Classic Fluffy Bagels
Ah Bagels. God’s gift to man. One of the best inventions of all times. Now I used to live in the UK, where bagels with salmon and cream cheese are an institution (and I do miss them a lot). Montreal bagels are also delicious, albeit different. Basically, british bagels are fluffier and Montreal bagels are “harder” and poached in honey water, to give them a sweet flavor. I wanted to try and make my own bagels the other day, and after having looked at various recipes online, I came with my own recipe, light and vegan 🙂 Talking with different people, I always get ‘baking is hard’ – it isn’t, trust me 🙂 I have no background in baking or making sough and still manage to bake delicious cakes or bread. No need to have a special technique to try making bread or cake at home! Bagels are nowhere to be found in my native country, Morocco, so I am quite happy that 1) they resulted perfect the first time I baked them and 2) I can make them over and over when I’m in Morocco.
This recipe makes really fluffy bagels, as I substituted water for soy milk. The result is perfect!
Ingredients (serves 6):
2 cups 1/3 of flour // 1 tsp of yeast or 4g(I used instant yeast) // 1.5 tbsp of maple syrup // 1 cup of warm soy milk // 1 tsp of baking powder (to boil the bagels) // 1/3 cup of sesame seeds // 1/3 cup of sunflower seeds // 1 egg OR 1/4 cup of soy milk and 1 tsp of maple syrup (vegan version) for the dorure
Instructions:
In a pan, warm the soy milk. DO NOT bring it to boil // In a small bowl, mix the soy milk with the yeast and the maple syrup. Let rest about 2 to 3 min // In another bowl, put the flour // Add the wet ingredients to the flour progressively and start mixing with your hands to form a dough, or use a machine. If needed, add milk or flour. The dough should be soft but not sticky // Cover and let rise for about 1h. What I do to make it rise faster is I put a blanket around the bowl, as my mom showed me. The heat helps it rise faster 🙂 // When the dough has doubled in size, divide it in 6 equal parts and start making small balls. Put a whole in the center // Bring to boil some water with baking powder // Poach each bagel for about 30s in the boiling water. This will help them keep their shape while baking // Preheat the oven to 360F // Mix the egg OR the soy milk/maple syrup mix in a small bowl // In two other small bowls, put the sesame seeds and the sunflower seeds // Coat the bagels witht he dorure and with either the sesame or sunflower seeds // Bake for about 25-30min (they are normally ready at 25min but I like to leave them bit longer so they lose their “white color”
And voilà! How amazing do they look 🙂 If you’re also a bagel-holic, please make sure you comment below and let me know your favorite bagel toppings!
