New York Bagels

Why this recipe works:

Our bagels are as good as those found in the best New York bagel bakeries. They’re chewy yet tender, with a fine crumb, and they have a crisp, glossy, evenly browned exterior and a complex, slightly malty flavor. To get the right amount of chew, we use high-protein bread flour, supplemented with vital wheat gluten, along with a minimum amount of water. To further increase the chew, we incorporate a number of gluten-strengthening shaping techniques: rolling with a rolling pin, forming the dough into a rope, and twisting the dough around itself before shaping it into a ring. And to ensure even, rapid browning, we add baking soda to the boiling water. To create a crisp crust, we bake the bagels on a rack set in a rimmed baking sheet, with boiling water poured onto the pan to create steam.

New York Bagels

It doesn’t get any better than the crackly-crisp shell, tender chew, and subtle malty flavor of a New York bagel. So what do you do if you don’t live in New York? Watch the Video

Makes 8 bagels

This recipe requires refrigerating the shaped bagels for 16 to 24 hours before baking them. This recipe works best with King Arthur bread flour, although other bread flours will work. Vital wheat gluten and malt syrup are available in most supermarkets in the baking and syrup aisles, respectively. If you cannot find malt syrup, substitute 4 teaspoons of molasses. The bagels are best eaten within a day of baking; fully cooled bagels can be transferred to heavy-duty zipper-lock bags and frozen for up to one month.

Ingredients

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons ice water (9 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons malt syrup
• 2 2/3 cups (14 2/3 ounces) bread flour
• 4 teaspoons vital wheat gluten
• 2 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup (1 1/4 ounces) cornmeal
• 1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking soda

Instructions

1. 
   
   1. Stir ice water and malt syrup together in 2-cup liquid measuring cup until malt syrup has fully dissolved. Process flour, wheat gluten, and yeast in food processor until combined, about 2 seconds. With processor running, slowly add ice water mixture; process until dough is just combined and no dry flour remains, about 20 seconds. Let dough stand for 10 minutes.
   2. Add salt to dough and process, stopping processor and redistributing dough as needed, until dough forms shaggy mass that clears sides of workbowl (dough may not form one single mass), 45 to 90 seconds. Transfer dough to unfloured counter and knead until smooth, about 1 minute. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces (3 1/2 ounces each) and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
   3. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time and keeping remaining pieces covered, form dough pieces into smooth, taut rounds. (To round, set piece of dough on unfloured counter. Loosely cup your hand around dough and, without applying pressure to dough, move your hand in small circular motions. Tackiness of dough against counter and circular motion should work dough into smooth, even ball, but if dough sticks to your hands, lightly dust your fingers with flour.) Let dough balls rest on counter, covered, for 15 minutes.
   4. Sprinkle rimmed baking sheet with cornmeal. Working with 1 dough ball at a time and keeping remaining pieces covered, coat dough balls lightly with flour and then, using your hands and rolling pin, pat and roll dough balls into 5-inch rounds. Starting with edge of dough farthest from you, roll into tight cylinder. Starting at center of cylinder and working toward ends, gently and evenly roll and stretch dough into 8- to 9-inch-long rope. Do not taper ends. Rolling ends of dough under your hands in opposite directions, twist rope to form tight spiral. Without unrolling spiral, wrap rope around your fingers, overlapping ends of dough by about 2 inches under your palm, to create ring shape. Pinch ends of dough gently together. With overlap under your palm, press and roll seam using circular motion on counter to fully seal. Transfer rings to prepared sheet and cover loosely with plastic, leaving at least 1 inch between bagels. Let bagels stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Cover sheet tightly with plastic and refrigerate for 16 to 24 hours.
   5. One hour before baking, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position, place baking stone on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees.
   6. Bring 4 quarts water, sugar, and baking soda to boil in large Dutch oven. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and spray rack with vegetable oil spray.
   7. Transfer 4 bagels to boiling water and cook for 20 seconds. Using wire skimmer or slotted spoon, flip bagels over and cook 20 seconds longer. Using wire skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer bagels to prepared wire rack, with cornmeal side facing down. Repeat with remaining 4 bagels.
   8. Place sheet with bagels on preheated baking stone and pour 1/2 cup boiling water into bottom of sheet. Bake until tops of bagels are beginning to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Using metal spatula, flip bagels and continue to bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes longer. Remove sheet from oven and let bagels cool on wire rack for at least 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
   
   

Technique

Shaping Bagels Like a Pro

Thoroughly working the dough during shaping helps a New York bagel develop its characteristic chew.

1. Pat and roll dough ball (lightly coated with flour) with rolling pin into 5-inch round.

2. Roll into tight cylinder, starting with far side of dough.

3. Roll and stretch dough into 8- to 9-inch-long rope, starting at center of cylinder (don’t taper ends).

4. Twist rope to form tight spiral by rolling ends of dough under hands in opposite directions.

5. Wrap rope around fingers, overlapping ends by 2 inches, to create ring. Pinch ends together.

6. Press and roll seam (positioned under your palm) using circular motion on counter to fully seal.

Technique

Secrets to a Glossy Crust, Great Flavor, and Big Chew

Here’s how we created the hallmarks of a New York bagel without the ingredients and equipment (or tap water) used by the local pros.

HIGH-PROTEIN DOUGH: Lots of gluten is key to achieving that jaw-working chew, so we used relatively high-protein bread flour supplemented with vital wheat gluten, a powdered form of the protein that is sold in most supermarkets.

COLD FERMENTATION: Proofing the dough overnight in the fridge allows it to develop an especially complex mix of flavor compounds.

ROUGH HANDLING: We roll, stretch, and twist the dough to shape it into rings—actions that help tighten the gluten network and thus yield a bagel with substantial chew.

A BETTER BOIL: Adding baking soda and sugar to the water in the boiling step helps encourage consistent browning.

STEAM TREATMENT: Baking the bagels on a rack set in a rimmed baking sheet (set on a baking stone) and adding a small amount of boiling water creates steam that leads to a crisp, delicate crust.

Our New York–style bagels, made here in Brookline.

Technique

How to add Toppings

Place 1/2 cup poppy seeds, sesame seeds, caraway seeds, dehydrated onion flakes, dehydrated garlic flakes, or coarse/pretzel salt in small bowl. Press tops of just-boiled bagels (side without cornmeal) gently into topping and return to wire rack, topping side up.
For Everything Topping, combine 2 tablespoons poppy seeds, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon onion flakes, 2 teaspoons garlic flakes, 2 teaspoons caraway seeds, and 1/2 teaspoon coarse or pretzel salt.

Technique

Is it Something in the Water?

It’s often said that what makes New York bagels distinctively crisp, chewy, and flavorful is something available only in that city: the local water. Curious if that claim is true or merely an urban legend, we set up taste tests pitting bagels made with water that we brought back from Brooklyn against those made with our local Brookline water. The results: The vast majority of tasters found the two batches virtually identical.
For due diligence, we then sent samples of water from both sources to an independent lab to test for factors that might affect the dough’s gluten and, thus, its texture: mineral content, pH, titratable acidity, and chlorine level. The only significant difference between the two samples was in their respective pHs: The Brooklyn water was mildly acidic (5.48 pH), while Brookline water was slightly basic (7.34 pH). But when we measured the pH of the two doughs after they’d fermented, the differences were negligible.
That’s good news for bagel enthusiasts outside New York, since it means that all anyone really needs to make a good bagel is a good recipe.