I make - Bagels

I think I have nailed a bagel recipe which produces chewy crust with tender and airy interior. This is by no means the "authentic" bagels but the way I like mine. For ease of manual handling, I have chosen a dough between 55% and 60% hydration. Traditional bagels are of even lower hydration, between 45% and 50%. However, I find low hydration dough (~50%) very hard to work with by hands (I wish I had more muscles). In addition, the texture is denser than the dough with 10% more water. That's why I settled on 58% hydration for my bagels.

During the course of perfecting my bagel recipe, I came across a method of using Water roux (also known as Tangzhong or Yokone). This is a thick flour paste added to the bagel dough. The purpose is to keep bagels soft (tasting fresh) for a longer period of time (2-3 days) at room temperature. Water roux has just two ingredients, water and flour. The flour-to-water ratio (by weight) does not seem to matter that much (I've tried 1:1 to 1:5). Therefore, the way I do it is to take a small portion of flour (1 part) and water (3 parts) from the base recipe (given below, called the all-in-one method), cook it into a thick paste and add it back to the rest of the ingredients. And it works wonderfully for me, both in terms of keeping the same base recipe and keeping bagels soft for a few days.

As for flavoring, it can go as far as your creativity takes. Personally I prefer plain or cinnamon raisin. I have provided a number of add-ins or toppings to start your bagel imagination. I hope you would like this recipe as much as we do.

plain bagels

raisin bagels

linseed and spelt bagels

Bagels - Base recipe

All-in-one method

- 250 g bread flour
- 50 g wholemeal bread flour
- 1/4 tsp fast-action yeast
- 175 g water
- 2 Tbsp sugar or honey
- 3/4 tsp (4g) salt
- oil for kneading
- 1 tsp baking soda and plenty of simmering water for boil the bagels
- optional add-ins: raisins (with or without cinnamon), dried cranberries (with or without orange zest)
- optional toppings: poppy seeds, white/black sesame seeds, everything seasoning (poppy seeds+white sesame seeds+onion flakes)

This recipe gives 6 regular sized bagels or 8 smaller ones.

Mix yeast and water in a big container. Stir in flour, sugar (or honey) and salt to make into a dough. Let the mixture rest for 20 minutes so that the flour has time to absorb the water.

Knead lightly with oil for a minute. If you have extra add-ins such as raisins, mix in after 30-minute rest. Cover the bowl and let the dough slowly ferment for at least 6 hours. Overnight is even better.

Next day, the dough should double in volume. Tip the dough out to a clean surface (no need to flour and no need to flatten the dough). Divide the dough into 6-8 pieces (like pie wedges) and shape into balls (60g for a small bagel or 80g for a regular one). Rest the dough balls for 15 minutes.

Lightly flour your fingers and create a hole in the middle of each dough ball by poking a floured thumb into the centre of a dough ball. Gently stretch the ring to enlarge. Once you finish all 6 (or 8), start again to enlarge the circle again. Proof the bagels for another 30-45 minutes.

When your bagels have 10 more minutes to go, preheat the oven at 200-210C and bring a pot of water to boil.

Add baking soda to a pot of simmering water. Boil each bagel 20-30 seconds each side. Drain each bagel as much as you could and place it onto a baking pan.

Bake the par-boiled bagels at 200-210C for 16-18 minutes.

Tangzhong/Yokone/Water roux method

For Tangzhong/Yokone/Water roux
- 25 g wholemeal bread flour
- 75 g water

For the main dough
- 250 g bread flour
- 25 g wholemeal bread flour
- 100 g Tangzhong/Yokone/water roux from above
- 1/4 tsp fast-action yeast
- 100 g water
- 2 Tbsp sugar or honey
- 3/4 tsp (4g) salt
- oil for kneading
- 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
- 1 tsp baking soda and plenty of simmering water for boil the bagels

First make the Tangzhong by mixing 25 g of flour and 75 g of water in a small saucepan. Whisk to dissolve the flour completely. Turn the stove on and cook the flour-water mixture at low heat. Whisk constantly. Within 2 minutes, flour will gelatinize and form a thick paste. As soon as you see a thick paste form, remove the pan from the heat. Cover the Tangzhong and leave it to cool for 15 minutes.

When the Tangzhong has cooled to body temperature, mix in 100 g of water to lighten up the roux. Pour the thinned Tangzhong into another bowl containing all the other ingredients from flour to salt and knead it into a cohesive dough. After this step, the rest of the procedure is the same as the all-in-one method, slow fermentation (after mix in dried fruits if using), dividing and pre-rounding, short bench rest, bagel shaping, boiling and baking.