new york-style bagel recipe
Oh, food blogger’s block (writer’s block, but for food bloggers). It can be the most frustrating thing for any food blogger. Many of us will not admit that we sometimes get it, but I find no problem with admitting that I occasionally get food blogger’s block. Why? Well, because I am far from perfect and showing small imperfections makes me normal. Doesn’t it make us all normal?
Well, I am not *that* normal. Why? Because some of my friends and dearest family members call me the “crazy baker” because I occasionally have these moments where I try to bake anything and everything known to man.
Okay… Exaggerating a bit… But I seriously do bake a bit too much… This past weekend, I decided that I was going to use all of the baking energy that I built up over the past couple of weeks to create some edible masterpieces to share with you all.
The first edible masterpiece (I love how I call bagels edible masterpieces…) that I decided to share (out of the billion things that I baked) is an awesome bagel recipe that I found in a new cookbook that I recently “borrowed” from my aunt, Ultimate Bread. Please notice that I put the word borrowed in quotations. I’ll elaborate… At first, the book was to be borrowed, but by the likes of it- she’s not getting it back for a long, long, long…. Long time. (As a side note, my friend, Mel at Bouchon for Two is having an awesome cookbook giveaway of Thomas Keller’s new cookbook Ad Hoc at Home. You may want to go check out her giveaway after your stop here…)
This bagel recipe is not only one of the best bagel recipes that I’ve tried, but it doesn’t require a rocket scientist (sorry rocket scientists reading this… I like the saying!) to make the recipe. The bagels are awesome fresh out of the oven, but when they’re toasted… Oh, my! Can we just say that you’ll be making this recipe time and time again?
At this point, you’re saying- “WHAT?! Can’t I just buy them?… Way easier than going through all the trouble!”
New Yorkers and People who would rather buy your bagels– sure, we have our awesome bagel shops. And it seems stupid to make something that takes more effort than walking down the block to our local bagel shop. But seriously… This bagel recipe is so worth making.
Why?
Well, because when you make something on your own, don’t you feel a sense of accomplishment after you create an edible masterpiece? I know I do… Also, this may give some competition to your local bagel shop… The recipe’s that good!
Heck, this bagel recipe is so good that you’ll be bowing down to the bagel god after you take a nice bite out of one of these freshly made bagels. Also, is there even a bagel god? Don’t even answer that… Nowadays, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was one!
So, if you’re one of those people on the West Coast who orders 12 bagels from New York and pays $7.50 a bagel… Save your money!
This recipe is a same day recipe and doesn’t require two days of dedication. You hear that impatient bakers? ONE DAY bagels!
Bagel Recipe
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
1 ½ tablespoons of granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups of warm water (you may need ± ¼ cup more, I know I did)
3 ½ cups (500g) of bread flour or high gluten flour(will need extra for kneading)
1 ½ teaspoons of salt
Optional Toppings:
Caraway seeds, coarse salt, minced fresh garlic, minced fresh onion, poppy seeds, or sesame seeds. (Everyone in my house prefers plain bagels, but I have no preference, so I just went with the plain, so no one could complain.)
Preparation:
1. In ½ cup of the warm water, pour in the sugar and yeast. Do not stir. Let it sit for five minutes, and then stir the yeast and sugar mixture, until it all dissolves in the water.
2. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the yeast and sugar mixture.
3. Pour half of the remaining warm water into the well. Mix and stir in the rest of the water as needed. Depending on where you live, you may need to add anywhere from a couple tablespoons to about ¼ cup of water. You want to result in a moist and firm dough after you have mixed it.
4. On a floured countertop, knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Try working in as much flour as possible to form a firm and stiff dough.
5. Lightly brush a large bowl with oil and turn the dough to coat. Cover the bowl with a damp dish towel. Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in size. Punch the dough down, and let it rest for another 10 minutes.
6. Carefully divide the dough into 8 pieces (I used a scale to be extra precise, but it’s not necessary). Shape each piece into a round. Now, take a dough ball, and press it gently against the countertop (or whatever work surface you’re using) moving your hand and the ball in a circular motion pulling the dough into itself while reducing the pressure on top of the dough slightly until a perfect dough ball forms (as pictured below). Repeat with 7 other dough rounds.
7. Coat a finger in flour, and gently press your finger into the center of each dough ball to form a ring. Stretch the ring to about ⅓ the diameter of the bagel and place on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Repeat the same step with the remaining dough.
8. After shaping the dough rounds and placing them on the cookie sheet, cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425ºF / 220ºC / Gas Mark 7.
9. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Reduce the heat. Use a slotted spoon or skimmer to lower the bagels into the water. Boil as many as you are comfortable with boiling. Once the bagels are in, it shouldn’t take too long for them to float to the top (a couple seconds). Let them sit there for 1 minute, and them flip them over to boil for another minute. Extend the boiling times to 2 minutes each, if you’d prefer a chewier bagel (results will give you a more New York Style bagel with this option).
10. If you want to top your bagels with stuff, do so as you take them out of the water, you may use the “optional toppings” (listed above) to top the bagels and if you’re risky like me, make a combination of the toppings to top the bagels with, but before hand, you will need to use an egg wash to get the toppings to stick before putting the bagels into the oven.
11. Once all the bagels have boiled (and have been topped with your choice of toppings), transfer them to a lightly oiled baking sheet.
12. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown.
13. Cool on a wire rack (or if you’re impatient like I am, slice one of these babies open, and spread some softened butter on it. Take a bite… Oh babyyy!)
Makes 8 medium-sized bagels
Recipe modified from Ultimate Bread by Eric Treuille & Ursula Ferrigno
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155 COMMENTS
December 6th, 2009
Okay, after my first successful bread making experience, I am finally ready to try your bagel recipe! I have been saving it for when I felt more confident – and voila! I’m all set! I even got fresh yeast…so I’ll let you know how it goes…
December 7th, 2009
I’m hungry now….recently i’ve been tinkering with yeast+dough, so i’ve completely neglected my blog for awhile! *guilty *guilty
December 27th, 2009
thanks for the recipe. Not everyone lives in NYC – and for those of us who do not have a bagel shop within walking distance, we must make our own if we want to enjoy a decent bagel.
We recently moved to VA and live in the country – the nearest bagel shop is in the next county!!! We could buy the grocery store bakery version of a bagel, or drive 30 minutes to dunkin donuts and buy their version of a real bagel (which aren’t that bad really), but it is so much easier and tastier to make them ourselves!
January 12th, 2010
I’ve made these twice now and they are so delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
January 16th, 2010
cool.I had no idea they had to be boiled first, then baked..found that unique..will try now.
February 16th, 2010
Do you egg wash the bagels even if you are putting no toppings?
February 16th, 2010
Hi Adrian, egg washing the bagels without toppings isn’t needed.
February 19th, 2010
Very good recipe! I used whole wheat bread flour and used a little extra yeast and they turned out real well.
The shape of my bagels were a little messy, but next batch I’ll know much better.
A little problem: My bagels didn’t sink! It must have been the extra yeast…but I just boiled them for 1 and 1/2 minutes on each side instead.
March 15th, 2010
This recipe is simple and delicious! If you have a bread machine, it’s even easier.
I cooked them in the evening, planning to have them ready for breakfast the next morning. They smelled so good I couldn’t resist trying just one, then proceeded to eat literally half the batch, straight off the baking sheet.
May 11th, 2010
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
May 11th, 2010
Hi Kamran,
Your recipe looks fantastic but I have an enquiry.
Is it completely nessecery to let it rise for 1 WHOLE hour? Would it still be ok after 30 minutes?
I ask this because I am planning to make these bagels for my coursework so a quick reply would be greatly appreciated!
Many Thanks,
Toya
May 11th, 2010
Hi Toya, it is very necessary to allow the dough to rest for an hour. If not, your bagels will not turn out well. I’ve tried different amounts of time for resting, and allowing it to rise for an hour in a warm place works best, but if you are pressing for time, I’m sure you can prepare the dough ahead of time, and let it rise in your refrigerator over night, and once it’s morning, allow it to sit on your countertop for 1/2 hour to come to room temperature. Then, I’d continue to next few steps…
I hope that helps!
September 12th, 2010
Thank you so much for this recipe, Kamran! They turned out so well, and they smelled so good that we just had to break into them while they were hot!
October 25th, 2010
Today I made bagels!!!! http://www.sophisticatedgourmet.com/2009/10/new-york-style-bagel-recipe/
November 30th, 2010
on the very few occasions that I bought a fresh bagel from a Jewish bakery in London I always wondered whether I could make them myself. the ones we can buy here at the supermarket bear no relation to fresh bagels whatsoever. I’d experimented with a few recipes, but this is the one. The Real Deal! thankyou very much for providing it. I’m making my fifth batch now and am very pleased with the results.
February 9th, 2011
I tried the recipe twice, one plain and the other with dried blueberries and cinnamon, and both turned out a success! Here in Spain, not everyone knows what bagels are and kinda difficult to get them in stores, so I am spreading out the recipe to a couple of my friends who are Bagel Freaks, too! Thanks for the great recipe!
February 17th, 2011
OMG!! I have just made these and they are the best I have ever tasted..thank you, no THANK YOU! wow…
February 20th, 2011
Made them this afternoon K…boy-o-boy…what fabulous bagels. Bowing down to the bagel god & to you too K. Thanks for sharing these so beautifully. Must try working in some whole wheat flour next time. have you tried that version?
February 26th, 2011
Nice post, Thank you so much for sharing and hope you add more like this soon.
February 28th, 2011
I literally just tried to make these, and during the bit where you have to let the dough sit in water for an hour, when I took a look at it after half an hour it was water-logged and had basically fallen apart. How much water is supposed to be in the bowl? I had the dough pretty much submerged, which might have been the problem. Also I’m wondering if using all-purpose flour instead of bread flour (which I can’t find anywhere) may have contributed to my failure? This recipe seems like a winner so if anyone has any good suggestions on how to make it work I’d really appreciate it.
February 28th, 2011
Oh wait, nevermind my last comment. I obviously misread the recipe, it says warm “place” not warm water. What a dummy. I had warm water on the brain after reading about the boiling bit. Okay, I’ll try again – this time I’ll be extra careful to actually read the instructions properly.
March 6th, 2011
@LittleMissNC25 oh no! perhaps you could make some? Here’s a recipe http://www.sophisticatedgourmet.com/2009/10/new-york-style-bagel-recipe/
April 12th, 2011
Thanks for the recipe, would love to eat an authentic bagel again. Are the measurements in metric?
April 25th, 2011
Hi there,
I was wondering if you add baking soda,syrup, or honey in boiling water.
thank you
May 2nd, 2011
Hey I’ve been living in south america the past seven months and there are so many bakeries here but noone has head of bagels and I have gotten to the point where I am missing all that yummy american food. Problem is I’m living only with one other person, who doesn’t much like bagels, so I need to know
How many bagels this recipe yields.
Thank you for. The Recipe!!!!
May 2nd, 2011
Onemore quick question, I dntthink I will be ableto ind bread flour will it work woth All-purpoe?
kamran replied:
May 2nd, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Hi Alexandra- the recipe makes 8 medium-sized bagels (about 4 large bagels). All-purpose flour might work, but it might not be as great as a high-gluten flour, such as bread flour. If you can get your hands on whole wheat flour, maybe do half and half? Hope that helps!
May 14th, 2011
HI from Australia!
Just made these and they are perfect. Thanks for your recipe.
1 question:
Can the bagels be frozen after they have been boiled to store for later baking?
kamran replied:
May 14th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Hi Liss, I’d actually par-bake the bagels if you’d prefer to store them for later baking. So maybe bake them until they are a faint gold tinge (about 10-15 minutes).
There’s also another route that you can go- just bake the bagels all the way through. Allow them to cool completely. Pre-slice them, store them properly in a freezer-safe plastic bag, and let them thaw when needed. If you’re planning on toasting them, I don’t even think you need to bother thawing the bagels.
Hope that helps! :)
May 31st, 2011
I just tried this recipe out and the outcome was great!
In the words of Travis Birkenstock, “Two very enthusiastic thumbs up (clueless quote).
June 17th, 2011
Bagel were a great hit. The only problem I had was adjusting the Mexican oven (fahrenheit knob not available). Ate four saving the rest fo toast for breakfast. Gary
June 19th, 2011
These bagels are AMAZING! Your recipe just made three Peace Corps Volunteers feel a little closer to home :)
June 28th, 2011
How do you store them so that they are fresh the next morning?
kamran replied:
June 30th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
I usually bake them in the morning; a zip-lock bag works well (be sure to take all of the air out!).
June 30th, 2011
Excellent! I baked these last night and cannot stop eating them (that is NOT excellent ;) This recipe was very easy to follow and I had all the ingredients on hand. I am going to make a second batch today since some are in the freezer for friends and the rest don’t stand a chance to make it past another day. Who would have thought bagels could be so easy to make? Bye bye, store-bought bagels. Thanks for this wonderful, easy recipe!
kamran replied:
June 30th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Of course! My pleasure!
July 1st, 2011
Kamran…Just made these for the first time last night and they came out amazing! Thank you for sharing your recipe :)
July 4th, 2011
AMAZING bagels! Got a taste for them when I was in the US, now back in NZ they are rare and expensive, but these are so easy and tasty!!!
July 6th, 2011
I’m going to try these as soon as the weather cooperates. In addition to the plain variety, we like cinnamon raisin bagels too. Could anyone tell me how I could adapt this recipe?
kamran replied:
July 6th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
I’ve been receiving a lot of emails about this, Michelle. I promise another bagel post (cinnamon raisin) within the next couple weeks, so stay tuned!
July 6th, 2011
I made these yesterday and they are fantastic! I was so worried they wouldn’t turn out but they’re so pretty and so tasty. Have you ever tried to put anything in the batter? I was thinking about trying blueberry bagels.
July 6th, 2011
I would probably have to use dried blueberries I guess.
kamran replied:
July 6th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Hi Casey- you can fold in dried blueberries or fresh blueberries… If using fresh, I’d recommend using a smaller variety of blueberries.
July 6th, 2011
Awesome! Thanks, kamran.
July 7th, 2011
I made these last night! I added asiago cheese to the batter and to the outside. Then after baking, I sliced them and put chicken and cheddar cheese inside and baked again for 7 minutes! They were awesome!!!
July 8th, 2011
Perfect recipe! I used my kitchenaide and will never buy bagels again. I Rock! You Rock! Thanks for the recipe! :)
July 10th, 2011
Made these last night for the first time and they turned out great! Delicious!!!! We will be making our own bagels from now on.
July 12th, 2011
hey the recipe sounds really easy to make…and i am going to try and make them today,
however i’m from India and we do not get Bread Flour here per-se..i read from one of your replies above that high-gluten flour or whole wheat flour can be used..am i correct?
since in India we have an abundance of whole wheat flour (atta in India) is it ok to use that instead of bread flour, or would you recommend some other way? looking forward t your reply!
July 13th, 2011
can I use regular sugar instead of granulated?
kamran replied:
July 14th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
in the US, granulated sugar is considered regular sugar. So, if you mean superfine / caster sugar, yes, you can.
July 16th, 2011
i LOVE this recipe. i found it while living in rome, where there are no bagels and my italian roommates devoured them…the recipe reminded me of home…now i am back in the states and enjoying them again…grazie.
July 17th, 2011
Hi there- I visited just about one and only real Bagel shop in South Africa (called New York Bagels) – I left with 30 bagels….loved it, but is not 100% as I remember them – a bit toooooo chewy – so now I’m hooked and will bake my own till I’m able to get it 100% (I’m not a natural cook, but love a challenge)!! There is no bagel culture in SA and always wondered why?? I’m so tired of muffins…..!!!
Cape Town
July 28th, 2011
tried the recipe today & turned out great! I couldn’t get them to look as nice & round as yours but they tasted yummy. it’s difficult to find nice bagels in sydney…so I’m sure I’ll get lots of use of the recipe. thanks!
August 1st, 2011
Yummo, i live in Tasmania and there isn’t a bakery im aware of that sells bagels, so i have been forced into buying the supermarket variety that are suitable for toastong but not really to eat fresh. i will try this recipe and hopefully it will be a sucessful endeavour!!
August 4th, 2011
Kamran,
Thank you so much for this great recipe! This is my second try at baking bagel. I am a novice baker and tried another bagel recipe with not much success but with yours it is coming out beautiful. Only a few minutes left in the oven and I cant wait to taste them!! I made slight variation sub 1 cup Wholewheat with normal bread flour, added a pinch more yeast, and added about a handful dried rasperry. They came out gorgeous and tasted divine!! Thank you!!
August 10th, 2011
I just tried these today and they are awesome!! First time ever making bagels, but definitely not the last! This recipe is a keeper.
August 14th, 2011
I bake all the bread we eat in our house (sourdough, usually), as well as sandwich buns, and many other things, but I’ve always bought bagels, because I thought I couldn’t make them. Well, when the place where I bought them went “under” it was time to try to make them myself, and your recipe is fantastic! Easy to follow and they taste great! Thanks!
August 17th, 2011
Hello from Athens, Greece.
I just tried your recipe “as is” with great results. I used whole wheat bread flour (so gave brown color) and in boil bagels did not come up. But the taste was delicious. Thanks and please provide us with more bagel recipes (with raisins, etc).
Regards, George
August 19th, 2011
Hi! I just made these with about a quarter cup of sugar and cinnamon. Then I brushed with egg and sprinkled brown sugar, regular sugar, raw sugar and cinnamon on top. They came out better than Panara Bread’s cinnamon crunch bagel. Thanks so much for this recipe. This is the one I’ve been looking for!
August 20th, 2011
Living in London you just CANNOT get bagels here like you do back in the US (they’re more like bread rolls which in my book does not a bagel make). So I’ve scoured the internet for a recipe that wouldn’t intimidate this novice bread maker. Your recipe and its easy to follow steps encouraged me to take the plunge and hoo boy am I glad i did! I’ve now made them several times for Brits and Yanks alike and everyone loves them. My parents (who are from Queens) said they were “just like the ones in the old neighborhood” and that’s high praise indeed. I now make a slight tweak to the recipe and make the dough the night before, pop it in the fridge to allow for a cold rise, and take the dough out in the morning and then follow all other steps. Thanks!!
September 8th, 2011
Made them , and although they stuck to the baking paper, once I cut that off they were delicious ! They never made it to breakfast as they were all eaten that night !Never made it
September 15th, 2011
Since a recent trip to America, where I discovered bagels for the first time, I have been craving more. Sadly, not many places in Australia sell them, especially in my little town! So, I’m very happy to find an easy, highly-rated recipe. I’ll definitely be trying these this weekend!!
September 16th, 2011
My niece, Lindsay, has made your recipe several times and has raved about the results! Plan to try it out myself. Thanks for sharing.
kamran replied:
September 19th, 2011 at 11:26 am
Carol- that is soo great to hear! Happy baking! :)
September 19th, 2011
Greetings from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Can I use mixer instead of knead?
kamran replied:
September 19th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Hi Mrs Ong- You surely can; just be sure to keep an eye on the dough while it’s in the stand mixer because you don’t want the dough to be over-kneaded.
September 19th, 2011
After trying a different recipe this morning, I just found your site and am going to make these next! I want one that tastes like Panera Bread’s French Toast Bagel — any idea how to accomplish this? The recipe I tried used maple extract & cinnamon but it came out with no flavor at all.
kamran replied:
September 19th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
Hi Vicky- I wouldn’t know how their French Toast Bagel tastes (it sounds amazing, though), as I’ve only eaten at Panera once before (2 years ago. I had a salad). I did, however, do a quick search, and saw that they use a combination of maple & cinnamon-flavored chips.I believe the King Arthur Flour website sells cinnamon flavored chips and maple white chocolate baking chips; I think that Hershey’s also makes the cinnamon-flavored one’s, too. I tried searching for the maple baking chips to see if they were easily available online, as I’m not sure if they use the white chocolate variety at Panera, but from what I see, the chips are made from maple sugar, which I think would be an excellent alternative to the maple chips. I really must try to re-create these bagels now that you’ve been brought these to my attention. I mean- who can say no to portable, no-mess, french toast?
September 19th, 2011
I can’t believe I didn’t think of cinnamon chips! We have a small Amish store that sells them and I use them all the time -they make the most wonderful pancakes you’ve ever eaten. And I make cinnamon chip scones – sold also at Panera. I’m heading to my kitchen to start another batch of bagels and will follow up with my results. Thanks for your quick response!!
September 19th, 2011
Hi Kamran: my name is Pily, and today I found your blog because I´m looking for bagel recipes and I am very happy because I found you and your wonderful blog!!! :D
I´m from México and today I made this bagels, the result is very, very good, my family enjoyed them very much, thank you for this recipe.
And the next I´ll try is the tomatoe soup ;D
Thank´s
PILY
kamran replied:
September 23rd, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Pily- my pleasure, I am so glad that your family enjoyed the bagels! :)
September 20th, 2011
Using your EXCELLENT bagel recipe, I added 1 1/2 cups cinnamon chips and 1 1/2 tablespoon natural maple flavoring – yummo! I mixed in the chips with my KA in the last few minutes of kneading but next time will knead them in by hand instead. Searching for maple chips was interesting. The Prepared Pantry told me the manufacturer has discontinued them and they don’t know of any other source. Wonder if Panera has another supplier – maybe I’ll contact them and try to purchase some. I think they would make my bagels just like Panera’s!
kamran replied:
September 23rd, 2011 at 12:49 pm
Vicky- Oh my. I must try your adaptation! Sounds awesome! :)
September 30th, 2011
Yum! I am a NY’er and the city is seriously the only place to get a decent bagel until now. I don’t live anywhere near NY now and have always just settled for a bagel. My husband is a Police Officer and loves to take a bagel with some cream cheese and my jam for breakfast. $6/week for crummy bagels was killing me! No more! This was really easy and mine came out so grew the first time! I used my KA with no issues. I didn’t spray plastic enough so they slightly stuck but I was able to get it off with minimal damage. After the first three I realized I needed to redo my hole before boiling. I made plain, salt and everything. After we ate 2 hot from the oven I sliced the rest, wrapped in foil then froze in a freezer bag. Just pulled one out tonight for Hubs to take to work. Had one myself, thawed in microwave 20 secs then lightly toasted. Tasted fresh from the oven. So excited I found this recipe!
October 1st, 2011
Just doubled this recipe..amazing!! Just about to eat one now… I had no trouble what-so-ever with this recipe.. the dought was perfect!!! Thank you!!
October 4th, 2011
I live in Damascus, Syria with my husband & son. We miss bagels the most, they r the first thing we think of when we remember our visits to NYC. This recipe was really good, I promised I’ll b making it for them once week.
But I rolled the dough into a tube-like shape then pinched it together, because I tried to hollow out a ball & it always closes up when boiling. The rolled dough didn’t come out as smooth as ur picture. Is there a trick to rolling them?
kamran replied:
October 21st, 2011 at 10:51 pm
Hi Arwa- I apologize for the late reply. For some reason I hadn’t read this comment as it came in. The less you handle it, the smoother it will be. Also- being slightly gentle is key. if you squeeze the dough, it’ll turn out wrinkly. I bake these bagels a lot, and some batches come out smooth and gorgeous, and on bad days some come out wrinkly. It’s all about how you handle the dough, but in the end- no matter what it looks like the taste is always killer! :)
October 4th, 2011
I made another batch of French Toast Bagels today. Seems that it always takes a couple tries to tweak it to my satisfaction! I omitted the maple flavor and instead added a scant 1/4 cup Log Cabin maple syrup. YUMMO!!! Now the maple flavor comes through like I wanted! Thanks again for your original recipe – I’m going to be trying lots of different flavors with this! Jalapeno Cheddar, Cranberry Walnut, gosh, what else?
kamran replied:
October 21st, 2011 at 10:48 pm
You’re making me swoon! I’d love to see you version of the French Toast bagels; mind emailing it to me? kamran@sophisticatedgourmet.com
October 8th, 2011
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe. I live in Norway so bagels are hard to come across and expensive if you are lucky enough to find one.. So it was fantastic to have them fresh in my own kitchen! (A resent trip to the US had left me with a bad bagel craving). I’ve been wanting to make bagels for a long time but did not dare to until now. I followed all your nice instructions and they turned out beautifully! I only had all purpose flour but I added two teaspoons of wheat gluten from the health food store and I think that worked well. Used my Kenwood for kneading and that seems to work fine.. Thanks again!
October 13th, 2011
Thanks for the fairly straightforward recipe. I think i followed it pretty precisely, however, despite letting the bagels boil for a good 2min on each side, they didn’t come out as chewy as a real bagel. They were more like really nice rolls with a hole in the middle. They were absolutely delicious, but perhaps i’ve not kneaded them enough or let rise enough?? Any advice? thank you!
kamran replied:
October 13th, 2011 at 3:10 pm
Hi Stephanie, from the sound of it, it seems that you may have not kneaded enough flour into the dough, or as you pointed out- you might have not kneaded the dough enough. As for the rise, that could play a role in it. If you have a large straight edged container, I’d put the dough in there, mark it.. Once it’s doubled in size, it’ll be easy to tell. I don’t think your rise changed the outcome of the bagels, though, I suspect you didn’t add enough flour to the dough, while kneading.
October 15th, 2011
Hi, i tried your recipe with the ingredients i found in europe (i bought the only flour warning it could contain gluten) and i added less water than you. Well, maybe my conversion to ml was wrong… Plus i used a kitchen aid artisan for the first part of kneading. Anyway, the result is amazing. Thank you very much for sharing this recipe, these bagels were just awesome.
Greetings from Luxembourg.
October 19th, 2011
I made this recipe the other day. We are New Yorkers and my husband is fairly picky about our bagels (even in NY) so you know we were skeptical that they would be any good at all. They hardly stayed bagel-shaped once I boiled them, but that was due to me not knowing what I was doing. The taste… Well, let’s just say my husband went out and got toppings for me to apply to the next batch. I had never used bread flour before this recipe so I tried some with and some with all-purpose. The bread flour does make a difference in the texture (for the better). Also, the second round, we boiled them a little longer on each side and increased the size of each bagel. I would say the recipe yields 6 NY sized bagels. Next, I am taking a stab at cinnamon raisin bagels. Thanks for the easy and delicious recipe.
October 23rd, 2011
What if I used all purpose flour and added some vital wheat gluten? I’ve never tried doing that before but I feel like it might work. Reading this made me need a bagel, like now. I don’t want to go to the store. No time for that.
October 23rd, 2011
Hi Lena- that would work!
October 23rd, 2011
Oh it worked. I made the !@#$ out of those bagels! We at them with butter and homemade fig preserves. 3 people, 8 bagels, 1 hour…gone.
October 30th, 2011
Hi!
I was looking for an easy recipe for bagels & saw this one. After reading all the comments I can’t wait to try it out. The only problem is that I can’t buy bread flour here. However, the baking stores do sell gluten. Any idea how much I should add per cup of all purpose flour? Thank you.
kamran replied:
November 6th, 2011 at 10:19 pm
Hi Ratika, I think Marie already answered your question before I got to (thanks Marie), but 30g or thereabouts seems correct.
November 2nd, 2011
Best bagel ever. Seriously. I have a question. Is it possible to make the dough in evening and bake next morning OR 2 mornings later? My boys want these for lunchboxes and I cannot make them every other day. What is the best storage to prevent them going stale? Fridge? Freezer? Thanks much!
kamran replied:
November 2nd, 2011 at 9:51 am
Hi Cynthia- If you want to make the dough in the evening, and bake it the next morning, you can do so by putting the dough to rise in the refrigerator over night; I wouldn’t do it 2 mornings later, though.
If you and your boys want bagels regularly, I’d bake a huge batch of them…
There are a couple routes:
1. Once they’re out of the oven and have cooled, pre-slice them, and store them in re-sealable (freezer safe) plastic bags, and let them thaw when needed. If you’re planning on toasting them, I don’t even think you need to bother thawing the bagels…
OR, you can…
2. Par-bake the bagels, cool them, and store them in re-sealable (freezer safe) plastic bags for later baking. So, maybe bake them until they are a faint gold tinge (about 10-15 minutes), and when you want fresh bagels, pop ‘em in the oven…
As for preventing them from going stale- I’d go with the freezing method mentioned above; whenever I make bagels, we normally end up eating the entire batch before we can store them for eating later in the week, but plastic bags (with the air removed) do help every bit.
November 3rd, 2011
Hello Hello! Great recipe! My dough consistency was perfect followed the recipe to the T and they came out looking perfect!!! The taste though…..While they were good they were a bit yeasty with a little weird taste (I’m guessing the yeast. This is my first time baking with yeast ha!).
Know I now the recipe isn’t at fault! Im sure i did something wrong! So is there anything i could do to make them less yeasty? Any tips? I did a bit of googling and some suggestions included letting it rest for less time or maybe not letting the yeast, water and sugar sit for too long? Or maybe they just needed to be in the oven longer? Maybe I used too much yeast (2 teaspoons).
Not really sure! They look amazing and I’m definitely using this recipe again and getting them perfect! Thanks in advance!
kamran replied:
November 6th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Hi Chris- I think that’s just the taste, more so the smell, of fresh yeast-made anything. It tastes and smells a little yeasty once out of the oven, but as it cools, it loses that yeasty taste a bit, but I think that smell and taste is one of the beauties of bread making… If you were to stop at your neighborhood bakery, and they pulled a batch of bagels or any type of bread out of the oven and handed it to you, you’d get the same smell and taste.
I’ll be updating the recipe soon, for those overseas who weigh their ingredients for a bit more accuracy (which I do now with a lot of my recipes).
I hope that helps! And happy baking! :)
November 3rd, 2011
@Ratika: I have the same issue and I included about 2 heaped teaspoons to this recipe.. The standard wheat flour (all purpose) here is about 10.5% protein and I think US high gluten flour is about 14.5%. I did some calculation and to make 100g high gluten flour: 94g standard flour + 6 g gluten flour. That means 30g for this recipe of 500g flour.. I probably used a bit less but it still worked :)
November 6th, 2011
Hello,
I am 2 months pregnant and have been craving a good bagel lately. Unfortunately I no longer live on the east coast where the good ones are. So when I found this recipe I was so happy, and even more so when I took my first bite. I don’t think I will ever buy bagels again. I don’t know if it is the pregnancy or that this recipe is that good. But I did a happy dance in my kitchen because they are so good. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much sophisticatedgourmet.com you made me very happy.
kamran replied:
November 6th, 2011 at 10:10 pm
Hi Athena! I’m so glad that you liked the bagels! Also- congratulations! :)
November 8th, 2011
Thanks Marie & Kamran! I was out of town with no internet access so just saw these responses. Will be trying them out this week & will let you know how they came out. Thank you! :)
November 8th, 2011
Thanks for a fantastic recipe. I had always assumed making bagels was difficult, but it’s just like making regular bread or pizza dough but with the extra fun step of boiling them. After reading all the positive reviews, I decided to try making bagels for the first time today, and they turned out great! I will definitely be using this recipe again. Homemade is so much cheaper than buying them in the supermarket and as my teenage son told me: “These are delicious!”
November 8th, 2011
I am SO making these. Been searching for something practical for over a month
kamran replied:
November 13th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Niri- they’re quite simple to make; do let me know when you make them- I’ll take the next train out and crash breakfast that morning ;)
November 12th, 2011
Thanks for posting this recipe! I’m going to try it today. What kind of egg wash do you recommend for putting on the toppings?
Thanks!
kamran replied:
November 13th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Hi Lynne- You don’t need anything too complicated. Just a beaten egg and about a teaspoon or so of water- just enough to thin-out the beaten egg a bit.
November 12th, 2011
Thank you.I’m not sure where,or if, we have fresh bagels in Perth,Australia,so I tried your recipe.Now I know what people mean when they talk about chewy bagels.the supermarket one,I ate prior to cooking this recipe,probably wasn’t in the first flush of youth.(and probably not how they are meant to be)
November 13th, 2011
I just made these bagels yesterday and they were so delicious! I will never buy a store bough bagel again. I was wondering tho if you have experimented with adding toppings into the dough (ie onions, blueberries, garlic) instead of putting them on top.
Thanks for the recipe!
kamran replied:
November 13th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
As a matter of fact, I have tried the recipe with add-ins; I’ve been working on a post for that; I’ll definitely try to get that up soon! :)
November 14th, 2011
Wow!!!! Amazing! Im a nyc girl born and raised and definitely a bagel snob. I just made them and they are great!!! Thank you so much for sharing! Happy i found your blog
November 17th, 2011
Hi Kamran,
So, I finally made these last week. They didn’t turn out so great & I think I know where I may have gone wrong. Firstly, after kneading I put the dough into an oiled bowl & only then read that I needed to use extra flour to make the dough firmer (dough was soft). But since I had already put it into the oiled bowl, I just let it be. Secondly, when I put them in the hot water, they did not sink. I’m assuming this was because I used too much yeast. I used 20gms of fresh yeast. I could not find exact conversions online for dry yeast to fresh yeast, & this was the closest I found. I want to try it again this weekend with less yeast & more flour.
When rolling, my dough was not smooth. It was not “closing up” (if that makes sense), so had deep lines in the dough after they were rolled. They did not form a smooth ball. The taste was about 70% of a real bagel, so was quite excited by that. Need to try again. Do you have any other tips/suggestions? Thank you.
November 17th, 2011
Hi,
Just made a batch of the bagels and they were awesome! Crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. This will definitely be a recipe that I will make often. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe with us.
November 19th, 2011
Hello, just found your website yesterday while looking for some food blogs and I’m so glad I did! My nieces and I made your bagels yesterday and while they turned out delicious, they were quite ugly, haha. When boiling them, they didn’t rise to the top, they went half way up in the water and then just floated around, spinning and sometimes flipping. I thought maybe the boil was too high, but when I turned it down they barely lifted at all. The dough ended up warping because of it. They still turned out delicious, just wondering what we did wrong. Thank you for the yummy recipe, my nieces loved them! :)
kamran replied:
November 19th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Hi Morgan- From your explanation, it seems that you might have not let the dough rise long enough, or you let it rise too much.
November 24th, 2011
Just got some of these in the oven now!
They look spectacular!
Thank you!
November 24th, 2011
Well, they come out and they taste amazing!
Almost crispy on the outside and incredibly chewy on the inside…
I, for one, will never buy bagels again!
I’ll be making them!
November 25th, 2011
Read the recipe and everyones comments so ive started making these. Iv rolled and shaped them and they are now In the fridge waiting for the morning, dont know if i can wait that long just want to hurry up and cook them so i can try them, at the moment they look great. Cant wAit for breakfast lol.. Well after breakfast, i will post and let u all know how i went wih this reciPe. Thanx
November 26th, 2011
Hi, made these today and they’re delicious! Its winter time here so even with the heat on there’s no ‘warm’ place to leave it to rise. I stuck it in a low oven and that seems to do the job , but they didn’t rise as much as they should. They tasted fabulous though =D
kamran replied:
November 27th, 2011 at 4:08 pm
Hi there! I think leaving them in a low oven was the problem with the rising… Like Desiree stated, warming your oven to about 100º and then shutting it off, would be okay. Courtney’s idea is also a great one… I tend to boil a mug of water in the microwave, then put the bowl of dough in there to rise…
November 26th, 2011
I’ve found the best place to rise doughs (I make lots of pizza!) is to stick your bowl on top of the fridge. You get the warm air from the compressor as it cycles on and off. I woke up this morning wanting bagels, and instead of heading to my local Noah’s, which has taken a significant portion of my paycheck over the past few months, I decided to make my own. Pretty much as soon as they came out of the oven, I had to try them. I made everything bagels, with caraway seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, fresh minced garlic and onion, and some freshly ground sea salt on top. They were phenomenal!! I made a batch for the coming week’s breakfasts, and hopefully I can restrain myself so they actually last that long, instead of eating them all today. Thanks for a great recipe!!
November 27th, 2011
I heat my oven on warm setting (100 degrees) for about 15 mins and then let my dough rise in there, works great everytime
November 27th, 2011
Thanks for the tip I will try that next time. I don’t normally bother with yeast cos it’s fiddly but this is a recipe I’ll try again with the tips suggested. =D
December 3rd, 2011
I am trying these for the first time. I am wondering if I can substitute with 1/2 whole wheat flour and does it matter if the first part of the recipe is done in a bread machine.
Thanks so much
December 5th, 2011
I made these this morning and my boyfriend and I have successfully eaten all of them. They were the most delicious and perfect bagels I have ever had! Thank you for sharing this simple but amazing recipe!
December 6th, 2011
Love this recipe!!!!! Like others who have lived on the east coast, you never lose that craving for the perfect bagel. This is it. Used my Kitchen Aid on speed 2 for the full 10 minute knead. Was able to work in extra flour with no exertion :) Worked beautifully. We live in the “sticks” of South Dakota where fresh bagels are nonexistant! I’ll be making these on a regular basis. Thanks again for sharing this recipe!
December 7th, 2011
hi, i live in singapore n we can never get good bagels from the stores. I have become an instant hit amongst my colleagues as i have become their bagel supplier! I bake for so many of them just so that i get many chances to perfect the shape of the bagels. The taste, the texture is PERFECT :-) Thank you
December 15th, 2011
Hi, we are going to make these bagels this weekend. Can I use spelt flour? (What exactly is bread flour?)
December 16th, 2011
I tried this recipe today, and they were delish.
Thanks for sharing.
December 16th, 2011
I live in Argentina and I havent had a bagel in 6 months since I came back from America… untin tonight! I made them and they are absolutely AMAZING thank you veeeeery much
December 17th, 2011
Thanks for the great bagel recipe! I made these last week and they were a huge hit with everyone in my house :)
December 19th, 2011
Hi, I was looking online for an easy bagel recipe, and your recipe caught my eye. Made the bagels and boy, are they good! Mine are not picture perfect, but certainly worth the effort. :-)
Thank you very much for sharing this recipe. It’s definitely a keeper! Already planning to make more bagels soon.
Have also shared your recipe link with like-minded friends.
Thanks again.
December 20th, 2011
My three daughters and I made this recipe and the bagels were excellent. We tripled the recipe and used spelt flour mixed with all purpose flour because we couldn’t find organic bread flour where we live. We homeschool and have baking days every Friday. We will be making a big batch of these bagels every Friday! Thank you!
kamran replied:
December 23rd, 2011 at 8:38 pm
Hi Karlina- Spelt Flour in this recipe sounds so interesting! Next batch, I’m using some spelt flour. I suspect that if you made these only with all-purpose flour, they would have been fine, but I’m sure that spelt flour made these bagels even more extraordinary than they are! Thanks for the great comment, and happy holidays! :)
December 23rd, 2011
These bagels are first thing I’ve ever baked in my LIFE that came out stellar, and I claim no part of that- this recipe is wonderful and wonderfully forgiving- which is really important to me personally. My family, a picky group of eaters aged 7 to 70, loved them as well and were so impressed! They looked a little pale after 20 minutes of baking so I broiled them for 1 minute and viola! gorgeous golden color on the top.
Thank you so so so so much for sharing this recipe. I’m already on my third batch and I am gonna make these forever.
Cheers!
-Mel
kamran replied:
December 23rd, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Hi Mel, I am so glad that everyone enjoyed them! Happy Holidays and happy baking! :)
December 25th, 2011
My dough didn’t rise at all. Tried the recipe twice Christmas morning. I’m so disappointed! I ruined Christmas breakfast :( Any suggestions on why these didn’t rise?
kamran replied:
December 25th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Sally, I truly apologize that your Christmas breakfast was ruined. There are many reasons for this. I suspect that the yeast you used was either expired, or you killed it by adding water that might have been too hot. Because I wasn’t in the kitchen with you, and you didn’t share the details of your process, I can’t tell you what exactly happened, but I suspect the yeast was either bad/killed. Or your kitchen was a bit too cold. Dough will rise in the cold, it’ll just take longer… Ideally, however, you should rise the dough in a warm environment. Feel free to email me what your process was, and what you may have been confused about in the recipe, and I’ll be happy to try and figure out why your bagel dough didn’t turn out the way it should have.
December 25th, 2011
Thanks for the advice. I live in Florida and it was hot today so that wasn’t the problem. I just bought the yeast yesterday so I think it should have been okay. How warm does the water need to be? I thought the temp was okay but maybe it was too hot. I might try one more time with half a batch. If you tell me a water temp then I’ll make sure it isn’t too hot. Thanks again for the advice. I’m a bagel lover so I want to get this right :)
kamran replied:
December 26th, 2011 at 12:31 am
Hi Sally- the water, ideally, should be between 100ºF and 115ºF. I’d make sure of a few things… That you’re not substituting anything in the recipe. That you’re using active dry yeast (dry active yeast), that you’re actually putting sugar with the yeast (no sugar substitutes), and not salt- salt will kill the yeast if you’re using that instead of the sugar.
Also, depending on the weather, it could take anywhere between 1 hour to 2 hours at room temperature for your dough to rise. I like to mark the container / bowl I’m using with a rubber band / a piece of masking tape to show where I start off at and where I should end up… If you don’t see that the dough is rising, the yeast is either dead, or it’s freezing in your home (which I don’t think is the problem here; you’re in Florida…). If your house is a bit chilly, I’d do this- in a large mug, boil some water in your microwave, and stick the bowl of dough in there (with the mug still inside the microwave). It’ll create a pretty good environment for the dough to rise in. In the other comments, commenters have offered other ways that they rise their dough (I’d read through them and use one that you feel might be right). I can’t imagine what’s not allowing your dough to rise, but I hope one of the tips I’ve mentioned helps. If not, please do tell me everything you did while making the recipe, and I’ll try to figure it all out from there. All the best!
December 26th, 2011
Thanks for the tips! I’ll give it another chance sometime this week I hope and let you know :)
December 28th, 2011
Thank you SO much for this recipe…
I was craving bagels as don’t have them often here in New Zealand but I would have them all the time when visiting friends in the states. So, to the wonderous google and what do I find? Your recipe…
So, I followed the recipe exactly and they came out great. I opted for the 2 min boiling either side as think the slight chewyness is part of the bagel charm!..
Have just sliced a bagel in half and lightly toasted it and then had butter and marmite! yummm….
Thanks again.
December 29th, 2011
It worked this time!!! I think I had the water too hot. I have 4 cheese and 4 cranberry bagels in the oven. Can’t wait to eat one!!!
December 29th, 2011
Bagels! I’ve just made this recipe and the result was awesome. I’ve been living in the Netherlands for 5 years now and I’ve never had a ‘real’ bagel here until now.
One baking issue…I greased the cooking sheet like in the recipe but they stuck like mad to the pan. Maybe next time I’ll try with cornmeal/polenta on the sheet instead of oil. Otherwise they were as good as any NY bagel I’ve had!
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
December 31st, 2011
I made these for lunch yesterday and they came out perfect. I had two right out of the oven one w/ vegan cream cheese and the other w/ vegan butter yummmmm!!!! – can’t talk, I’m savoring it in my head – I can see now how these can quickly become dangerous to my silhouette hahahaah. When my husband came home,I offered him a bagel sandwich for dinner and then he wanted another one just plain w/ butter to enjoy. I reheated mine in the oven after spraying them with a bit of water (that brought the crunch and that fresh out of the oven feel again)…his first complaint was, “You mean we could have been eating these awesome bagels all this time and you’ve never made them for me?” “Actually, now that I think about it, you’ve never made bagels before!!!”
So needless to say, thank you, thank you, thank you; your recipe was a big hit and I’ll definitely make these again. Of course, you should know that I’ll also be blaming you for my expanding waistband hahahaa. Happy New Year and Happy Baking!!!!;-)
kamran replied:
December 31st, 2011 at 11:51 am
Hi Uly- I’m so glad you like them so much! Happy New Year! :)
January 1st, 2012
Any adjustments needed at 4800 ft in elevation? I made some and they were really good tasting but I couldn’t develop the crusty and shiny outside. They seemed to not be wanting the 2 minutes in the kettle, I also added barly malt to the pot for the shine. What’s your suggestions? Cut down yeast? Lower proof time?
Thanks ST
kamran replied:
January 5th, 2012 at 1:59 pm
I’d definitely cut down on the proof time. Instead of doubling the dough in size, I’d let it rise 1/3 the size… I hope that helps!
January 5th, 2012
Would only using all purpose flour work? It’s all I can seem to find. Thanks in advance for the help.
January 5th, 2012
Im making these right now, I can already tell they are going to be awesome! Thanks!
January 6th, 2012
Happily these are the real thing as we moved from NY, albeit upstate, to central Michigan and real bagels are here unknown. In the major local grocery when I asked the whereabouts of lox I heard, “Do you mean leeks ?”, “No lox, thin slices of smoked salmon”. Finally found them but had to ask 3 different clerks. Made the bagels using Con-Agra Kyrol premium high gluten bread flour in my high powered 12 cup Cuisinart FP using the plastic dough blade. The FP works very well to produce extremely elastic dough with the added benefit that the mechanical energy from the 1000w motor warms the dough substantially. Really churned the dough until like taffy and could stretch it into a thin balloon like layer. A method unheard of in most bread cookbooks but one I learned from my good friend who makes the best European Artisan breads on Park Ave. in Rochester NY.
Cut the yeast back to 1 tsp on my second batch as I prefer less of the yeasty bread like flavor that I found in the first batch. Did slow down the rise so I doubled the time. Got rid of the yeasty taste.
Completely deflate the dough before rolling into balls to form the rounds. Otherwise the bagels are not correctly dense and loose some of their authentic texture.
Easy to make and truly NYC style.
January 7th, 2012
Do you have any advice on which steps you could do the night before? I did everything up to shaping the bagels, I then put them in the fridge on the tray. A few hours later I checked on them and they had swelled and closed up their holes, so were in danger of overproofing (maybe my fridge isn’t cold enough to retard them). I was hoping to do as much as possible the night before and just do the boiling and baking the next morning, but maybe it’s not possible?
kamran replied:
January 8th, 2012 at 11:27 am
Hi Sarah- I think that freezing the shaped dough might work (haven’t tried it, though). However, like I mentioned in a previous comment (Comment 27), you can par-bake the bagels the night before, and then in the morning finish baking them. There’s also the option of making the dough the night before, and popping it in the refrigerator overnight for a cold rise…
January 8th, 2012
For those of you who also had problems with sticking, try setting the just-boiled bagels on a wire rack or a plate to drain off any extra water before putting them on the cooking sheet. Also, instead of oiling the cooking sheet, try a thin layer of polenta or cornmeal.
I just made these for the second time this way and they didn’t stick at all. Reminded me of the sitzel bagels my grandmother used to bring for Sunday morning brunch.
January 10th, 2012
Was never fond of bagels, but this one sound delicious!
January 11th, 2012
Hey! I saw these and thought they looked sooooo good! I love bagels, and right now I am doing exam week at my college~ And I NEED these. But when I made them, the bagels didn’t float like they were supposed to…I didn’t use high gluten flour, just plain normal…Could this have effected that? Thanks!
kamran replied:
January 11th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Hi Hannah- I suspect your problem was just that the dough hadn’t risen enough. Sometimes, depending on the temperature of the kitchen, etc. the dough might take a little longer to double… What I like to do is mark the container / bowl I’m using with a rubber band / a piece of masking tape to show where I start off at and where I should end up… That way, you know the dough has risen properly, and won’t sink when you get to boiling the bagels.
January 18th, 2012
Hi,
I used to make bagels years ago when I worked as a baker. I no longer have that delicious recipe, but it was a commercial quantity and in Imperial units. I’m dying to try your recipe, but have always believed that authentic bagels use malt syrup instead of sugar. Do you have any idea what the substitution amount would be? Thanks!
January 24th, 2012
Hi there! I’m an expat living in Australia and dying to try your recipe! Thank you very much.
January 28th, 2012
Another expat living in Australia, this is my second time making these bagels and my family LOVES them! I’m kind of a health nut and always trying to find good food for my kids so this time I made a double batch using wholemeal (whole wheat) flour and wholemeal spelt flour- equal parts of both and used coconut sugar with pink himilian rock salt and topped half of them with black and white sesame seeds and the other half with a Pura Veda blend from the health food store. Super yummy and great to pack into my kids school lunches! Thanks for the amazing recipe!!