Learn how to make New York Bagels right at home! Soft and chewy on the inside with the perfect crisp exterior and plenty of your favorite bagel toppings, this simple NY bagels recipe is close to the real deal as you can get!
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Heat water, add sugar + oil: Heat 1 cup of hot water to 115-120 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the sugar and oil. Stir to dissolve and set aside
Combine dry ingredients: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the flour and sprinkle on the yeast. Mix or whisk to combine and evenly distribute the yeast.
Add wet ingredients: With the mixer on LOW, slowly pour in the hot water. Mix until just combined.
Add salt and mix: Sprinkle the salt over the dough. Mix on MEDIUM for 8-10 minutes, or until the dough feels barely tacky and bounces back when poked.If your dough is too sticky, sprinkle in a little bit of flour as necessary.If your dough is too dry, add a tablespoon of water. Continue to mix, adding more flour or water as necessary, until the dough bounces back.(Tip: To be extra-sure your dough is ready for proofing, tear off a small portion of dough. Gently stretch it - does it pass the windowpane test? If so, continue with the recipe. If not, mix on medium for an additional 1-2 minutes. SEE NOTES)
Proof dough: Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and form into a tight ball. Grease the insides of the mixing bowl with oil. Transfer the ball of dough to the oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat in oil. Cover with a tea towel and set aside on the counter OR transfer the covered bowl into your DIY Proofing Oven – close the oven. (SEE NOTES) Let proof in oven for 25 minutes, or on the counter for 35 minutes, or until the dough has almost doubled in size. (Note: If you are using active dry yeast, allow the dough to proof for 90 minutes).
Divide dough and shape bagels: Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 8 equal size pieces (Tip: Use a scale to be precise.) Working with one small piece of dough at a time, place the ball on a clean work surface. Use cupped hands and light pressure to shape the dough it into a ball. Next, use your thumb to poke a hole in the center of the dough. Then, holding the dough ball with your thumbs in the hole, rotate the dough to gently stretch the hole to about 1 ½ to 2-inches wide. Set the bagel aside on your work surface. Repeat shaping the remaining dough balls into bagels. (Tip: Don’t stress about making the hole perfect. There’s something aesthetically pleasing about “rustic” looking bagels.)
Quick Rise: Spray the bagels lightly with non-stick cooking oil. Cover the bagels with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let rest for 10 minutes.You can continue straight to next step. OR transfer the covered bagels to the refrigerator and store for up to 2 days. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and let sit on the counter for 30 minutes, covered, before boiling. (SEE NOTES)
Preheat oven and Prepare Baking Sheet: Arrange oven rack to the center position. Preheat oven to 425-degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and generously sprinkle corn meal evenly over the paper. Set aside. (Tip: Classic NY style bagels have a thin coating of cornmeal or semolina on the bottom. The cornmeal prevents the bottom of the bagels from sticking to the paper during baking. If you don’t have cornmeal or semolina, use non-stick baking spray.)
Prepare Poaching Liquid Meanwhile, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add malt syrup (or sugar) and salt. Reduce heat the heat to maintain a low boil / rapid simmer.
Simmer bagels: Using a large, slotted spoon, skimmer, or slotted spatula, carefully lower a bagel into the simmering poaching liquid. Repeat, adding as many bagels as will fit in the pot, working with 1 bagel at a time. Let the bagels cook for 1 minute, flip over, and cook for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute. Use the slotted spoon to lift bagel out of pot, being sure to thoroughly drain each bagel. Transfer the bagel, dome-side-up, to the cornmeal coated parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat boiling all the bagels. (Note: For chewy bagels, cook for a total of 2 minutes; for less chewy bagels, cook for a total of 1.5 minutes.)
Egg wash + toppings: In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and the water. Use a pastry brush to apply egg wash to the tops of all the bagels. Sprinkle desired toppings generously over the top. (See notes for topping options.)
Bake: Transfer bagels to the oven and bake, rotating pan halfway through baking, for 18-24 minutes total, or until golden brown and aromatic.Tip: Check on your bagels at the 18-minute mark! My oven is about 4 years old, and it’s calibrated every 6 months. Sometimes my bagels take 18 minutes to bake, and sometimes they take 21 minutes.Note: The bagels will feel hard fresh out of the oven. They will soften as they cool, so don’t be alarmed!
Cool: Use a spatula to transfer bagels to a wire rack to cool for at least 20-30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Enjoy: Slice bagels open and spread with your favorite cream cheese, whipped flavored butter, softened butter, jam, smashed avocado and more. Enjoy!
Notes
110 to 115-degree water: I find it easiest to heat the water in a 1 ½ to 2 cup glass measure in the microwave. This way it’s easy to add the sugar and oil, then pour the mixture into your bowl.
DIY Proofing Box: To encourage and speed up the dough rise; you can create a DIY proofing oven 1 of 2 ways. Please note, the first method calls for heating the oven before starting the recipe; while the latter requires 3 cups of boiling water.
Oven Temp: Before starting the recipe, arrange oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 170, or lowest possible temperature setting. Once preheated, immediately turn the oven off. You are just creating a slightly warm environment so your bagel dough can proof quickly! You don’t want to bake the bagel dough at this point. Make dough as directed, when ready to proof, place dough into slightly warm oven.
Boiling Water: When you are ready to proof the dough, arrange a loaf pan on the bottom rack of the oven. Pour 3 cups of boiling water into the pan. Arrange another oven rack directly above the load pan. Place your bowl of dough on the rack and close the oven door. Keep the oven door closed and let dough proof. Do not turn on the oven for this method —the hot water will keep the oven warm.
Stop and start this recipe! You can make this bagel recipe over the course of 2 days if you would like. To make the bagel dough one day and bake the bagels another, spray the shaped bagels lightly with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before boiling. To make sure bagels are done proofing and ready to go, perform a “float test”. Fill a small bowl with water. Place one bagel into the water – if it floats you are good to go. However, if it sinks, let the bagels sit at room temperature for an additional 10 minutes. Then perform float test again.
Toppings: Toppings are the perfect way to customize your bagels! If you prefer plain bagels, you can apply the egg wash for a beautiful sheen-finish OR you can skip the egg wash step of the recipe completely (step 12). Below are some of delicious topping options for NY-style bagels:
Everything Bagel Seasoning
Poppy Seeds
Sesame Seeds
Caraway Seeds
Coarse Sea Salt
Cinnamon Sugar
Shredded Asiago Cheese
Freshly minced garlic
Freshly chopped onion
Nutritional information is an approximation based upon 8 bagels. Exact information will depend upon the brands of ingredients and precise measurements used.