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.
Ingredients
300g warm water
7g dry active yeast
4g sugar
1 egg
1 large egg yolk
45g oil
150g honey
815 g bread flour
8g salt
75g honey
2.5L water
170g lightly toasted black and white sesame seeds
Recipes
1. In a large bowl, stir together water, yeast and sugar until dissolved. Stir in egg, egg yolk, oil and 150g honey; whisk until well combined.
2. Next, 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.
3. Punch 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.
4. Flour 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.
5. Preheat oven to 220˚C. Bring a wide, shallow pot of water to boil with 75g honey, and mix sesame seeds on a plate.
6. After 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.
7. Bake for 22-25 minutes until golden brown all over, swapping the position of the two trays half way through, if necessary.
8. To freeze bagels, transfer cooled bagels into a ziplock bag, remove as much air as you can, and freeze for up to 3 months.
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.