Scrumptious sourdough multigrain, wholegrain bagels have a crispy outside and chewy interior that not only you’ll love, but the kids will too! What more could you ask for in a bagel? How about all the organic wholegrain wholesomeness you don’t get from highly processed flour? Well, we’ve added a lot of that with this recipe with 100% whole grain featuring our stone-ground soft red wheat and spelt flour from the farm as well as a little raw honey. SO GOOD!
We’ve been diving into sourdough these last few months, and with that comes much sourdough starter and discard. We discovered a highly rated sourdough bagel recipe from Zesty South Indian Kitchen and decided to give it a whirl. We made a few substitutions and adjustments to work with what we had. Swathi, the creator of ZSIK, is awesome at proposing ingredient substitutions. For example, I had no understanding at the time about diastatic malt powder, but learned I could substitute honey in its place and that’s what I did here. My goal is to make and share these recipes as relatable and accessible as possible to the flavorful ingredients we grow on the farm and are a fairly common in most home kitchens!
**Important Note: This may look intimidating at first, but I assure you this was my first effort at making bagels (EVER) and the results were GREAT! Plan on making dough the afternoon before you make the bagels. I started the process after I got home from work.
…..By the way, since I first made this recipe, I have sprouted wheat berries, dehydrated, and finely ground that sprouted-wheat into a diastatic malt powder that I like to now refer to as my bread baking ‘jet fuel.’ It’s kind of magical – giving dough all kinds of lift and a nice malty taste. The adventures in the kitchen continue to teach us everyday, even the sight of those once intimidating ingredients!
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 tbsp (21 g) of Raw Honey (or 1 tsp /7 g diastatic malt)
- 1/2 cup (100 g) sourdough starter
- 1 1/2 tsp (10 g) salt
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp (260 g) water
- 3 – 4 cups (475 g) wholegrain Organic Spelt and Soft Red Wheat Flour (50/50 or equal parts)
Poaching Liquid
- 2 to 3 quarts (181 to 272 g) water
- 1 tbsp (15 g) brown sugar
- 1 tbsp (14 g) baking soda
Toppings
- Organic Yellow Cornmeal to place the poached dough on your baking sheet (so they don’t stick)
- asiago, mozzarella, or other favorite cheese
- chia, sesame, or other seeds
- everything bagel seasoning
- HAVE FUN!
-Prep/Cook Time-
Prep Time – 7 hrs 30 mins
Cook Time – 25 mins
Overnight Proofing Time – 8 hrs
-Cook Type-
Ferment
Boil
Bake
Instructions
Day Before Baking
- In large bowl (or stand mixer if you have one) stir the sourdough starter and water together. Mix well.
- Add flour, salt, honey, and mix everything to form a coarse ball. The flour should be fully hydrated, but stiff. I used a large sturdy spoon stirring for about 3 minutes until blended well.
- Let the dough rest for 5 minutes
- Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and kneed by hand for about 3 minutes to smooth out the dough.
- Place the dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise at room temperature for 5 hours.
- When you are ready to shape the bagels, prepare a sheet pan by lining it with parchment paper or a silicone mat, and sprinkle liberally with cornmeal.
- Divide the dough into 7 equal pieces about 120g . (A typical bagel is about 4 ounces or 113 grams before baking, but you can make them smaller.)
- Form each piece into a loose ball by rolling it on a clean, dry work surface with a cupped hand.
- (Don’t use any flour on the work surface. If the dough slides around and will not ball up, wipe the surface with a damp paper towel and try again; the slight bit of moisture will provide enough traction for the dough to form into a ball.)
- Then poke a hole through the center of the ball to create a donut shape.
- Holding the dough with both thumbs in the hole, rotate the dough with your hands, gradually stretching it to create a hole about 2 inches in diameter.
- If you want you can shape by making the dough to a 10 inch long snake and wrap around the finger to join together.
- Place each shaped bagel on the prepared sheet pan, then mist with spray oil or brush with a light coating of oil. Cover the entire pan with plastic wrap and set aside for proof about 2 hours and then refrigerate overnight or for up to 2 days. (You can also proof the full piece of dough in the oiled bowl overnight and then shape the bagels on baking day, 60 to 90 minutes before boiling and baking them, or as soon as they pass the float test.)
On Baking Day
- Remove the bagels from the refrigerator 60 to 90 minutes before you plan to bake them,
- Immediately check whether the bagels are ready for baking using the “float test”: Place one of the bagels in a small bowl of cold water.
- If it sinks and does not float back to the surface, shake it off, return it to the pan, and wait for another 15 to 20 minutes, then test it again. When one bagel passes the float test, they are all ready to be boiled. If they pass the float test before you are ready to boil and bake them, return them to the refrigerator so they do not over proof.
- About 30 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 475°F (247°C) and gather and prepare your garnishes with everything bagel seasoning or (seeds, onions, garlic, and so on).
- To make the poaching liquid, fill a pot with 2 to 3 quarts (181 to 272 g) of water, making sure the water is at least 4 inches deep. Cover, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain at a simmer
- Stir in the brown sugar and baking soda.
- Gently lower each bagel into the simmering poaching liquid, adding as many as will comfortably fit in the pot. They should all float to the surface within 15 seconds. After 1 minute, use a slotted spoon to turn each bagel over. Poach for another 30 to 60 seconds.
- Heap on a generous amount of whatever toppings, you like as soon as the bagels come out of the water then use the slotted spoon to transfer it back to the pan, domed side up. (It is important that the parchment paper should be sprinkled liberally with cornmeal, or the paper will glue itself to the dough as the bagels bake.) Sprinkle the top of bagels with seeds of your choice. I used chia seeds and a mix of asiago and mozzarella cheese.
- Transfer the pan of bagels to the oven, then lower the oven heat to 425°F (218°C).
- Bake for 12 minutes, then rotate the pan and check the underside of the bagels. If they’re getting too dark, place another pan under the baking sheet. (Doubling the pan will insulate the first baking sheet.) Bake for another 13 minutes, until the bagels are a golden brown.
- Cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing or serving.
Homemade bagels can seem pretty overwhelming at first with all the steps; however, you will have so much pride in the end result when you know your hands were on every bagel and every ingredient. Eating bagels fresh is always the way to go. You can’t beat the satisfaction of slathering cream cheese onto a fresh bagel pulled from the oven. I’ve read that freezing bagels extends there life well and is better than leaving them at room temperature. To be honest – these bagels were gone between two breakfasts and snacks in 24 hours, so freezing wasn’t an option. Next time, I may need to double the batch!
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