Menu
Why did I decide to create this easy bagel recipe? My husband loves bagels, and I’d noticed they were now £2.50 for 5 in the supermarket! The ingredients here make 8-10 are around £1.30 with us.
This is a modified version of my original easy bagels recipe. They freeze really well if you can resist eating them all.
Cinnamon provides a sweet and spicy flavour, so you don’t need add loads of sugar.
Method:
1. Pour the 330ml warm water into a large bowl and add the 10g of yeast and 30g of sugar. Leave for 10-15 minutes until some bubbles have appeared. This is the yeast being activated.
2. Add the 500g of flour, 1 tsp of cinnamon and 5g of salt on top. Mix together well with your hands or a wooden spoon. Add in the raisins gradually.
3. The mixture will start to come together, so now you can either place in a mixer with dough hook attachment (on slowest speed) for 10 minutes, or knead on a lightly floured worktop. Your kneading method doesn’t need to be too exact, it’s basically just stretching and folding the dough over on itself multiple times.
4. The dough should now be smooth and somewhat stretchy. Cover it with a wet cloth, or beeswax wrap draped over the top of bowl if using a mixer, and leave for 10 minutes.
5. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8-10 balls. I weigh mine and make them all around 120-130g for an adult or 90-100g each for children.
6. To create each ball, I fold the edge of the dough piece into the middle and keep doing this as I turn them round. This is the same method for making bread rolls, it gives a nice smooth finish3
7. Leave the completed balls on your floured worktop for 20 minutes maximum. A dusting of flour is important, or they will stick! They don’t need long to rise as the boiling water will do the next part of that for you.
8. Fill a deep frying pan or wok with around 2.5cm of boiling water, and prepare a baking tray with either a reusable baking sheet or some parchment. This is the point I turn the oven on to 200 degrees or 180 for a fan oven. Optional: You can add 1 tbsp of malt syrup or honey to the boiling water to create a ‘glaze’ on your bagels.
9. Using wet hands, pick up each ball and use your thumb and fingers to make a hole in the middle. You will know the dough is really good if you get a kind of “window pane” in the middle as you make the hole. I tend to make a hole in 3-4 balls before starting the next stage.
10. Using a spatula, place each bagel into the boiling water and leave for 30 seconds for for the first side, then flip and do 45-60 seconds for the second side. I do 3 or 4 in quick succession and just count out loud for the timings. It doesn’t need to be super exact and gets way easier with practice, trust me!
11. When you take each one out, place it straight on your prepared baking tray. It doesn’t matter if the bagels are touching slightly.
12. Once all bagels are boiled and on there, dip a pastry brush (if you have one) in the boiling water and then use it to paint on a small amount of honey or syrup of your choice. Then sprinkle on your seeds!
13. Place the bagels straight in the oven on a middle shelf. Usually for bread I would use a higher temperature, but I tried it and the undersides were slightly underdone but the seeds slightly overdone.
14. Bake for 20 minutes- but keep an eye. When ready, the tops will look golden and the bagels will have puffed up a small amount more.
15. Remove from oven before leaving to cool completely. Then slice and enjoy, or these freeze really well in an airtight tub. I leave out a few and freeze the rest, then defrost the night before we want them for breakfast!
I know this week’s recipe is quite a challenge, if there’s anything you get stuck with just pop me an email to [email protected] and I’ll do my best to help. Enjoy!
