until a dough ball is formed.
• Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about ten minutes until dough ball is firm, adding a little extra flour if needed. Place in a greased bowl, turning the dough so all sides are greased. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and set aside in a warm place for about 1 hour until dough has risen to double its original size. Punch the risen dough down to flatten and remove from bowl.
• Cut dough into 18 equal pieces and shape each piece into a 6- to 7-inch-long, 3/4-inch-thick rope. Bring the ends of one rope together and pinch closed. (A little water on the ends will help secure them.) Repeat until 18 rings are formed. Cover all rings with the towel and let rise for 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and dust with cornmeal.
• Bring the 2 quarts water to a boil. Add the remaining tablespoon of sugar to the boiling water. Drop the bagels into the water one at a time, cooking each for 3 minutes, turning once.
• As each bagel is removed from the water, place it on the cookie sheet.
• If desired, paint the tops of the bagels with 1 egg white that has been beaten with 1 teaspoon water.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.

NEW YORK STYLE BAGELS

Steps:

• 1. To make the sponge: In a 4-qt. bowl, mix the flour and the 1 tsp. yeast. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky dough (it should be thick but batter-like). Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until the mixture is very foamy and bubbly, 1 to 2 hours. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the counter.
• 2. In a stand mixer bowl (or in a mixing bowl, if kneading by hand), stir the sponge with the 1/2 tsp. yeast. In a bowl, mix 3 cups of the flour with the salt. Add it to the sponge, along with the malt, honey, or sugar. Using a dough hook, mix on the lowest speed, or knead by hand, slowly working in the remaining flour until the dough is stiff, dry, and almost satiny; you may need extra flour or have some leftover. Keep kneading on low until the dough is very stiff and firm but still pliable, satiny, and smooth, about 6 minutes by machine or 15 minutes by hand. If the dough rides up the hook, stop the machine, pull it down, add a bit of flour, and continue. When the machine starts to struggle, remove the dough and finish kneading by hand. The dough at this point should be much stiffer than French bread dough and shouldn't be tacky-a finger poked into the dough should come out clean. There shouldn't be any visible raw flour, and the dough will feel neither cool nor warm, about 80°F.
• 3. To check the dough, pinch off a small piece and gently stretch it while turning it. It should form a thin, translucent membrane. If it rips, the dough hasn't been kneaded enough or else it's too dry and needs a few drops of water.
• 4. Divide the dough into 12 pieces, each weighing about 4-3/4 oz. for regular bagels. (For mini bagels, divide it into 24 pieces, each weighing just under 2-1/2 oz.) Wipe the counter with a damp towel to remove any flour dust. Shape each piece into a smooth ball by pulling the dough down and around to one point on the bottom and then pinching the bottom closed. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 20 minutes so the gluten relaxes.
• 5. To shape, boil, and bake the bagels: Line two baking sheets with parchment and spray the parchment with vegetable oil. To shape the bagels, poke a hole in the center of each ball of dough with your thumb and then gently rotate the dough around both thumbs, slightly squeezing and stretching the dough little by little as you turn until the hole has enlarged to 1-1/2 to 2 inches. The dough ring should be an even thickness all around.
• 6. Set the shaped bagels on the prepared pans so they're 2 inches apart. Mist the bagels very lightly with vegetable oil and cover the pans with plastic (the wrap keeps the dough from developing a skin, which would restrict the rise). Let the bagels sit at room temperature until they swell slightly, by about 15 to 20 percent.
• 7. After 15 minutes, start doing the "float test" to see if they're ready to be retarded in the refrigerator: Drop one bagel in the water, if it floats within 10 seconds, the bagels are ready for the overnight rise, or retarding. Pat dry the tester bagel and return it to the pan. (If it doesn't float within 10 seconds, shake or pat it dry, return it to the pan, and test it again every 10 minutes until it floats.) Refrigerate the pans, still covered, for at least 8 hours, or up to two days.
• 8. When you're ready to bake the bagels, heat the oven to 500°F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the pot, the better) and add the baking soda; have ready a slotted spoon or skimmer. Remove one pan of bagels from the refrigerator. Slide the parchment along with the dough onto the counter. Line the pan with a clean sheet of parchment, mist with vegetable oil, and sprinkle with cornmeal or semolina flour.
• 9. Gently drop the bagels into the water (it doesn't matter which side goes in first), boiling only as many as will comfortably fit; they should float within 10 seconds, if not immediately. Boil for 1 minute, flip them over, and boil for another 1 minute. For very chewy bagels, boil for 2 minutes per side.
• 10. As the bagels finish cooking, lift them out with the skimmer and set them on the baking sheet with the cornmeal or semolina, top side up. If you're sprinkling sesame or poppy seeds, kosher salt, chopped onions, or minced garlic on the bagels, do so now.
• 11. When the bagels on the first pan are boiled and topped, bake for 10 minutes, rotate the pan for even browning, and then continue baking until golden brown on top and bottom and very firm, about another 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the bagels to a cooling rack. Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, remove the second pan of bagels from the fridge and boil and bake them the same way.
• 12. Variation: Cinnamon-Raisin Bagels: Increase the yeast in the bagel dough (not the sponge) to 1 tsp., and add 1 Tbs. ground cinnamon and 5 Tbs. sugar in with the flour. At the start of mixing, add 1-1/2 to 2 loosely packed cups raisins, rinsed with warm water and well dried (to wash off surface sugar, acid, and wild yeast). For a cinnamon sugar crust, after baking, brush the bagels with melted butter and dip in cinnamon sugar while they're still hot.