How to make NY Style Everything Bagels. Soft and chewy with a crispy exterior, and loaded with everything bagel spice, these bagels are as close to the real New York style bagel as you can get without living in NY!
There was a time in my life when I had an Everything Bagel with Flavored Cream Cheese religiously for breakfast. The flavors of the cream cheese would change from time to time, but I was loyal to my everything variety of bagel.
Of course this was in my teenage years, when my metabolism would burn off that 5 serving size portion of bread in 10 minutes. I still love and often miss the daily, comforting indulgence of the everything bagel. Nice and toasty, slathered with almost an equal proportion of cream cheese:bagel ratio…. mmmmmm (insert the sound of my belly growling here).
This is probably going to sound very very odd… but, I like to dip my cream cheese topped bagel in ketchup. Don’t knock it until you try it!!! I blame my mother.. she is a Northerner and puts ketchup on everything. But, I SWEAR it’s good! At least I think so.
I’ve made a variety of different recipes for bagels over my time in the kitchen. I’ve put my little spin, personal touch, and tweak on each of them. Then I combined the amounts of each ingredient, the steps, and techniques I liked to create a version of the NY Everything Bagel I am happy with.
It is as close as I am going to get considering I live here, in Florida… without access to NY water, which any NY-er will tell you is the secret to their bagel and pizza doughs.
As an individual with relatives in NY (Hi Aunt Tee and Uncle Steve), I am a believer in that secret. If it is a myth or not, I really could not tell you. I just know whatever they do up there in the N-to the-Y, they are doing the dang thing right. And, I never question or argue a good thing… I simply nod my head, smile, and roll with it as I stuff my face.
To recreate the NY style Bagel, malt is added to the poaching liquid to give it that characteristically nutty and slightly sweet flavor. Once it is mixed, rested, and shaped, it gets poached in the malt flavored water first to help recreate that chewy, but somehow delicate interior texture the NY Bagel is known and loved for. Then, the bagel is baked off in the oven to give it that crispy exterior.
The NY Bagel knows how to seduce your appetite. Go make this recipe and allow yourself to be transported to NY City via culinary indulgence. Sparkly red slippers and a dog name Toto not requred for this journey, we ain’t going to Kansas. Hope you enjoy these as much as I do.
Some serving suggestions for your NY Style Everything Bagels:
Toast and slather on some of this Bacon, Chive Flavored Cream Cheese (feel free to dip it in some ketchup… or don’t 🙂 )
Make it into a Lox ‘n Bagel Sandwich
Cube up the bagel, toast the cubes in the oven to make Everything bagel croutons for a simple salad with Gravlax, your favorite greens, some red onion, tomato and avocado
-xoxo-
Cheyanne
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NY Style Everything Bagel
Ingredients
- 1 Cup + 1 TBS Warm Water (110 degrees)
- 2 TBS Brown Sugar – Packed
- 1 Packet Active Dry Yeast (2 ¼ tsp)
- 1 ½ tsp Salt
- 2 Cups Bread Flour
- 1 Cup All Puprose Flour
- 1 TBS of Each: (‘Everything’ mixture)
- Poppy Seeds
- Toasted Sesame Seeds
- Caraway Seeds
- Minced Dried Onions
- Dried Chopped Chives
- Sea Salt
- ***Feel free to eliminate or adjust ‘everything’ topping according to your taste
- 3 Quarts Water – for boiling/simmering Bagels before baking
- 3 TB Malt Syrup (can substitute Granulated Sugar)
- 3 TB Cornmeal
- 1 Egg White + 1 TB water (For Egg Wash)
Instructions
- Place Water (1 cup + 1 TB) and Brown Sugar in the Bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook. Sprinkle on Dry Active Yeast. Allow to sit until mixture becomes foamy and yeast is activated, about 10 minutes.
- While Yeast is foaming combine ‘Everything’ Mixture in a small bowl.
- In a Large Mixing bowl combine Both Flours and Salt.
- Preheat your Oven to the LOWEST possible setting and place oven racks in the lower 1/3 position, once preheated turn off the oven… we are just creating a warm environment for the dough to rise.
- Once yeast is foamy, add Flour/Salt Mixture, ¼ cup at a time, to Yeast Mixture – over Low Speed. Add ONE TABLESPOON of the ‘everything’ topping mixture, continue to let the mixer knead on low speed for 2 minutes to completely combine all ingredients.
- Increase Stand Mixer speed to Medium-Low and mix for 5 minutes, until dough is smooth, elastic, and dough forms a ball around the dough hook.
- Cover Bowl with plastic wrap and a dish towel, place in warmed oven, and allow to slightly rise for 30-45 minutes (it will not double in size, but it should increase in size, by about 50%)
- After resting, divide the bagels into 8 pieces (about 3 oz. each). *I used a scale, but you can certainly just eye ball this. (Divide dough in halves until you have 8 pieces… this will make standard size bagels. If you want larger bagels, only cut dough to form 6 pieces. If you want mini bagels, divide dough into 12-14 pieces)
- Roll each piece of dough into a small ball between the palms of your hand and place on a clean work surface. Slightly flatten each ball.
- Poke a hole (from the backside of the dough) in the middle of each flattened dough ball with your thumb. Using your thumb, gently stretch and enlarge the hole while evening out the dough surrounding it. (I like my bagels to look rustic, so I don’t stress over making the hole perfectly center and even).
- Spray the Bagels with PAM or Oil Spray and replace the plastic wrap over top of them. Place to the side and allow to rise, again, for 1 hour.
- While the Bagels are rising for the second time, line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Sprinkle, generously, with cornmeal to evenly coat surface.
- In a small ramekin make your egg wash: combine 1 egg white with 1 TB water.
- Preheat your oven to 425 F degrees. ***if you put the formed bagels in the oven to rise, make sure you remove them before you preheat the oven!!!***
- In a large sauce pot bring about 3 quarts of water to a boil. When water is boiling add Malt Syrup and immediately reduce heat slightly to maintain a simmer.
- Working 1-3 at a time, depending on the size of your pot, add the Bagels to the Simmering Malt Water. Simmer one minute on each side. Remove to a wire rack lined sheet pan with a Spider or Flat Slotted Spoon/ Spatula (whatever you have to remove them and allow them to drain at the same time. Repeat process until all of the Bagels are Par-Cooked in Water.
- Using a Pastry Brush, apply Egg Wash to the Tops of all the Bagels. Generously Sprinkle on the remaining ‘everything’ mix.
- Transfer Bagels to the Cornmeal Prepared Baking Sheet.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes. Rotate baking sheet 180 degrees and continue baking an additional 8-10 minutes or until Bagels are Golden Brown and Cooked through.
- Remove baking sheet from oven and allow Bagels to continue to cook/ cool on the pan for 2 minutes.
- Remove Bagels to a Wire Rack and allow to cool completely.
Notes
Bacon, Chive & Garlic Cream Cheese
Lox 'n Bagel Sandwich
-or-
Cured Salmon
*Alternatively you could just rip them apart with your hands and slather them with butter… no judgment here.
Nutrition
I cannot wait to make these – It is impossible to buy good everything bagels here! Also, your blog makes me hungry 🙂
I think your recipe writing is really top notch. Keep up the great work so the rest of us can learn a thing or two about building and maintaining a successful blog. BTW, your bagels look good too.
Thank you! That is very kind! Im always finding gramatical errors or little details I forgot to include. Its hard remebering to include every little step.. so easy to just assume, oh they will know to do this here. So your nice words are very appreciated! 🙂