Homemade Bagels (2024)

FAQs

Is it worth making your own bagels? ›

But not only are homemade bagels possible, they're absolutely worth making. Here's why: Homemade bagels are irresistibly chewy, and boast a crisp, golden-brown exterior. They taste fresher and more flavorful than anything you can buy.

Bagels, like pretzels, are boiled first to create a crunchy exterior. Bagels are boiled in water usually 30 to 60 seconds before hitting the oven. This boiling causes the starch on the exterior of the bread to gel and create a barrier from the interior dough.

Bagels are traditionally made from yeasted wheat dough that is shaped by hand into a torus or ring, briefly boiled in water, and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior.

Bread flour – Because of its high protein content, bread flour makes these homemade bagels delightfully chewy. This recipe also works with all-purpose flour, they're just a bit less chewy than bagels made with bread flour.

First, bagels can have more calories and carbs than bread because the serving size tends to be higher. However, this does not inherently make bagels less healthy, it just means when you eat a bagel you need to pay attention to how much you're eating and what you're pairing with it.

What you're trying to do, by boiling or steaming bagels before baking, is to kill the yeast, so the bagels won't rise in the oven and become puffy, rather than staying rather dense and chewy. You're also adding a very thin coating of sugar—malt, in this case—which gives bagels their distinctive shiny crust. Eureka!

BOILING. Add honey and baking soda to boiling water in a large pot. This will help give the bagels a nice sheen and golden brown color when out of the oven.

Cover your shaped bagels on their baking sheets with plastic wrap. Allow to proof in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours to develop more flavor and chewiness. Simply let the bagels come to room temperature before boiling, topping, and baking. This is also a great idea if you're hosting company for breakfast or brunch!

A New York–style bagel is always boiled in water that has had barley malt added, which gives a bagel its signature taste, texture, and leathery skin.

What makes New York bagels better? ›

Much like a specific vineyard terroir is used to make a wine, certain minerals in New York City tap water are attributed to creating the best bagels. These include low concentrations of calcium and magnesium and a high level of sediment.

Over proofed dough will lose its strength too early and cause the bagels to deflate either during the second rise or while cooking.

Tough and Matte

The loss of air and super-long fermentation can also make bagels seem tough rather than chewy, so be careful when pushing the upper limits of the proof time.

They're also a bit of a hybrid animal: Bagels are baked like bread, but only after being boiled, like gnocchi. This is because boiling is the secret to that wonderful brown crust and chewy density — it's what separates the bagel from bread. Adding a little baking soda to the water boil perfects this process.

If you are making bagels or pretzels. or any sort of doughy, bready thing that needs to boil before it gets baked, this dough should float when it boils.

Is it cheaper to make your own bagels? Yes! This is one of the reasons we love making them at home. Since the recipe only uses a few staples, you can easily buy the ingredients in bulk and save tons of money if you buy bagels often.

Homemade is Better Than Store-Bought

Store-bought options are not usually the healthiest. Many are made with more sugar than necessary and unhealthy ingredients.

If you're wondering how much does a bagel shop make a year, it depends on the average cost of a bagel at your store (between $1 and $6), other items you sell like coffee, and sales per day coupled with overhead costs. Profits can range from $50,000 to over $200,000 annually.

Therefore, the cost of ingredients for a single bagel could range from 10 cents to 15 cents. The cost of bagel-making goes beyond the ingredients alone, and this is where the economics get slightly complex. Production costs are a significant component of the total cost.