New York Style Bagel Recipe!

I love a New York bagel just as much as the next person, and if I lived in NYC, with my brother and wife, I probably wouldn't have tried to make a bagel, ever. However, I don't live in NYC, I live in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere in England, and while the brits can make a mean scone, croissant, and crumpet they are seriously lacking in their ability to make a decent bagel. 

The store bought bagels are repulsive and don't even get me started on what they call a bagel at the bakery! Spurred on by my pregnancy craving for bagels, I scoured all of my best baking books in search of a NY style bagel to no avail. I blame the fact that all my best baking books were written by British people. Josh suggested I look on the internet, and voila I stumbled across this recipe. 

Somewhat sceptical at first, based on the simplicity of the recipe, I decided to persevere and let me tell you that was the best decision I ever made. These homemade bagels, fresh out of the oven, are equal in quality to the bagel shop Benny and Lane take me to when I'm in NYC, they are to die for amazing! Yet again Josh and I stand by our motto that you can have really good food in England if you are willing to make it yourself :)

The recipe makes 8 plain bagels, however, we made 2 blueberry and 2 cinnamon raisin as well. On the next occasion I'm going to make an everything bagel, jalapeño and cheese, multigrain, and sundried tomato and feta. I'm also going to start making my own cream cheese because I've only found Philadelphia cream cheese in England, and as most of you know this cream cheese is pretty much the worst you can get, which leaves me craving the cream cheese you can buy at the bagel shop down the road from my brother's house.

The recipe is worth a try even if you can get a NY bagel because it will only cost you about $0.50 to make 8 bagels, if that, and I'm positive you won't get that price at a bakery anywhere in NYC.

Bagel Recipe

Ingredients:2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
1 ½ tablespoons of granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups of warm water (you may need ± ¼ cup more, I know I did)
3 ½ cups (500g) of bread flour or high gluten flour(will need extra for kneading)
1 ½ teaspoons of salt

Optional Toppings:Caraway seeds, coarse salt, minced fresh garlic, minced fresh onion, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, blueberries, cinnamon raisin, jalapeño, etc. 

Preparation:1. In ½ cup of the warm water, pour in the sugar and yeast. Do not stir. Let it sit for five minutes, and then stir the yeast and sugar mixture, until it all dissolves in the water.

2. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the yeast and sugar mixture.

3. Pour half of the remaining warm water into the well. Mix and stir in the rest of the water as needed. Depending on where you live, you may need to add anywhere from a couple tablespoons to about ¼ cup of water. You want to result in a moist and firm dough after you have mixed it.

4. On a floured countertop, knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Try working in as much flour as possible to form a firm and stiff dough.

5. Lightly brush a large bowl with oil and turn the dough to coat. Cover the bowl with a damp dish towel. Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in size. Punch the dough down, and let it rest for another 10 minutes.

6. Carefully divide the dough into 8 pieces (I used a scale to be extra precise, but it’s not necessary). Shape each piece into a round. Now, take a dough ball, and press it gently against the countertop (or whatever work surface you’re using) moving your hand and the ball in a circular motion pulling the dough into itself while reducing the pressure on top of the dough slightly until a perfect dough ball forms (as pictured below). Repeat with 7 other dough rounds. If you're using a wet topping, such as blueberries, raisins, jalapeños, etc. fold the topping in now as you make the little ball.

7. Coat a finger in flour, and gently press your finger into the center of each dough ball to form a ring. Stretch the ring to about ⅓ the diameter of the bagel and place on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Repeat the same step with the remaining dough.

8. After shaping the dough rounds and placing them on the cookie sheet, cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425ºF / 220ºC / Gas Mark 7.

9. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Reduce the heat. Use a slotted spoon or skimmer to lower the bagels into the water. Boil as many as you are comfortable with boiling. Once the bagels are in, it shouldn’t take too long for them to float to the top (a couple seconds). Let them sit there for 1 minute, and them flip them over to boil for another minute. Extend the boiling times to 2 minutes each, if you’d prefer a chewier bagel (results will give you a more New York Style bagel with this option).

10. If you want to top your bagels with stuff, do so as you take them out of the water, you may use the “optional toppings” (listed above) to top the bagels and if you’re risky like me, make a combination of the toppings to top the bagels with, but before hand, you will need to use an egg wash to get the toppings to stick before putting the bagels into the oven.

11. Once all the bagels have boiled (and have been topped with your choice of toppings), transfer them to a lightly oiled baking sheet.

12. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

13. Cool on a wire rack (or if you’re impatient like I am, slice one of these babies open, and spread some softened butter on it. Take a bite… Oh babyyy!)

Makes 8 medium-sized bagels