How to make Bagels from Scratch

Instructions

1. Make the dough

   • First, grab about ½ cup of warm water and mix it together with the yeast and the sugar.
   • Once the yeast and the sugar are all dissolved, grab a bigger bowl and put the flour in.
   • Next, we are going to add in the yeast mixture with the remaining water.
   • As I have mentioned before in previous videos, we usually never know how much water a flour needs.
   • With that said, we’re gonna add most of it first and then see if it needs the rest.

   • You need
   • ½ cup warm water
   • 1 tbsp yeast
   • 1 ½ tbsp sugar
   • 4 cups all-purpose flour
   • 1 cup water

2. Rest, then add the salt

   • Next, we will mix it until it’s like a play-dough and let it rest covered for about 10 minutes.
   • As soon as 10 minutes are done, mix in the salt and add just a little bit of water.
   • The water is going to help to dissolve the salt.

   • You need
   • 1 ½ tsp salt

   Start a 10 min timer

3. Knead

   • In short, mix it with your hands and then move it onto a flat surface.
   • Finally, knead the dough for about 5 to 10 minutes, until you get something beautiful and smooth.

   Start a 10 min timer

4. Let it rise

   • First, put the dough in a bowl and cover it with olive oil and saran wrap.
   • Let the bagel dough rest for about an hour.
   • After an hour has passed, the dough should be doubled in size.

   • You need
   • olive oil

   Start a 1 hr timer

5. Divide the dough

   • Next, move it onto a flat surface and divide it into eight separate pieces.
   • As soon as you cut the pieces, make sure they are about the same size.

6. Shape the balls

   • Grab one of the pieces and fold its sides inwards.
   • We are looking to create a spherical shape.
   • Once the dough looks like a ball, you’ll place it on a flat, unfloured surface and move it around with your hand, just like the ball is in a cage.
   • This will shape the dough into a perfect sphere.
   • When all your balls are ready, cover them and let them rest for 10 minutes.

   Turn the oven on now, so it’s at 425°F (220°C) by the time the bagels come out of the water.

   Start a 10 min timer

7. Shape the bagels

   • Now it’s time to shape the dough to look like a bagel.
   • Dust your fingers with flour and poke a hole using your index finger and thumb.
   • Stick both of your index fingers from the outside and start spinning the dough.
   • The bagel hole shouldn’t be bigger than an inch.
   • Repeat the same process for all the remaining pieces.

   

   No bigger than an inch.

8. Get the water ready

   • And now it’s the weird part.
   • We have to boil them.
   • The baking soda will raise the water upwards, so make sure your boiling pot is only filled halfway.
   • In addition, the wider the pot, the more bagels you can boil at the same time.
   • When the water starts boiling, put in 1 tbsp baking soda and 2 tbsp sugar.

   • You need
   • 1 tbsp baking soda
   • 2 tbsp sugar

   Only half full. It foams up.

9. Boil the bagels

   • When the water is boiling, put the bagels in one at a time, without stacking them on top of each other.
   • Boil the bagels for one to two minutes on each side.
   • The longer it boils, the more chewy it becomes.

   Start a 1 min timer

10. Egg wash and seasoning

    • Place your bagels in a baking pan and lightly cover them up with egg wash.
    • If you like your bagels plain, you’re pretty much done.
    • Otherwise, here is where you add your favorite seasoning.
    • In my scenario, I’m using everything bagel seasoning from Trader Joe’s.

    • You need
    • egg
    • everything bagel seasoning

11. Bake

    • We are going to bake the bagels at 425°F (220°C) for 20 minutes.
    • And this is how you make the perfect bagel.

    Start a 20 min timer