I made bagels before, but I did not share the recipe until today. I’m not even sure why I don’t make these delicious bagels more often, as they are so easy to make. First of all, it’s a basic bread recipe, which I shared before.

Because they are made with bread dough, these bagels will turn out better if you use strong flour. I would also suggest using a stand mixer with a dough hook. Bread needs a bit of kneading for the gluten to develop, so it’s much more easier to let a machine do that. If you don’t have a stand mixer, then you have to knead for about 15 minutes or so. It depends on how hard you are working the dough.
Another thing you will need for this is timer. You can use a kitchen timer, as I did, or the timer on your phone. The boiling of the bagels before baking needs to be measured precisely, otherwise the bagels will not turn out good.

Another thing to take into consideration is that you need to weight in all the bagels. If they have a similar size they will boil and bake evenly, so it’s worth the effort. I weight in everything because I like consistency, so for me it’s natural to use the scale.

Ingredients for 6 bagels:

– 450g strong white flour
– 300ml lukewarm water
– 8g East bake yeast
– 1 spoon sugar
– 1 spoon oil
– salt
– black sesame seeds

Toss in the salt in the mixer bowl, add the flour and make a well in the middle for the yeast and add the sugar. Pour the lukewarm water on top of the yeast and start mixing it at low speed. When some of the flour is incorporated, pour the oil, increase the speed slightly and knead. This time I’ve knead the dough for 7 minutes, it is enough for it to get springy and nice.

Leave the dough to rise, covered with a tea towel, for an hour or more, until it doubles in size. Shape the bagels. You can either make long strings of dough or, more easily, a ball which you can flatten slightly and punch a hole in the middle with your finger. The first version is more professional, but difficult, the second one works great, so why not try that one. Leave to rise for another 15 minutes or so, depending on how warm your kitchen is, they need more or less time to prove.

Heat the oven at 200C or 180C for fan assisted ovens. While the oven is heating up, boil water for the bagels. Put one bagel at a time. Boil for 30 seconds, turn and boil for 30 seconds on the other side. Do not boil them for longer, as they will lose their shape. Scoop the bagel and put it on a plate. Transfer the bagel on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Sprinkle the black sesame seeds on top.

Bake the bagels for 25 to 30 minutes, until they are golden brown. When baked, transfer the bagels onto a cooling rack and leave to cool. Serve with salty vegan butter, as I did.