This is a great recipe that doesn’t take a huge amount of time from start to finish. I found the hardest thing with sourdough in the beginning was the timing. If you start this recipe just after breakfast, you’ll be shaping these into bagels in the mid afternoon, and into the oven before dinner. You can also put them in the fridge overnight to allow for a more sour flavour to develop. In that case start these around lunchtime and the next morning pull them out, dip them in their boiling water bath and into the oven for fresh morning bagels.
Ingredients
1 cup (224g) active sourdough starter (fed or unfed)
1 1/2 cups (315 ml) warm water
4.5 cups (630g) unbleached bread flour, divided * *(If you prefer a wholewheat bagel as I do, use a mixture of 530g unbleached flour and 100g wholewheat flour)
2 tablespoons ( 42g) barley malt syrup (or honey or molasses)
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup (56g) granulated sugar (for boiling water)
2 teaspoons baking soda (for boiling water)
1 egg white, whisked lightly
Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, caraway seeds or kosher/coarse sea salt for topping (optional). To make "everything" bagels combine a tablespoon of each of the seeds & a teaspoon salt with a pinch each of garlic powder & onion powder.
Instructions
Combine the starter, water and 2 cups of the flour in a mixing bowl. Mix to form a thick batter. Cover the bowl and set aside for 30-60 minutes.
Add the barley malt syrup and salt. Switch to the dough hook if using stand mixer. Add the remaining flour and mix to combine. The dough should eventually cling to the hook and start to clear the sides of the bowl.
Knead 5 minutes on medium speed. If working by hand, stir in as much of the flour as you can, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in the remaining flour. Knead 5 minutes. Form the dough into a smooth ball.
Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat the dough. Cover the bowl and set it aside at room temperature. After 30 minutes uncover the bowl, lift one side of the dough and fold it into the middle of the dough. Repeat with the other three sides of the dough then flip the dough over. You're basically turning the dough inside-out to redistribute the yeast. Cover the bowl and after 30 minutes repeat the procedure. Cover the bowl and after 60 minutes repeat the procedure again. By now the dough should be lively, elastic and airy. If the dough is still sluggish give it another hour or two at room temperature.
Line a baking pan with parchment paper then generously sprinkle the paper with cornmeal (or flour). Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface without kneading out the air. Divide the dough into 12 even pieces. Use a cupped hand to roll each piece into a smooth ball.
To form a bagel, poke your finger all the way through the centre of a ball to make a hole. Use two fingers to gently open up the hole. Continue gently stretching to form the bagel or twirl the dough around your fingers to widen the centre hole to 1 - 1.5" wide.
Place the bagel on the prepared sheet pan and continue to form the remaining bagels. The dough will probably spring back a bit so you can go back and re-stretch the holes once you're done forming all the bagels. Cover the pan with plastic wrap.
*If refrigerating overnight, place the bagels in the fridge now to pull out first thing in the morning. *If you are wanting bagels sooner rather than later leave them on the counter in a warm place for 2 – 3 hours or until the bagels have become noticeably puffier from when they first went on the cookie sheet.
Preheat the oven to 450°F. In a large pot combine 4 litres of water with the sugar and baking soda and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to keep the water at a rolling simmer. Set a cooling rack over a sheet pan or kitchen towel and place it next to the stove. Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and generously sprinkle with corn meal (or flour).
Once the oven is preheated, you're ready to boil. Gently lift a bagel off the sheet pan and lower it into the water. Boil the bagels for 30 seconds, flip and boil for 30 seconds on the other side. Depending on the size of your pot, you can boil 2-3 bagels at a time. As you remove the bagels from the water, set them on the cooling rack to drain.
Place 6 of the boiled bagels on each sheet pan. You could fit them all on one pan but they may stick together as they bake.
Brush the bagels with egg white. Add the topping(s) of your choice. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Notes
The fermentation time will vary based on the ambient temperature of the room and the temperature of your dough. The dough will start out fairly dense. It should be quite aerated and elastic by the end of the 3 hour fermentation. If the dough is very cool and sluggish you can set the bowl over a bowl of warm water to warm it up a bit.
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