Make Ahead

Sourdough Bagel

February  9, 2021
4.7
6 Ratings
Photo by 2kidsandthekitchen
  • Prep time 48 hours 5 minutes
  • Cook time 20 minutes
  • makes 4
Author Notes

In a nutshell, it's a hybrid of sourdough bread and a bagel. Why limit yourself when you can have the best of both worlds. It is crispy, chewy, dense, and has a deep rustic flavor. —2kidsandthekitchen

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • for the
  • 1 cup active sourdough starter
  • 3 cups organic white bread flour
  • 1 teaspoon fine salt
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 teaspoon barley malt syrup or turbinado sugar
  • for boiling the bagels
  • 2 liters hot water
  • 3 tablespoons barley malt syrup or turbinado sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons Salt
  • 2 liters Iced water (use after a hot bath)
Directions
  1. Make sure your sourdough culture is active at 100% hydration.
  2. Knead all the ingredients for the dough using your hand (This is a very stiff dough, it might break your electric mixer if you will use it for kneading. At some point, there will be dry bits of flour just be patient and knead it until the outside of the dough is smooth.
  3. Place the dough in a clean and oil-free bowl. Cover it with cling wrap or a clean wet towel. Make sure that the dough will not dry out.
  4. Let the dough rest on the countertop for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 8-12 hours or 2 days maximum.
  5. After the cold fermentation, place it at room temperature for 4 hours.
  6. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C) for an hour.
  7. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces, or best if you can weigh them equally. Shape each piece into a small ball by tucking the corners underneath, cupping the dough, and rolling it in a circular fashion on a clean, flour-free countertop.
  8. Cover the dough balls with cling wrap or a clean towel and let them rest for 1 hour.
  9. Shape the bagels. There are many ways you can shape a bagel feel free to watch them on YouTube, but I prefer to shape it by poking a hole with your finger directly to the center of the dough ball. Insert both index fingers into the hole and roll fingers around each other to stretch out the center until they are about 2 inches big.
  10. Prepare the hot bath for the bagels. Combine the water, barley malt syrup, and baking soda. Bring to a boil.
  11. Dip the bagels for about 20-30 seconds on each side. Using a spider strainer carefully scoop out the bagels then transfer them quickly into the cold water, let them rest in the cold water for about a minute or 2.
  12. Using the spider strainer remove the bagels from the cold water bath then quickly place them into a grilling mesh or if desired, sprinkle it with everything bagel seasoning or black sesame seeds with a pinch of salt, or white sesame seeds with a pinch of salt.
  13. Place the grilling mesh with the bagels on it directly to the oven plate. spray it with water to create steam inside the oven then close the oven door quickly. bake for about 18-20 minutes. (depends on how hot your oven is)
  14. Bagels are expected to have a golden brown color. Also, that's a queue that they are ready to take out from the oven.
  15. Once the bagels are out of the oven, let them rest for about 15-20 minutes before eating or cutting.
  16. Add schmears if you want. stay safe and enjoy your warm sourdough bagels.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • angco4
    angco4
  • SLOMama
    SLOMama
  • Mr.Burd22
    Mr.Burd22
  • Bakerkate
    Bakerkate

4 Reviews

SLOMama February 18, 2024
This recipe is incorrect. I’m an experienced baker and there is no way the water/starter/flour ratio is correct. I had to add water to this even after kneading for 5 minutes. Even after that, because of how dry it was the crust that formed during cold ferment made it nearly impossible to work with for shaping. I hope they fix the recipe because this is an arduous process to have this much issue with the recipe.
 
Mr.Burd22 May 23, 2021
Ok. This was very time consuming. The dough was very dry so I added some more sourdough and water to it to make it better. I didn't like the fact that you had to babysit the dough for a while. I was also very confused as to why the recipe said to start the oven an hour early. What a waste of electricity. So instead, like any normal person, I started it about ten minutes before I put them in. They tasted pretty good, but not quite like a regular bagel.
 
angco4 March 8, 2021
Dough was so dry that it was nearly impossible to work with. Tasted good but, because of the crumbly dough, the didn’t have a smooth bagel-like exterior. Too much for for only four tiny, ugly, bagels
 
Bakerkate February 23, 2021
Tasted Amazing!!!!