Bagels
Makes 14
1 1/2C hot water
3Tbsp honey or sugar
2Tbsp dry yeast
4C bread (high gluten) flour
1tsp salt
olive oil
4Tbsp malt syrup or sugar
handful of polenta
1 egg white
3Tbsp cold water
Toppings (such as poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic seasoning or mixed herbs)
1. Pour water into a large mixing bowl and stir in honey or sugar. Once dissolved, sprinkle yeast over the water and stir in to dissolve as well. Set this aside for 10 minutes to activate the yeast, it should become frothy.
2. Add in 1 1/2C flour & salt and start mixing it in with your hand (just one, keep the other one clean to add in more flour). Add in another 1/2C flour and mix in well. Repeat with another 2C bread flour, adding less each time until dough is stiff enough to knead on the benchtop. You will need around 4C of bread flour in total.
3. Knead the dough until it is elastic, it will be heavier and stiffer than a regular bread dough, but it shouldn't tear easily when stretched.
4. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, roll dough in the bowl so it is covered in a film of oil and cover the bowl with a damp teatowel. Put the bowl in a warm place until the dough has double in volume. In the meantime, bring 2 large pots of water to the boil. Add half of the malt syrup or sugar to each pot to make the bagels nice and shiny. Preheat oven to 200C.
5. Once the dough has risen, take it out of the bowl and punch it down really hard. Divide the dough into 14 roughly equally sized pieces. To form bagel shapes poke a hole in the middle with a couple of fingers, then stretch the bagel out. Make the holes large so they don't completely disappear.
6. Let them rise for another 10 minutes so they rise by about a quarter again. Turn the pots down to a lower heat so they are just barely simmering and drop bagels in, about 3 at a time. They should sink to the bottom and then float up gracefully. Simmer them for 3 minutes, then turn them over and simmer for another 3 minutes, remove from the water and drain on some clean teatowels.
7. Sprinkle a couple of baking trays with polenta and place bagels on top. Brush bagels with combined egg white & cold water and sprinkle with toppings. Bake for 25 minutes, then turn over and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, cool and slice.
Nutritional Information: (per bagel)
Energy 738.4kJ, Protein 4.7g, Fat (Total) 0.4g (Saturated) 0.1g, Carbohydrate (Total) 38.3g (Sugars) 5.3g, Dietary Fibre 2.4g, Sodium 168.1mg, Calcium 13.6mg, Potassium 717.3mg.
(Adapted from: Jewish Food Recipe Website)
