Bagels - Poppyseed and Multiple seed and Onion
Back in February, Charles, of FiveEuroFood, posted his recipe for Fast Onion Bagels. They looked delicious and reminded me that many years ago, I too used to make bagels which were greatly appreciated by my family. :) I don't remember why I stopped making them. Probably I got bored.
In any case, I dug out my old recipe card from my plastic recipe box (I did say it was many years ago, after all) and, this weekend, finally made a batch. Instead of making the full batch, of 3 dozen bagels, I decided to half the recipe, and, sprinkle the tops with various seeds ... poppy and black and white sesame seeds, as well as some dried minced onions. I also did a bit of experimenting with the temperature, technique and size of bagels made.
Fast Bagels - makes 1 1/2 dozen
1 pkt ( 2 1/4 tsp) dried active yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup milk, scalded
1/4 cup shortening (or lard)
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg, separated
3 1/4 - 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
In a small bowl, dissolve the first amount of sugar in warm water. Sprinkle the yeast gently over the top and allow to sit in a warm place for 10 min to proof.
In a large bowl, cream together the shortening along with the 2nd amount of sugar, add the egg yolk and then the cooled milk. Add the yeast to the above shortening mixture.
Beat the egg white in a separate bowl until it's stiff. Fold into the batter. Add the flour a cup at a time and salt. (Measure out the 4 1/2 cups of flour and start by adding the first cup of flour with the salt, and then the rest, stirring in thoroughly until you get a ball that holds together. You'll have ~1 cup of flour in reserve at this point.) Sprinkle some of the remaining flour on a clean area and knead well for about 10 min, gradually adding the reserve flour as needed. The dough will be medium firm but not stiff.
(NOTE: I had about 1/2 cup of flour left that I didn't need.)
Rub a bit of vegetable oil on the inside of a large bowl, put the ball of dough inside, cover with a clean cloth and put in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough doubles in size.
Divide the dough into 18 equal pieces and roll each piece out into a rope about 8" long and 1/2" in diameter. Join and secure the ends firmly by overlapping and twisting to form a circle. Let stand covered with a clean cloth on a baking sheet or clean floured cloth until almost doubled in size, leaving about 1 1/2" between the circles.
Preheat your oven to 400 deg F.
Fill a large pot about 2/3 full of water and bring to a brisk simmer or low boil. Drop bagels into simmering water 2 or 3 at a time, cook for 2 or 3 minutes, turning gently every minute or so. If your ends were not sealed properly, the bagels may untwist at this point and you may have to reform them gently onto a greased baking sheet. (You may line your baking sheet with parchment paper instead of greasing it, although the bagels will stick to the paper and be difficult to reposition if you find that is needed.)
Bake for about 15-20 min or until golden brown.
Salt, sesame, poppyseeds or a combination of seeds may be sprinkled on before baking.
I tried to dip my first bagels into a bowl of poppyseeds (2 tbsp) but found that the bagels were too delicate to handle easily. Too many poppyseeds stuck to the bagels and, although I thought I had drained off the excess water from the bagels, it got into the poppyseeds resulting in a soggy mess. It's easier just to sprinkle about a tsp of seeds over each bagel. There will be wasteage but there really isn't any other solution I could think of.
Bagels with sesame seeds sprinkled on before baking
I found that the dried minced onion got a definite burned taste in the multiple seed bagels. It didn't help that I had decided to make larger bagels than the recipe called for. The additional baking time needed to cook these bagels probably didn't help with the onion burning problem. If you want minced onions in your bagels, add them to the dough as Charles did. :)
Poppyseed Bagels
Black and white sesame seed, poppyseed and dried minced onion bagels
Inside the bagels
Underside of bagels
Too many poppyseeds
In any case, I dug out my old recipe card from my plastic recipe box (I did say it was many years ago, after all) and, this weekend, finally made a batch. Instead of making the full batch, of 3 dozen bagels, I decided to half the recipe, and, sprinkle the tops with various seeds ... poppy and black and white sesame seeds, as well as some dried minced onions. I also did a bit of experimenting with the temperature, technique and size of bagels made.
Fast Bagels - makes 1 1/2 dozen
1 pkt ( 2 1/4 tsp) dried active yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup milk, scalded
1/4 cup shortening (or lard)
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg, separated
3 1/4 - 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
In a small bowl, dissolve the first amount of sugar in warm water. Sprinkle the yeast gently over the top and allow to sit in a warm place for 10 min to proof.
In a large bowl, cream together the shortening along with the 2nd amount of sugar, add the egg yolk and then the cooled milk. Add the yeast to the above shortening mixture.
Beat the egg white in a separate bowl until it's stiff. Fold into the batter. Add the flour a cup at a time and salt. (Measure out the 4 1/2 cups of flour and start by adding the first cup of flour with the salt, and then the rest, stirring in thoroughly until you get a ball that holds together. You'll have ~1 cup of flour in reserve at this point.) Sprinkle some of the remaining flour on a clean area and knead well for about 10 min, gradually adding the reserve flour as needed. The dough will be medium firm but not stiff.
(NOTE: I had about 1/2 cup of flour left that I didn't need.)
Rub a bit of vegetable oil on the inside of a large bowl, put the ball of dough inside, cover with a clean cloth and put in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough doubles in size.
Divide the dough into 18 equal pieces and roll each piece out into a rope about 8" long and 1/2" in diameter. Join and secure the ends firmly by overlapping and twisting to form a circle. Let stand covered with a clean cloth on a baking sheet or clean floured cloth until almost doubled in size, leaving about 1 1/2" between the circles.
Preheat your oven to 400 deg F.
Fill a large pot about 2/3 full of water and bring to a brisk simmer or low boil. Drop bagels into simmering water 2 or 3 at a time, cook for 2 or 3 minutes, turning gently every minute or so. If your ends were not sealed properly, the bagels may untwist at this point and you may have to reform them gently onto a greased baking sheet. (You may line your baking sheet with parchment paper instead of greasing it, although the bagels will stick to the paper and be difficult to reposition if you find that is needed.)
Bake for about 15-20 min or until golden brown.
Salt, sesame, poppyseeds or a combination of seeds may be sprinkled on before baking.
I tried to dip my first bagels into a bowl of poppyseeds (2 tbsp) but found that the bagels were too delicate to handle easily. Too many poppyseeds stuck to the bagels and, although I thought I had drained off the excess water from the bagels, it got into the poppyseeds resulting in a soggy mess. It's easier just to sprinkle about a tsp of seeds over each bagel. There will be wasteage but there really isn't any other solution I could think of.
Bagels with sesame seeds sprinkled on before baking
I found that the dried minced onion got a definite burned taste in the multiple seed bagels. It didn't help that I had decided to make larger bagels than the recipe called for. The additional baking time needed to cook these bagels probably didn't help with the onion burning problem. If you want minced onions in your bagels, add them to the dough as Charles did. :)
Poppyseed Bagels
Black and white sesame seed, poppyseed and dried minced onion bagels
Inside the bagels
Underside of bagels
Too many poppyseeds