While I liked my first take on the recently posted water bagel recipe, I felt it could be so much better. I didn’t change the dough itself, but I changed how I boiled it, and we went higher for the baking temperature. Comparing recipes, 375° seemed low. But that is the beauty of baking bread. The ingredients are not expensive, and trying is half the fun. It’s a science experiment,

I also added an egg wash for that shiny coat that bagels need. The recipe I used these two times was from a vintage breadmaking cookbook for bread machines. However, being an older book, it reflects the time when artesian bread making was far away.

It did call for barley malt syrup for the water bath, but after much research, I found that honey also works. And considering I have so much honey from our bee-keeping years, I’d rather use that than buy something new. In my research, I also found that I should add baking soda and salt to the boiling water.

The end result?

This version is so much better tasting. And deeper in color. Worth the extra steps.

Bagels are shaped and rested for 15 minutes before boiling. The bottom ones were shaped the traditional way, the upper row I made donut style, with punching a circle in the middle.

Water Bagels Version 2

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups water
• 2 tsp fine sea salt
• 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 510 grams of all-purpose flour*
• 1 Tbsp dry active yeast

Water Bath:

• 2½ tsp (15 grams) fine sea salt
• 2½ tsp (15 grams) baking soda
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp (30 grams) honey

Egg Wash:

• 1 large egg
• 1 Tbsp water

 Directions:

Add to a Zojirushi bread machine in the order listed, starting with water and ending with flour. Sprinkle the yeast on top, ensuring it doesn’t touch the liquid. Set the machine for the “Dough” setting. It will take 1 hour and 50 minutes in this machine.

If using other brands, follow the directions as called for and the temperature of water needed.

See the notes section below and watch if the dough needs more flour during the first kneading cycle.

Fill a large pot halfway with water and boil near the end of the dough cycle. You want a wider pot rather than a tall one.

Preheat the oven to 425° and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Take the dough and divide it into eight sections.

Roll each section gently into a ball.

If you want rolled ones, shape into a log about 8″ long. Turn into a circle and pinch the ends together.

Otherwise, punch your finger through the center of the ball and form a hole, gently widening the hole by gently stretching.

Let bagels sit for 15 minutes.

Add to the water the salt, baking soda, and honey. Return to a full boil.

Add half the bagels to the boiling water, let simmer for a minute on each side, then remove and drain carefully (use a large slotted spoon). Transfer to the baking sheet. Repeat with the other half.

Whisk the egg and water together with a fork, then brush it on the top of the bagels.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden on the top.

Take out and lift off the pan with a thin spatula, and let cool on a wire rack.

Once cooled, store the bagels bagged up or wrapped and freeze for later.

It’s best if eaten in a day or two, at most.

The traditional method, pr rolling the dough into a log, then forming. They make a smaller bagel, but it’s properly shaped and dense, at least to me.

The donut-style ones were bigger in size; I think they rose more due to being handled less before the boil. They are softer than the traditional ones.

But both are equally tasty. So, really, it comes down to preference.

Notes:

*The flour you need depends on the type of flour used and the humidity.The brand can even play into it. This is why I weigh out, rather than scoop flour.

Start with 510 grams and add a bit more as needed. You want the dough not to be wet or sticky but tacky when pressing a finger against it. Bagel dough is denser than regular bread dough.

Makes 8 bagels.

~Sarah

I was having lunch on Thursday, and my fortune said this:

Who knew how right that would be…I didn’t predict I’d spend a rainy Sunday morning working on water bagels. I’ve wanted to master bagel making, as the boys like them in their lunches. It’s been one of the few things I don’t make from scratch, but why not I asked myself. It was time to get back to trying at it.

My Mom and I often made bagels when I was growing up. We usually made the vintage 1970s “water bagel” recipe from my Mom’s favorite bread cookbook. It was not a bad recipe, but it made a bagel like the ones you still find in the freezer section in grocery stores—so teeny-tiny bagels if you remember the Lender brand ones.

I found this recipe in a vintage bread machine cookbook from the late 1980s/early 1990s. It made a small amount of dough, so I doubled the recipe, making enough dough to be worth my time. I wanted to use the bread machine to get a good rise.

The dough was good, and it made a tasty treat.

However, being from that period, it isn’t a perfect recipe. While they were pretty tasty, I need to work on them more. For most people, this would be a great recipe, but I want them to be the dark hued, chewy water bagel. These were very, very delicious but were more like a chewy bagel roll.

Don’t get me wrong: They taste amazing. The boys loved them.

However, I will make a second version soon, where I work on the bagel crust.

The dough shaped and resting.

Just out of the oven.

Water Bagels

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups water
• 2 tsp fine sea salt
• 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 480 grams of all-purpose flour + 30 grams more, in case*
• 1 Tbsp dry active yeast

 Directions:

Add to a Zojirushi bread machine in the order listed, starting with water and ending with flour. Sprinkle the yeast on top, ensuring it doesn’t touch the liquid. Set the machine for the “Dough” setting. It will take 1 hour and 50 minutes in this machine.

If using other brands, follow the directions as called for and the temperature of water needed.

See the notes section below and watch if the dough needs more flour during the first kneading cycle.

Fill a large pot halfway with water and bring to a boil near the end of the dough cycle. You want a wider pot rather than a tall one.

Preheat the oven to 375° and lightly oil a large-rimmed baking sheet.

Take out the dough and divide it into 8 sections. Roll each section gently into a ball and then into a log about 8″ long. Turn into a circle and pinch the ends together.

Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add half the bagels to the boiling water, let simmer for a minute on each side, then remove and drain carefully (use a large slotted spoon). Transfer to the baking sheet. Repeat with the other half.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden on the top.

Take out and lift off the pan with a thin spatula, and let cool on a wire rack.

Once cooled, store the bagels bagged up or wrapped and freeze for later.

Best if eaten in a day or two, at most.

Notes:

*The amount of extra flour you need depends on the flour used and the humidity. Start with 480 grams and add a bit more as needed. You want the dough to not be wet or sticky but rather tacky when you press a finger against it. Bagel dough is denser than regular bread dough.

Makes 8 bagels.

~Sarah