Best Homemade Bagels: 8 Tips To Make Them Great!

Bagels are one of my husband's passions. He's been making them for 4-5 years, tweaking them along the way. This recipe below is the culmination of all that learning making countless batches of bagels enjoyed by family and friends. Recipe for 8 good sized bagels or 12 smaller bagels Dry Ingredients: 600g Bread Flour (King Arthur bread flour is fantastic if you can get it) 1 tsp of Instant Yeast 1 1/2 tsp of fine Sea Salt 1 tsp Diastatic Malt Powder ( Link below) Wet Ingredients: 342g of Spring Water 1 tsp of Barley Malt Syrup ( Link below) 2 tsp of Honey Optional Toppings Egg wash (1 egg beaten with a little water) Toppings: Poppy Seeds, Sesame Seeds, Everything Mix, Dried Onions, Corse Salt, Caraway Seeds, etc... Instructions: 1. Combine Dry Ingredients and sift together 2. Bring Spring water to 100-110 Fahrenheit 3. Combine wet ingredients until dissolved 4. Add Wet Ingredients to stand mixer bowl 5. Add Dry Ingredients and set mixer to low speed and combine ingredients until they come away from the sides of the bowl. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to allow the dough to hydrate. This dough is dense and stiff. My Kitchenaide Classic is only 325 Watts and is good making 1-2 batches, but by the third batch it starts to heat up. Letting the dough rest makes it much easier on the mixer or the baker if you are kneading by hand. 6. Knead the dough on Medium Low for 10 minutes. If kneading by hand, you may have to knead for 15-20 minutes. 7. Turn the dough out, form into a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let proof for 30 minutes 8. Divide Dough into 8 pieces (120-122g each if you are using a scale) and form each one into a ball. Cover, let sit for 5 minutes. 9. Form each ball into bagel shape by piercing a hole through the center of the ball and then twirling and gently expanding the hole until it is 1-2" in diameter. 10. Place on lightly oiled parchment paper on a sheet pan and cover. 11. Place bagels in refrigerator over night (You can let them cold ferment in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. The longer you let them ferment, the better they will taste.) Next Morning 1. Take the bagels out of the refrigerator and let them rest covered for 30 minutes 2. Set oven to 425 3. Bring a water to a boil (about 3 inches deep in a 10" diameter or larger pot) Note: after 30 minutes, if your yeast is good and it's not freezing cold in your kitchen, the bagels should be ready. You can check them by doing a float test. Add cold water to a bowl and place a bagel in the water. If it floats, they are ready. If they don't float, let them rest until they do. If they never float, your yeast died. 4. When the bagels are ready, add 2 TBSP of salt to the water, and 1 TBSP of BAKED Baking Soda (or just plain baking soda). See below 5. Bring the water back to a gentle boil. 6. Place 3-4 bagels in the water, but do not crowd them, for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes. Then flip to the other side for an additional 1 1/2 -2 minutes. 7. Transfer to your baking sheet and continue boiling the bagels until your tray is full 8. If you are topping your bagels, brush with egg wash and sprinkle on your toppings 9. Bake for 20-22 minutes at 425, turning the sheet half way through the bake time 10 Allow to cool fully before eating Enjoy! Baked Baking Soda: 1. Line a baking sheet with Tin Foil 2. Spread a thin layer 1/8-1/4" of baking soda on tin foil 3. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour 4. Carefully put the baked baking soda in an airtight container. you may want to use gloves as this is a bit caustic. You can keep it for many months. Links: Diastatic Malt Powder This is what I have https://www.amazon.com/Hoosier-Hill-F... Barley Malt Syrup https://www.amazon.com/EDEN-FOODS-Org... Instant Yeast: I recently bought 1lb package of SAF at Smart and Final on sale for $3.99. on Amazon it is a bit more expensive, but found Fleischmann's for a reasonable price: https://www.amazon.com/Fleischmanns-I... Check out my Instagram Page for a few more pics of Bagels and other things   / eatmoorebagels