Best Homemade Bagels Recipe
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The only 5 simple steps you need to know to make the best Homemade Bagels recipe that is dense, soft and chewy on the inside and crusty on top, right at the comfort of your kitchen in just 1 hour.
Ingredients
Other Ingredients
Instructions
Step 1 - Preparing the Dough
To the bowl of your stand mixer, add in all the ingredients and once it starts forming a dough knead it for 8 mins.
You can also choose to knead by hands just that it would take a little longer to knead the dough.
Step 2 - Proofing
Line the base of the instant pot with parchment paper, transfer the dough, brush some oil on top so that it does not dry out. Close the lid. Choose Yogurt setting. Set the timer to 15 mins.
If you do not have an Instant Pot simply oil the bowl in which you kneaded the dough. Put the prepared dough into it. Cover with a tea towel and proof for 30 mins.
Step 3 - Knockback and Shape the Dough
Once proved, take the dough on your countertop and punch it down several times to release the air bubbles.
Divide the dough into 7 equal portions of 80 gms each.
Tuck the sides of each roundel to the bottom and give it a round shape and set aside. Similarly, shape all the portions and keep it covered with a tea towel.
Take one roundel at a time, poke your finger to the centre of the dough till you see the finger on the other side too.
Then use two fingers to widen the dough to 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter to get a hole in the centre of the dough. Set aside and shape the remaining roundels too.
Cover with a tea towel and allow it for an Intermediate Proofing - 15 mins.
Step 4 - Boiling the Bagels
Fill the Instant Pot with 3 to 4 cups of water. Select the Saute Mode and bring the water to a rolling boil.
Add the bagels one at a time leaving enough space for them to expand and swell. So at a time I just dropped 2 bagel doughs.
Cook for a minute then turn the bagel dough using a slotted spoon and cook the other side for a minute as well.
Take it out on a wire rack, placing the seam side (or not so good side) down and let it drain completely.
STOVETOP VERSION: Simply bring a large pot full of water to rolling boil. Depending upon the size of the pot boil 2 to 3 bagel dough at a time for a minute on each side. And then drain on wire rack.
Step 5 - Baking
Once drained place the bagels on a baking tray that has been pre-lined with parchment paper.
Brush the top with some milk. Alternatively, an egg wash can also be used.
Sprinkle seeds of your choice.
Fill a baking pan with the hot water used for boiling the bagels and place it in the bottom rack of the oven. This would create steam to develop the crusty top of the bagels.
Bake the bagels in the middle rack in a preheated oven of 220°C for 14 to 18 mins.
Notes
- Make sure that you have a really STIFF DOUGH in order to withstand the high heat while boiling the dough. To achieve that stiffness please use Bread Flour/Strong Flour/High Grade Flour. You can also use APF too but do add extra gluten for stability. If you are using All Purpose Flour use 340 gms of APF and 10 gms of Gluten. Do not overproof the dough as you will end up with flat bagels. Proofing the Dough in Instant Pot saves you time. Instant Pot Bagels are easy and quick to make comparatively. While Shaping the Dough do keep a gap of 1.5 to 2 inches in the centre as the dough expands while proofing and will cover up the hole. So leave enough margin in the centre so that you do not end up with a belly button or worse case a burger bun ;) Boil 1 min on each side to get the classic chewy and soft texture from within. Always boil just 2 or 3 bagel dough at a time depending upon the size of the pot so that each bagel has enough space to swell up and expand. Do refer the post on how to serve bagels - have shared my version of the classic Cream Cheese Spread; different variations of bagels and a step by step pictorial tutorial alongwith links to the required tools, equipments and ingredients. Things to Do while Intermediate Proofing (Step 4): Preheat the oven to 220°C Bring a pot full of water to boil. I used my Instant Pot for this step as well. Take about 1/4 cup milk in a ramekin or a bowl and set aside. You can also prepare an egg wash if you wish to avoid milk. Keep some seeds like sunflower, poppy or sesame seeds ready in a plate. Or you can also use the everyday bagel seasoning for the same. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. How to make Yeast Free Bagels? So I just tried my hands on Yeast Free Bagels and it turned out amazing. All you need is 2 ingredients to make it in a much simpler way with NO Yeast, NO APF, NO Rise Time Here is the link to the detailed recipe on How to make 2 ingredients Bagels.