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How To Make Bagels
Welcome to Bageltopia; the Breadtopia bagel recipe and video tutorial for making genuine Vermont sourdough bagels (ok, yeah, we just made that up, but we’re still pretty sure they are the best bagels in the world).
Passions run deep about what style of bagel reigns supreme. Is it the NY style bagel, or the smaller and sweeter Montreal bagel? A rule of etiquette advises against discussing sex, politics or religion in polite company. Might as well add bagels to the list. On the authentic cuisine front, nothing seems to inflame passions more than the topic of who makes the best bagels or can a good bagel be found outside of NY. Or is it even possible to make a proper bagel at home
Good news, folks. You can definitely make a BETTER and MORE authentic bagel than anything store bought, in NY or anywhere else. First off, you can use better ingredients. Most store bought bagels aren’t going to use the highest quality organic ingredients, but you certainly can. And the actual baking methods are easily replicated at home, and once you get it down, small batch bagels made by your loving hands are just going to be better.
If you’re after the authentic NY style bagel experience, you don’t have to be in NY. And you don’t need NY water to make a quality NY style bagel. Forget about the water myth. However, if bagels were an important part of your culinary experience growing up, no bagel is likely to measure up to your memory of it. Or if you’re looking for the bagel your great grandpa sold off his pushcart 100 years ago, we probably can’t help you get there from here.
But we do think we can help you make truly great bagels in your kitchen. And while making bagels at home is a bit of project, they’re not technically challenging and can be a lot of fun if you allow yourself adequate time. The satisfaction alone that comes from producing something special at home is worth the effort.
Below you can print out the recipe and instructions, see the whole process first-hand in the video tutorials, and of course we stock all the ingredients and tools you need.
The videos are divided as follows:
How To Make Bagels (Breadtopia Vermont Sourdough Bagels)
This recipe is best started in the afternoon or evening where a couple hours of prep work is needed (including an hour when the dough rests). The bagels are then refrigerated overnight and baked in the morning.
Ingredients
For 12 Bagels:
For 18 Bagels:
Instructions
Notes
These are traditional New York style bagels. Not the oversized sweetened bagels that are now often found in NY. While traditionally NY in essence, their appearance is closer to the style of bagel popular in Montreal. Hence we split the difference and tongue-in-cheek refer to them as Vermont bagels.
We have intentionally not included volume measurements for most ingredients. A common digital scale is necessary to arrive at the correct quantities to help insure success with the recipe.
Shopping List
Barley Malt Syrup — Organic, 20 oz.
$12.95Diastatic Barley Malt Powder
Bagel Scoop
$7.00Bagel Boards
Guillotine Bagel Cutter
$26.95Bagel Essentials Kit
$88.85$79.95Flour Sifter — 40 Mesh
Danish Dough Whisk — Large
FibraMent Oven Baking Stones
Breadtopia’s Choice Kitchen Scale
$18.00Breadtopia’s Choice Digital Precision Scale
$14.00Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls — Set of 3
$39.99Bowl Covers (5 pcs)
Red Star® Organic Instant Dry Yeast — 5 Packets
$7.50Sourdough Starter (Live)
Ankarsrum Mixer and Universal Kitchen Appliance
Bosch Universal Plus Mixer with Stainless Steel Bowl — Black
$469.00High Protein Bread Flour
Heirloom Turkey Red Wheat Berries
Turkey Red Whole Grain Flour
Turkey Red High Extraction Wheat Flour
How To Make Bagels