Homemade Chewy Bagels

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AmericanBreakfast

Homemade Chewy Bagels

Classic homemade bagels with a dense chewy crumb, shiny browned crust, bread-flour dough, and the essential boil-before-baking method.

Total

108 min

Servings

8

Level

Intermediate

Vegan

Ingredients

Dough

  • 500 g bread flour
  • 275 g water
  • 7 g instant yeast
  • 20 g barley malt syrup or honey
  • 10 g salt

Boiling Liquid

  • water (for boiling)
  • 1 tbsp barley malt syrup or honey (for boiling)
  • 1 tsp baking soda (optional, for browning) (optional)

Topping Options

  • sesame seeds (optional)
  • poppy seeds (optional)
  • everything seasoning (optional)

Instructions

Mix dough ingredients.

Knead 8-10 minutes until very smooth and strong. Dough should be noticeably firmer than sandwich bread dough.

Cover and rise approximately 60 minutes until somewhat puffy. It does not need to dramatically double.

60 min

Divide into 8 equal pieces, approximately 100 g each.

Shape into tight balls. Rest 10 minutes.

10 min

Poke hole through center. Stretch hole to approximately 1 1/2-2 inches.

Place on parchment. Cover and rest approximately 20-30 minutes.

25 min

OPTIONAL BETTER-FLAVOR METHOD: Refrigerate shaped bagels overnight.

Preheat oven 425F.

Bring wide pot of water to gentle boil. Add malt/honey.

Boil bagels 30-60 seconds per side. Longer boiling = chewier/thicker crust.

Drain. Apply toppings while wet.

Bake approximately 20-25 minutes until deeply golden.

22 min

Cool before slicing.

Nutrition per serving

223

Calories

8g

Protein

46g

Carbs

1g

Fat

Chef's Notes & Storage

CHEF'S NOTES: - This is intentionally a stiff dough - firmer than sandwich bread. - The boiling step is what creates the shiny, chewy crust. Don't skip it. - Longer boiling = chewier, thicker crust. Shorter = thinner crust. - Do NOT use excessive baking soda like a pretzel bath - these are bagels. - Optional overnight cold proof develops better flavor. TROUBLESHOOTING: - Why boil bagels? The boil gelatinizes surface starches for the shiny, chewy crust. - Why are my bagels flat? Over-proofed, or dough was too wet. - Can I cold-proof bagels overnight? Yes - refrigerate shaped bagels, boil and bake next day. STORAGE: Room temperature 1-2 days. Best toasted. Freezes well - slice before freezing. SCALING: 0.5x = 4 bagels, 1x = 8, 1.5x = 12, 2x = 16. Rise and boil times do not scale. ALLERGENS: Contains wheat. May contain sesame, poppy depending on toppings. NUTRITION NOTE: Calculated per bagel (1/8 of recipe, no toppings) using standard USDA nutrition values. Boiling liquid not included.

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