The Usual Breakfast

If there is one breakfast food that has claimed a majority among all others in my life, it has been the bagel. Everything, perhaps sprouted, doused with cream cheese — not overflowing of course. At any rate, I go through these things at such a rate that it seems silly to head to the store and buy them every four days. This isn’t to say that biking around with sacks of flour is less annoying, but then there is the satisfaction of making one of those things that seemed at one time unfeasible.

As with my recent baking attempts, the active time in this recipe is some vanishing fraction of the entire process. Mix for two minutes, wait for two hours. Mix some more, then wait overnight (only after poking holes, of course.) There really is nothing obscure about the ingredients aside from the optional malt syrup, of which I stole a few tablespoons during the last batch of beer. Molasses makes a good substitute here, as long as it is used sparingly.

After a few attempts I’ve thought it best to replace roughly a quarter of the flour with whole wheat, a substitution that has had no measurable impact on the final texture of the bagels. On this note, I must confess that have a much airier texture than one’s average bagel — so far I’m undecided as to whether my preference lies with the chewy variety I’ve grown to love or these behemoth fluffy newcomers.

Topping are limited of course by only one’s imagination. While onions and garlic are fun to apply, I find that they end up more as carbon than anything else when toasted. For this reason I will stick to seeds only. I haven’t experimented with any sorts of flavored dough, and see no reason to muck with what has been a very tasty final product.

As for the intended volume: make more than you think necessary. This is a cliché line for baked goods, but bagels have many more justified uses than most. I haven’t yet seen someone attempt to make a sandwich capped by, say, chocolate chip cookies. A dozen to start never leaves more than one or two at the end of the usual Sunday brunches here, though a ravenous lot we are.

At the risk of being the three-thousandth person to blog about Peter Reinhart’s bagel recipe, I will proceed shamelessly with an only slightly modified recipe. Also, a thanks to Greg Jordan, who brought my attention to the bagels and the book they came from more generally.

Slightly Whole-Wheat Bagels

Adapted From Peter Reinhart's
The Bread Baker’s Apprentice
Makes 12 Bagels

Sponge

• 1 Tsp. Instant (Rapid Rise) Yeast (0.11 Oz.)
• 4 C. Bread Flour (18 Oz.)
• 2.5 C. Water, not too cold (20 Oz.)

Actual Dough

• 0.5 Tsp. Instant (Rapid Rise) Yeast (0.11 Oz.)
• 2.0 C. Bread Flour (10 Oz.)
• 1.75 C. Whole Wheat Flour (8 Oz.)
• 2.75 Tsp. Salt (0.7 Oz.)
• 1 Tbs. Malt Syrup or Molasses (0.5 Oz.)
• Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting
• Parchment paper a must!
• Seeds and coarse-grained salt for topping bagels

For The Sponge

1. Simply stir together until smooth the detailed ingredients. If using active dry yeast, perhaps warm up some of the water and let the yeast proof for a few minutes before adding the rest of the water and flour.
2. Cover and let sit for one hour at room temperature.

For The Actual Bagels

1. Add the rest of the dough ingredients to the sponge and knead by hand or machine until the dough passes the window-pane test. This will be in the 6-10 minute regime.
2. Divide into 12 equal pieces and form into tight balls on slightly dampened counter using repetitive “wax-on” or “wax-off” (but not both) maneuvers. Let sit covered on counter for 20 minutes or so.
3. Poke a hole in the center with thumbs and work into a torus. Make the hole much larger than one would expect, the shape one might have in mind is that of a car tire (without the squareness of course.) Place on a lightly oiled parchment sheet (in a sheet-pan), and let rise for 30 minutes or so, longer if nippy outside.
4. Put in fridge until the next day, or perhaps the day after.
5. Preheat oven to 500F with the racks in the center. Bring to a boil a good sized vat of water primed with a bit of baking soda. Prepare seed and salt mixture ahead of time.
6. Without crowding the vat, boil the bagels for roughly a minute per side. Dust the parchment with semolina or corn meal in the meantime, and return the bagels to the sheet pan when finished. Immediately sprinkle the seed mixture on the bagels in the desired quantity while they are still wet.
7. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating pans and shelves halfway. This may be longer or shorter depending on your oven, just cook them until they look like bagels (malt syrup and molasses make them substantially darker than they would otherwise become during baking.)
8. Let cool and enjoy!

NB: Don’t handle them too much to avoid deflating before baking. Make sure to drain thoroughly before setting back down on the dusted parchment.