Water Bagels (Plain)

Dee514's Note:

Posted in reply to a message board request. This is a recipe for plain, "NYC style", water bagels. IMHO, this recipe makes a very good bagel. I've had this recipe for some 40+ years, and I'm clueless as to where/who I originally got it from. Prep time includes the rising time. Note: The natural minerals in your local tap water will make a difference in the end product.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 52 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Cook Time: 42 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 12 Bagels

• 4 -5 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups very warm tap water (120°-130°F)
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon cold water

Directions:

1. In a large bowl thoroughly mix 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt and undissolved yeast.
2. Gradually add warm water to dry ingredients and beat for 2 minutes with electric mixer (at medium speed), scrape bowl occasionally.
3. Add 1/2 cup flour.
4. Beat at high speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl.
5. Stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough (about 2 to 2 1/2 cups).
6. Turn dough on to a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes).
7. Place dough in ungreased bowl, cover and let rise in warm, draft free place for 20 minutes.
8. (Dough will NOT be doubled in bulk.) Punch dough down and turn out on to a lightly floured board.
9. Roll dough into a rectangle, 12 x 10 inches.
10. Cut dough into 12 equal strips, 1 x 10 inches each.
11. Pinch ends of strips together to form a circle.
12. Place on ungreased baking sheets.
13. Cover and let rise in warm, draft free place for 20 minutes.
14. (Dough will NOT be doubled in bulk.) In a large shallow pan, boil a 1 3/4 inch depth of water.
15. Lower heat and add a few bagels at a time.
16. Simmer bagels for 7 minutes (3 1/2 minutes on each side).
17. Remove bagels from water and place on a towel to cool.
18. Cool bagels for 5 minutes, then place them on ungreased baking sheets.
19. Bake bagels at 375°F for 10 minutes.
20. In a small bowl, beat egg white with cold water.
21. Remove bagels from oven and brush with egg white/water mixture.
22. Return bagels to oven and bake about 20 minutes longer, or until done.
23. Remove bagels from baking sheets and cool on wire rack.

Reviews

[jodathechoda]

These bagels are great. I've never made bagels before but have always wanted to. They are time consuming, but taste really wonderful. Mine look more like the rings you'd toss at a fair but, lesson learned :) I'll know for next time to shape them better. Also, I didn't grease the cookie sheet for the first batch and they stuck reallllly bad! Second batch I used sprayed parchment paper and it worked great. I will be making these again...I learned a few lessons with the first batch!

[ervigile]

Thanks for this. I've made these probably a dozen times now. Over time, I've found the following changes suit me best: 1. I let my bread machine take care of the first 7 steps on the dough setting, then take it from there. 2. I use half white whole wheat flour, and add gluten. 3. I add a little brown sugar to the boiling water.

I always use the egg wash--it makes them shiny and helps the sesame seeds stick. (Also, 1 package of yeast = .75 oz of yeast = 4.5 teaspoons of yeast.)

[Hilary #3]

We made these per the given directions and they turned out great. To shape the bagels we rolled the dough into balls and stabbed a hole through each one. We brought them to Mother's Day brunch and everyone loved them.