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.
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.
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.
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!
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…”
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.
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.
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!
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:
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
https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/03/homemade-bagel-troubleshooting.html
10 Tips for Making Schmear-Worthy Homemade Bagels – October 5, 2016 by Caitlin Raux
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
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?!
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These Bagels look amazing and so delicious. Well done for this recipe.
Thank you Nicholas. Why not give the recipe a try and let us know how you get on?!
I have passed it on to a very keen young baker in Hove who will no doubt enjoy the website and even have a go at the bagels.
That's great, thank you!