Homemade bagels are simple to make yet, I am here to make that process foolproof. Follow my comprehensive step by step bagel recipe guide to perfect bagels.
- 2 tsp instant dry yeast (Note 1)
- 2 1/4 cups water room temperature
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp Morton kosher salt (Note 2) or 1 1/2 Tbsp Diamond Crystal
- 6 1/4 cups bread flour 1 cup = 150 g (Note 3)
- 1 Tbsp diastatic malt powder (Note 4)
- 5 quarts water
- 3 Tbsp malt syrup (Note 5) or 1/4 cup honey
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Mix the dough. Stir 2 tsp instant dry yeast into 2 1/4 cups water until it disperses. Add 6 1/4 cups bread flour, 1 Tbsp granulated sugar, 1 Tbsp kosher salt and 1 Tbsp diastatic malt powder, keeping the salt away from the yeast, and mix to a shaggy dough (Note 1, Note 4).
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Knead until satiny. Knead 4 minutes on low, then 5 minutes on medium, or by hand. The dough should be stiff but smooth and elastic (Note 6). Do not knead past that point. If the mixer heats up, rest it 5 to 10 minutes and carry on.
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Divide and roll. Divide into 12 equal pieces, about 125 g each. Weigh them if you want every bagel the same size, or eyeball it. Roll each into a smooth, tight ball and rest 10 minutes.
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Rope to ring: roll each ball into a 10-inch log, overlap the ends by 2 to 3 inches, then roll the overlap under your palm on the counter to weld it. Pinching alone opens in the boil. Ball to ring: poke a hole through the ball and stretch it out. Either way you want a 4-inch bagel.
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Open the holes wide. Stretch each hole to about 2 inches across, then go back to the first bagel and roll every ring a second time in the order you shaped them. The early ones have relaxed by then, so the holes open without the dough fighting you.
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Proof 30 minutes. Set the bagels on a parchment-lined 15x21-inch (38x53 cm) sheet dusted with flour, spaced evenly, and leave at room temperature until about 1 1/2 times their size (Note 7, Note 8).
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Float-test a pinch. Pinch a small piece off one bagel and drop it into cool water. It should float within about 10 seconds (Note 9). If it sinks, give them 15 more minutes and test another pinch. Do not float a whole bagel.
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Chill overnight. Cover and refrigerate 8 to 12 hours (Note 10, Note 11). Next morning take the sheet out and leave it covered 15 minutes while the oven heats.
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Preheat and boil the water. Heat the oven to 500°F (260°C) with the rack in the middle. Fill an 8-quart pot with 5 quarts water and 3 Tbsp malt syrup and bring to a boil. Set a cooling rack over a pan.
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Boil in batches. Add 2 to 3 bagels and stir gently so they do not stick. Simmer 30 to 60 seconds on the first side, then flip and give the second side the same (Note 12). Lift them out with a slotted spoon.
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Top them wet. Add seasoning while the surface is still damp, straight out of the water (Note 13). Once it dries, nothing sticks.
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Bake 15 minutes. Return them to the parchment-lined sheet, drop the oven to 450°F (230°C) and bake until deeply golden and still springy, about 200°F (93°C) in the center. Under 180°F (82°C) is underbaked. Go straight from the pot to the oven or they come out wrinkled.
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Cool 20 minutes. Cool on a rack before slicing. Cutting a hot bagel compresses the crumb and reads as gummy even when it baked perfectly (Note 14).
1. Instant or active yeast: instant dry yeast can be swapped for active dry. Combine it with the water and let it foam for about 10 minutes, then carry on. Active dry rises slower, so expect a longer proof.
2. Salt brands are not equal: a tablespoon of Morton weighs about 15 g; the same spoon of Diamond Crystal is about 8 g. If you use Diamond Crystal, use 1 1/2 tablespoons, or weigh it.
3. Measuring flour: 1 cup = 150 g. Fluff the flour, scoop, and level. Weigh it if you can.
4. Malt powder: do not leave it out. It is what gives bagels their signature flavor and it feeds the yeast through the cold rest. Without it you get bagel-shaped bread. Brown sugar is the fallback if you cannot find it. Do not increase it - too much over a long cold rest gives a gummy crumb.
5. Malt syrup in the bath: the thick dark syrup, not the powder that goes in the dough. 1/4 cup honey works instead, and browns a little faster.
6. Dough texture, and why there is no first rise: bagel dough is meant to be stiff, which is what gives the chew. Too soft, add a little flour. Too thick to knead, add water a tablespoon at a time. There is no bulk rise before shaping on purpose - the dough gets its strength from the long knead and from the tension you build rolling each ring, and dough that has already risen is too slack to hold a tight ring through the boil. The night in the fridge is the fermentation here.
7. How much rise: for a firmer bagel proof until about 50% bigger. For a softer one let them nearly double. They need far less rise than ordinary yeast dough.
8. Yeast age: older yeast takes longer. Judge the proof by the increase in volume, never by the clock.
9. The float test: a pinch that floats has trapped enough gas for real oven spring. One that sinks is underproofed and bakes dense and pale with the hole closed. Pinch a piece, never float a whole bagel - it waterlogs the skin.
10. Cold fermentation: the overnight cold rest is where the flavor comes from, and the sugars enzymes release during it are what give the blistered, deeply browned crust. Eight hours is the least worth doing, twelve is the sweet spot, up to eighteen is fine. Keep them covered, because a surface that dries blisters better in the boil.
11. Skipping the overnight rest: let the shaped bagels proof another 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature while the oven heats and the water comes to a boil, then boil and bake. You lose flavor and the blistered crust, not the bagel.
12. How long to boil: boiling gelatinizes the surface into a sealed skin, which is where the shine, the set crust and the chew come from. The short end of the range gives a thinner crust and a puffier bagel, the long end more chew and a slightly denser middle. Longer than that is not better - the heat kills the yeast deeper into the dough so you lose the puff in the oven, the gelatinized layer thickens into a tough leathery crust, and the layer underneath goes gummy.
13. Everything bagel seasoning: equal parts white sesame, black sesame, poppy seeds, dried minced garlic and dried minced onion, plus half a part flaky salt. Press the wet bagel face down into a shallow tray of it - sprinkling from above wastes most of it.
14. Storing and freezing: uncut in a paper bag inside a plastic bag at room temperature for about 2 days. Do not refrigerate - the fridge stales bread faster than anything. To freeze, slice each bagel first, wrap and bag; best within 3 months. Toast straight from frozen.