Why not bake bagels at home to improve on the flavour and chewiness of store-bought ones? We’ve worked long and hard at how to create this authentic overnight bagel dough recipe using barley malt syrup to enhance the fresh aroma and flavour, and boiling to produce the characteristic chewy texture you’d expect. Look no further for a easy to follow, step-by-step recipe for baking authentic homemade bagels. It’s quick to prepare but letting the dough rest overnight is what makes this bagel dough recipe so special.

What are bagels made of?

Bagels are made from a handful of easy to source ingredients being flour, salt, yeast, water and barley malt syrup. It’s what you do with the ingredients that makes a bagel taste and feel the way it does. This includes allowing the dough time to rise, letting the dough ferment and briefly boiling before baking your bagels. This is a fat-free recipe, using no oil.

Where does the bagel come from?

Originating as a bread product in the Jewish communities of Poland, bagels were a “… boiled-then-baked ring-shaped bread can be found in a 13th-century Arabic cookbook…”, according to this Bagel article on Wikipedia. Today we often think of “New York bagels” with their dense dough and chewy consistency and for many of us, New York is where the bagel comes from.

“The New York bagel contains malt, is cold-fermented for several days to develop the flavors and enhance the crust, and is boiled in salted water before baking in a standard oven.” – The Untold Truth of New York Bagels

So to answer the question, where does the bagel come from, in modern times it’s New York, but it goes way back in history.

What’s the secret to a bagel’s flavour?

People often ask, can you proof bagel dough overnight? The “secret” to baking authentic tasting bagels is to let them prove slowly overnight. So, in answer to the questions: “Can you leave bagel dough in the fridge overnight?” and “How long can you leave bagel dough in the fridge?” – 18 hours is about right, but you could leave them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days!

“Traditional bagels develop much of their flavor and distinct crust characteristics from a long, cold fermentation step called retardation…”, Science Direct says. This brings complexity to the flavour, making memorable bagels that people will always comment on. If you’re the impatient type and can’t stand delayed gratification, skip that step and get baking your bagels the same day. Don’t complain though if they aren’t anywhere near as tasty as the overnight bagels in this recipe!

Have Your Tried Malt Syrup For Bagels?

I kept reading and found that for the “authentic” tasting bagel I didn’t need sugar and oil, I just needed a bit more water and barley malt syrup (it might be called malt extract where you are) Two articles I read mentioned this: https://slate.com/culture/2014/04/authentic-bagel-recipe-you-need-barley-malt-syrup-and-boiling-water.html and How to make the perfect bagels by Felicity Cloake

“Malt contributes a mild sweetness as well as important ingredients such as mineral salts, soluble proteins, dough conditioning enzymes, flavor, color, and nutritive materials. These give us the incredible rich brown crust of the typical New York bagel, while adding flavor and aroma to the finished bagels.”

Why Malt Syrup in Bagels?

Also, since writing this post I found a very helpful discussion on the King Arthur bakery website, about using “…different malts for flavo[u]r, colour and rise in bagels and breads…”

Bagel baking tips

Two important details when baking bagels, you make rings, don’t punch a hole in the dough, it’s not cheating but it does something to the shape and consistency of the bagel when you roll it out between your hands. The second thing is boil your bagels before baking.

Easy to follow overnight bagel recipe (makes enough dough for 6)

After lots of time and experimentation, I think this is the best recipe for bagels I’ve tried.

2 cups (400 g) of strong white bread flour
1/2 tablespoon of “easy bake” yeast
1/2 tablespoon and a bit of salt
1.5 tablespoons of barley malt extract
210g of lukewarm water (around 36 degrees celsius / 97 fahrenheit)

Preparation time: 100 minutes, waiting time approx 18 hours.
Baking time: 16 minutes

Day One: Start preparing at 10am. Bagels should be covered and in the fridge by about 11.30am
Day Two: Take the proved bagels out of the fridge around 7.15am and let them come to room temperature for an hour. They should have filled out, looking puffy but firm-ish to the touch. Boiling and baking takes about 25 minutes.

We use weight measurements to keep everything accurate as cup measurements can vary. This recipe should produce approx. 660g of dough which will make 6 x 110g bagels. We’re aiming for an optimum 57% hydration as bagel dough is quite dry by nature.

Method for Baking Bagels

• Add 1 x tablespoon of barley malt extract to the lukewarm water and mix in
• Put the yeast in a bowl, pour in the water mixture, stir, cover with a tea towel and leave to stand for 10 minutes – you should get an even froth across the top of the water.
• Add the remaining barley malt extract and stir.
• Add the flour and salt to the mixing bowl then add the yeast mixture. Combine the flour, salt and yeast mixture, kneading by hand for 10 minutes. ( Stand mixers can’t easily handle the heavy dry dough mixture )
• Leave the dough ball to rise to double size in a covered bowl for an hour
• Divide the dough into 6 equal parts using scales to weigh the dough balls
• Shape bagels by rolling out into sausage shape and wrapping around hand and rolling to join
• Place the bagel rings on a floured tray, in a sealed plastic bag for 18 or more hours in refrigerator (12 hours is OK)

The Next Day – Bagels for breakfast

With breakfast ingredients ready, to complete this overnight bagel recipe we need to be up early to remove the bagels from the refrigerator, say around 6am. This will prove it’s the best recipe for bagels when you see the end result!

• Remove the tray from the fridge, place bagels on a room temperature surface for an hour and cover
• Boil a wide pan of water and add half a teaspoon of baking powder (this promotes caramelisation and can give the bagel a pretzel-like flavour) – you could add sugar, honey or barley malt syrup to improve the glaze, but we like baking powder
• Boil your bagels for 15 seconds each side – use a slotted spoon to retrieve and drain the bagels
• Stand boiled bagels on a rack for 5 minutes then transfer to a baking tray
• Bake at 200c for 16 minutes turning tray 180 degrees after 8 minutes
• Turn out onto a rack and let cool for 20 minutes
• The bottoms of the bagels should be a golden brown colour when they’re fully baked. The surface of the bagel should be covered in small blisters.

Enjoy your bagel with toppings

So now you have baked a delicious batch of bagels, what are you going to add as your bagel toppings?

Here’s a few suggestions:

• Avocado – mash the avocado, add lemon juice and chilli flakes, or just slice some avocado straight onto your bagel
• Salmon and cream cheese – it’s the classic combination. Add plenty of cream cheese before placing slices of smoked salmon with a sprinkle of black pepper and lemon juice.
• Cheese – I like to put slices of cheese, such as Jarlsberg, and lay on some gherkin. You could add piccalilli for a more adventurous flavour combination
• Peanut butter – I’m definitely a fan of savoury flavours and when it comes to peanut butter, mine has to be organic and crunchy. Toast the bagel first, maybe add a smear of butter too. This is a great breakfast bagel treat.
• Toasted with butter – it’s a very English thing to have toast and butter, with a cup of tea, so no surprises this is on the list.

Other Articles About Baking Bagels

How to make the perfect bagels – The Guardian, 7th August 2014 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/aug/07/how-to-make-perfect-bagels

You’re Doing It Wrong: Bagels – L.V Anderson on Slate, 24th April 2014
https://slate.com/culture/2014/04/authentic-bagel-recipe-you-need-barley-malt-syrup-and-boiling-water.html

How to Make Bagels at Home by Adam Kuban – Serious Eats, March 24, 2011
“Rope-and-loop: You form a snake shape, loop it around your hand, and roll it on the counter to seal it together”
https://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/how-to-shape-and-make-bagels-at-home-recipe.html

6 Common Bagel-Making Problems and How to Fix Them – Serious Eats, October 30, 2019

• Mix dough for up to 45 minutes to get air in and blisters on surface
• Prove for up to 20 hours in fridge

https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/03/homemade-bagel-troubleshooting.html

10 Tips for Making Schmear-Worthy Homemade Bagels – October 5, 2016 by Caitlin Raux

• Use cold water
• Chilled dry active yeast
• Don’t whisk yeast, let it sit on surface of water

https://www.ice.edu/blog/10-tips-making-schmear-worthy-homemade-bagels

Why Malt Syrup in Bagels? New Yorker Bagels, 8th November 2013
https://www.newyorkerbagels.com/blogs/bagels/why-malt-syrup-in-bagels –

Use a short link to get to this page: https://tinyurl.com/baking-bagels

Leave a comment

This overnight bagel recipe is quite simple really but it needs patience, and eating anything fresh from the oven is so satisfying. If you’ve tried this recipe for bagels why not leave a comment and let us know how it went? Was it the best recipe for bagels ever?!