There’s a bagel restaurant in Poznan; I’ll blog about them later. The get their bagels from Berlin – 3 hours away, and they’re very proud of them. From everything I’d heard, bagels are not difficult to make; it’s not like it requires expensive equipment. Why wouldn’t you just make them here?
Now that Ed and I just whipped up our first batch of bagels ever, on a whim, I can say with confidence, bagels are easy – peasy – 1-2-3sy. (I believe that’s a quote from the Bunny Picnic.)
After reading several recipes online, we decides on Emeril’s. Our bagel mentor, Emeril, is missing a couple of steps, like what do you do with the cornmeal and when do you add the toppings – it was easy enough to wing it. (I sometimes have similar omissions, but lucky for me, I have Cousin Sue to catch them.)
Ingredients
1 cup warm water (about 110 F or 40 C )
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
2 1/2 to 3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 tablespoon cornmeal
Directions
- Combine the water, yeast and 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar in a bowl.
- Let stand until a foamy layer develops on top, about 5 minutes.
- Gradually add 2 cups of flour and the salt; stir until combined.
- Add the additional flour to make a stiff dough.
- Turn out onto a floured surface and kneed for 5 minutes, adding flour as necessary.
- Use oil to grease a large bowl.
- Add dough to the bowl and turn to coat the top in oil.
- Cover and let rise until almost doubled in size, about an hour. (You can prepare the dough a day ahead. At this point, cover the bowl with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.)
- Punch down the dough; divide into 6 portions.
- Roll each portion into a log shape, and connect the ends. (You’ll see that some of our logs were longer than others. The shorter ones almost lost the hole as the dough rose for a second time.) You can also roll the dough into a ball and poke a hole in the middle, working and stretching the hole until you have the desired shape.
- Cover the bagels and allow to rise again for 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, preheat the oven to 400 degrees (205 C).
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Reduce heat, until water is at a slow simmer.
- Use the remaining teaspoon of oil to grease a baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with corn meal.
- Gently place the bagels 2 or 3 at a time in the boiling water (they’ll float); cook for 60 seconds, flip and cook for an additional 60 seconds. Remove the bagels from the water and place (right side up) on the prepared baking sheet.
- Add any desired topping – sesame seeds, cheese (dairy free for vegan), toasted onion (we used kosher salt and lots of black pepper).
- Bake for 30 minutes and get ready to enjoy a delicious treat – soft and chewy on the inside and a crisp crust on the outside.
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Ziggy
I will defiantly have to try this recipe. For some reason I never thought of making my own bagels but now that I think of it nice and warm bagels right out of the oven, that would be pretty good. Thanks for sharing a great recipe.
evil cake lady
Nice! I always thought bagels were really difficult so it is nice to see that they aren’t. I actually like the look of the bagels without the hole.
Vicki
What a fun thing to make! I never would have guessed they’re easy to make.
Anonymous
It looks yummy.
Suzie-Q
Glad I could help!!!
tralf
Yours look much better than any I’ve made. I’ll use your recipe next time.
lola
Lois, They look great? We enjoy making bagels too and, as you said, they are easy and fun. We use a recipe from Baking with Julia cookbook, the guest baker is Lauren Groveman. I baked them on a pizza stone.
Elizabeth
I am so intrigued!! I have to try this!
ErikaJean
I might attempt this this weekend – they look so good!!
Found your blog on bloggapedia for Tucson blogs!
natural meat winnipeg
When I was little I use to get my mom to use the bread making machine and make me bread and it was so good. I can’t imagine how good these homemade bagels are.