Behold the one-hour bagel

[Jenise]

12:32 p.m.: pulled flour, sugar, salt and dry yeast from the pantry.

Mixing, rising, forming, boiling ensued.

1:37 p.m.: pulled one dozen bagels out of the oven.

DSCF0028.JPG

Wow. that was quick work!
And they look great.

I'm impressed. Can you overnight those here?

[Jenise]

The recipe's a keeper. I compared it to the recipe in Daniel Leader's book, 'Bread Alone'. Conveniently enough, he times the steps--3 hours, five minutes. Otherwise his ingredient list is almost identical to below except for his calling for 4 tsp of yeast (moist or dry, same amount), and longer rest times. I can appreciate the good that does because it allows for some building of flavor from fermentation, but the result is still pretty dead on.




Nancy's Make 'Em Quick Bagels

3 2/3 c bread flour
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tblsp sugar
1.5 tsp kosher salt
1 tblsp vegetable (or other neutral) oil
10 oz warm water
2 tblsp baking soda


1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook, add flour, salt, sugar, yeast and oil. Turn mixer on at lowest speed, then drizzle the warm water down the side of the bowl. When the water is completely incorporated, about two minutes, add up to 2 additional ounces only if needed for the sides of the bowl to be clean of dough. The dough should climb the hook.

2. Increase speed one notch and mix for 7 minutes. While mixing, set oven to 425 F and fill a large (4-5 qt) saucepan about 2/3 of the way with water; add baking soda. Heat. Will need to be ready to bring back to a boil in about 20 minutes.

3. Remove dough hook, cover dough with towel and allow to rest/rise 15 minutes.

4. Remove dough to an UNfloured board need into a log. Cut into 10 or 12 equal pieces (I made a dozen, but they were slightly smaller than bagelry bagels, so I'd go with 10 next time).

5. Roll each dough piece into a 9 inch tube then form bagel by wrapping around your four fingers, overlapping the ends and then gently rolling the overlapped part closed and circular.

6. Boil the bagels in three batches. They will float almost immediately; boil on each side for about 20 seconds--the dough will fill out and become a near-perfect circle. Remove to a wire rack to drip dry. Apply any sprinkles desired now.

7. Line baking sheet with parchment or a sprinkle of corn meal, arrange bagels, and bake in middle of oven about 20-25 minutes. (Recipe said 25-30, but my dozen were done in 20).

Fantastic! I have gotten so sick of the over-inflated to the point of being almost insubstantial "bagels" most delis around here insist on pumping out these days. Yeah, they're visually impressive. But you might as well be biting into a half-loaf of slightly crusty Wonder Bread. A far cry from the toothsome - but smaller - examples of my youth. Yours look a lot more like them. I've got to try these. Thanks for posting the recipe!

Now if I could just get a hold of the onion bialys my buddy Ricky Rubenstein's mom used to make, I'd be in heaven. Again.

[Jenise]

Fantastic! I have gotten so sick of the over-inflated to the point of being almost insubstantial "bagels" most delis around here insist on pumping out these days. Yeah, they're visually impressive. But you might as well be biting into a half-loaf of slightly crusty Wonder Bread. A far cry from the toothsome - but smaller - examples of my youth. Yours look a lot more like them. I've got to try these. Thanks for posting the recipe!

Now if I could just get a hold of the onion bialys my buddy Ricky Rubenstein's mom used to make, I'd be in heaven. Again.

Just use the best flour you can get. I use King Arthur unbleached AP because that's the best available here and all I had on hand, but the friend who gave me the recipe raved about the result she got from a 00 "pizza flour".

I use King Arthur unbleached AP because that's the best available here, but the friend who gave me the recipe raved about the result she got from a 00 "pizza flour".

King Arthur is popular around here, so if I make these I'll spring for a sack of that. Thanks!

I use King Arthur unbleached AP because that's the best available here

Jenise, gluten seems to be a good thing in bagels, so you might try King Arthur bread flour, which you should also be able to find. Another possibility is Bob's Red Mill unbleached white, available in organic and not, I think. That's become more or less my standard bread flour. Probably my favorite for bagels, though, is from an outfit called Wheat Montana, called Natural White All Purpose. It's not everywhere but it is out there. I did some research a while back and it seemed to be the highest protein flour I had a chance of finding in local grocery stores.

I made these yesterday, using 00 flour. They didn't come out quite as pretty as yours, Jenise, as they didn't round out in the water. I also had another issue with them when I put them in to boil: they didn't float, instead sinking to the bottom of the pot and sticking to it. I had to use a spatula to get them off the bottom. Once I did that, they floated. Overall, though, I liked the results and they taste great.

[Jenise]

an outfit called Wheat Montana, called Natural White All Purpose.

Mark, I am a total Wheat Montana fan. But it disappeared from our shelves for awhile and only last week I finally found it again--both Haggen and The Community Co-Op now stock all three of their flours. Btw, we're finally getting a Whole Foods in Bellingham. Will be 12-18 months before it opens, but the site's been purchased or leased and plans are going ahead.

[Jenise]

I made these yesterday, using 00 flour. They didn't come out quite as pretty as yours, Jenise, as they didn't round out in the water. I also had another issue with them when I put them in to boil: they didn't float, instead sinking to the bottom of the pot and sticking to it. I had to use a spatula to get them off the bottom. Once I did that, they floated. Overall, though, I liked the results and they taste great.

Mike, how odd. I don't understand the science well enough to even guess at why yours didn't float, but mine did immediately and they rounded out--I found it took a bit longer than the 20 seconds the recipe says, more like 30, but neither was my water boiling as vigorously as it could have so I presumed that was the issue. I did leave them in the water until they puffed out a bit.