Bagels
Bagels are made with the stiffest dough of any bread - this allows them to be boiled before baking without turning into a floppy mess. The boiling stage, using alkalized water, contributes to the shiny appearance and final chewy texture and flavour. Bagels work well with both sweet and savoury variations, such as cinnamon and raisin, or onion & poppy seed. They are also delicious when split and toasted.
This is my adaptation of Peter Reinhart's recipe in The Bread Baker's Apprentice (see the Further Reading page to buy the book). I have changed the quantities slightly and converted them to metric, and substituted a longer prefermentation for the final retardation, since I can never find room for a dozen shaped bagels to sit in the fridge without being squashed!
Ingredients
Sponge:
500g Strong white bread flour - use the highest protein content flour you can find
560g cold water
1 tsp instant/easy blend yeast
Final Dough:
475g Strong white bread flour (again, very strong or high protein flour is best)
20g salt
1 tablespoon malt syrup/honey/brown sugar
½tsp instant/easy blend yeast
Mix all the ingredients for the sponge in a bowl until there is no dry flour left. Cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight. Add the remaining ingredients and knead by hand or (preferably, since the dough is so stiff) with a stand mixer for five minutes until the dough is smooth and passes the windowpane test. The dough should be slightly tacky but noticeably firmer than other bread dough, and certainly not sticky. Shape it into a ball and place in a bowl, covered with oiled cling film, and leave to ferment at room temperature until doubled in height, around two hours.
Deflate the risen dough and divide into 12 pieces. To shape a bagel, roll a piece of dough out until you have a rope that is long enough to wrap around your hand (going through the space between thumb and forefinger), with about an inch overlapping on your palm. You may need to roll each piece out a couple of times, with a few minutes rest in between, as the gluten will make the dough contract. When you have the required length, gently roll your hand backwards and forwards a few times on the worktop, pressing the overlapping ends together until they are thoroughly sealed. Put the shaped bagels on a piece of floured or oiled baking parchment, cover with oiled cling film, and leave in a cool place for around half an hour before boiling. (Peter Reinhart's recipe suggests retarding them in the fridge at this point, but there is a risk of the gluten losing its elasticity and becoming floppy if you leave them too long).
Boil a large pot of water with one tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda/baking soda, and preheat the oven to its highest setting. Using a spatula, slide a bagel into the boiling water and boil for one minute, then flip it over and boil for another minute on the other side. If you want a chewier texture, you can boil for two minutes each side. Remove from the water and allow to dry on a wire rack or clean towel before baking. You can bake the first batch of bagels while still shaping and boiling the later ones. Put the shaped, boiled bagels on a sheet of baking parchment and bake for five minutes in a very hot oven, then turn over and bake for another five to ten minutes until they are a deep golden brown.
