I've been making these sourdough bagels for a couple of years now, and they are just incredible. The sourdough tang plays great with the everything seasoning, and it absolutely blows away anything I've had from a grocery store or deli. This recipe is adapted from a Reddit post by a u/978nobody, but I've made enough changes to it by this point that it's kinda my own thing.
Ingredients:
- 200g active starter
- 750g bread flour
- 360g water
- 15g honey
- 10g salt (go to 15g if not mixing the everything seasoning into the dough)
- Optional: ~2 tbsp everything bagel seasoning, adjust to preference, plus more for topping. Other mixins/toppings can probably be used as desired.
- ~1tbsp baking soda
- Spoonful of malted barley syrup, can also use brown sugar or molasses
- Optional: One beaten egg or egg yolk for brushing
Add starter, water, honey and salt to a large bowl and mix to combine, then add the flour and everything seasoning. Stir with a large wooden spoon until a shaggy ball of dough forms. Cover with a damp towel and let autolyze for 30 minutes, then, to quote the original recipe, "knead like crazy until your arms are tired." I've found it's pretty difficult to get this dough to fully pass the windowpane test, so I just knead until I can stretch it pretty thin.
Once kneaded, cover the bowl with a damp towel again and bulk proof until 1.5x size. I highly recommend setting a bit of dough aside in a small covered jar as an aliquot to track the rise. This usually takes me at least 6-8 hours, which I've read is because adding mix-ins to sourdough makes it take longer to proof, but it's worth the wait. If the weather is cold, I usually put it in the oven with the light turned on to make sure it's in a mildly warm environment.
Once proofed, split the dough into 8 roughly equal pieces, and shape into bagels. Place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or greased foil, cover the whole thing with a wet towel, and put it in the fridge to cold ferment overnight.
In the morning, preheat your oven to 425 F (220 C), and set a large pot of water on the stove to boil. While it heats, stir the baking soda and malted barley syrup into the water. Once boiling, add the bagels 2-3 at a time depending on the size of your pot, and boil for 1 minute and 30 seconds, flipping them over halfway through. Return the boiled bagels to the baking sheet.
Once boiled, brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with a generous amount of everything seasoning if desired, then bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Let cool for at least 15 minutes if you want to eat some fresh (and who wouldn't?), but otherwise, let cool completely before storing.
Other notes:
- The baking soda/barley syrup solution has a tendency to foam up and boil over if it gets too hot, so make sure not to leave it unattended. The cold bagels tend to keep the temp manageable, but be ready to remove the pot from the heat for a bit if things start to foam up.
- When reheating, they're great toasted, but I've found they are remarkably resistant to browning, so don't expect much color. I can max out my toaster and maybe get a slight tinge of brown.
- They keep pretty well in the fridge if you want them to last longer. I put them in gallon bags with a bit of paper towel to try and absorb excess moisture. If you fridge them, I recommend slicing them in half first, as they can be pretty tough to cut through once they're cold.
Hope yall enjoy the pics! If anyone else decides to make these, be sure to let me know how they turned out!
