Better Than Store-bought Bagels (2009-01-04)
In my humble opinion, I think these bagels are much better than H & H's and those we get in Tokyo. Even after thawing them from the freezer and reheating in the oven, they are still better than any store-bought ones. What are you waiting for? Make some today!
Tips: There are two important points to take note when making
these bagels in order to get that chewiness a good bagel should have.
- The second proofing time must be short (not like in normal bread recipe when the dough is allowed to rise till doubled).
- After boiling the bagels, they must go straight to the oven. If you let them sit on the counter, they'll not expand in the oven and will lose the correct texture.
I made this batch using dried cranberries which give a delicious
tartness to the bagels. If you omit them, you'll have plain
bagels or you can substitute them with dried blueberries to make
blueberry bagels. Needless to say, you can also make raisin and
cinnamon bagels. The sky's the limit!
Cranberry Bagels (makes 4)
Bread flour 200gm, water 120ml, instant yeast 3gm, salt 4gm, granulated
or caster sugar 5gm, 2Tbsp dried cranberries (rehydrated in a bit of
water for 15 minutes)
Steps:
- Put all the ingredients in the bread machine in the order it specifies. Do the dough cycle and let it rise till doubled in size. (If knead by hand, use warm water and knead till smooth and elastic. Cover the dough and let it rise till doubled, about an hour)
- Remove the dough from the machine, weigh it and divide it into four equal portions. Slightly form into a ball and let rest 10 minutes, covered.
- Flatten each ball with a rolling pin to about the size of the palm, roll from one end to shape into a log about 20 cm long.
- Flatten one end of the log so that it can wrap around the other end to make a smooth donut shape.
- Let the dough rise 12 minutes in 30C environment or 25 minutes in 22C environment.
- Use a timer, boil the dough for exactly 30 seconds PER side.
- Place boiled dough on baking sheet and bake straight away in a preheated 190C oven for 18 minutes.
- Cool on baker's canvas or rack.
- Freeze any leftover. Reheat thawed bagels in 170C oven for 5-10 minutes.
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