Montreal Bagels

Montreal Bagels

Makes 100g x 13 bagels

​It's dense, chewy, perfectly sweet and soooo good, I often have dreams about devouring a freshly baked Montreal bagel. Unlike New York-style bagels, these golden rings are smaller, thinner and with a much bigger hole (mine proofed too quickly due to the hot, humid weather, and therefore the smaller ring). I am not going to start an argument here by claiming which one is better, but Montreal bagels are a completely different breed altogether. These delicious rings are bathed in honey water prior to baking, which doesn’t just give it a special sweetness but a beautiful golden gloss too. I love dressing them in sesame seeds before baking them in my electric oven. My homemade bagels may lack the beautiful char one would get from a traditional wood-fire oven, but they are delicious nevertheless. Enjoy the recipe and please feel free to leave any questions you may have in comments.

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Montreal Bagels Recipe Video

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Ingredients
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​300g warm water​

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​7g dry active yeast

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​4g sugar

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​1 egg

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​1 large egg yolk

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​45g oil

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​150g honey

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​815 g bread flour

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​8g salt

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​75g honey

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​2.5L water

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​170g lightly toasted black and white  sesame seeds

Recipe
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1In a large bowl, stir together water, yeast and sugar until dissolved. Stir in egg, egg yolk, oil and 150g honey; whisk until well combined.

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2Next, add flour and salt and bring it all together to form a dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth. Once smooth, place the dough on the counter-top and cover with an inverted bowl for 15 minutes.

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3Punch air out of the dough and using a pastry cutter, cut into strips. Start rolling and thinning out each strip into a log, about 10 inches long. Curve each log around your hand, pressing together the ends to make a bagel shape (about 100g each). Gently rock your hand back and forth on the seam to seal the ends together.

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4Flour the bottoms of the bagels and place on baking sheets lined with parchment. Cover with a towel and allow bagels to rise for 30 minutes before boiling.

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5Preheat oven to 220˚C. Bring a wide, shallow pot of water to boil with 75g honey, and mix sesame seeds on a plate.

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6After the bagels have risen, boil them each for about 60 seconds on each side. Using a slotted spoon, lift them out of the pan, shaking off excess water. Immediately cover with sesame seeds, and place on the baking sheet. You will need 2 baking trays.

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7Bake for 22-25 minutes until golden brown all over, swapping the position of the two trays half way through, if necessary.

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8To freeze bagels, transfer cooled bagels into a ziplock bag, remove as much air as you can, and freeze for up to 3 months.

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​Heating Instructions

​Thaw well, and place bagel in a hot toaster oven,  splash a tablespoon of water on each bagel and heat for 2-3 minutes until warm, serve immediately. Alternatively, split thawed bagel in half and heat it up in a bread toaster for 1-2 minutes until hot.

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