Whole Wheat Bagels Recipe and Tutorial

Have you ever had a homemade bagel? Did you even know such a thing was possible? Why would you make bagels when you can just go buy some at the store?

Homemade bagels are like little gifts of heaven, right in our own houses. A homemade bagel is so good that you will want to just eat it all by itself. The following recipe and tutorial will show you how to make big, amazing whole wheat bagels. You can elaborate on this recipe by adding flavorings, or dried fruit to the dough, or you can add toppings like onions, sesame seeds, etc. to the top

Sponge:

• 1 tsp. dry yeast
• 2 c. bread flour
• 2 c. whole wheat flour
• 2 ½ c. warm water

The Dough is very stiff, and your mixer
may protest slightly.

Firstly, add all of the sponge ingredients to your stand mixer and mix until combined with the hook attachment. This dough will be very sticky. Place it in a greased bowl, cover with plastic and let it sit for 2 hours.

Dough:

• ½ tsp. dry yeast
• 2 ¾ c. bread flour
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 2 ¾ tsp. salt
• 1 tbs. honey

Add all of the dough ingredients into the mixing bowl and add sponge. (FYI, I add the sponge first and then scoop the dough mixture ¼ cup at a time into the sponge with the mixer on low. If you don’t do this, your mixer will undoubtedly sling flour everywhere.) Mix on low until combined, then bump up your speed to medium and let it go for 6 minutes. (FYI, make sure you have your mixer on a good surface, because this dough will cause it to move. I made this mistake once and my entire kitchenaid mixer fell on the floor while also cutting its power cord in half on the blade for the food processor. Luckily, almost everything on a Kitchenaid is replaceable.)

Divide dough into 8 or 16 pieces and form into
balls.

Let this mixture rise in a greased and covered bowl in a warmish spot until doubled in size. Roll the mixture out on a floured board and punch it down, then divide into 8 pieces, form them into bagel shapes, place on a greased cookie sheet and cover. Let  the bagels rise overnight or until they have doubled in size.

Allow bagels to rise overnight or until they have
doubled in size.

Boiling Water:

• 1 tbs baking soda
• 4 c. boiling water
• 3 tbs. cornmeal

Boiling bagels is easy and nothing to be scared of. I use a large saucepan that can hold 2 bagels at a time. Fill with enough water to cover half of the bagel, about 4 cups, and bring to a boil. Add the baking soda and carefully place bagels into the water and cook for 1 minute on each side. If you want your finished product to be pretty, take special care at this stage to not distort them, because how they set in the water is how they will look out of the oven, also make sure not to squish them, otherwise they won’t be light and fluffy.

Remove from water and place on a cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal until all of the bagels are boiled.

(FYI, if you are going to put toppings on your bagels, do it after you have added the egg wash in the last step, since the egg will help the toppings stick.)

Baking:

• 1 egg
• 1 tbs. water

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Make a wash with the egg and water and go over each bagel with it to get the shiny brown crust that we know and love so well. Bake bagels for 10 minutes. It’s important to let your bagels cool down before enjoying so that the structure of the bagel is intact, otherwise, it will just be a hot mess, literally. (FYI, these bagels are enormous, if you would like smaller bagels, cut the dough into 16 pieces, which will still give you large bagels.)

You may leave your bagels in a plastic bag on the counter for up to a week, or freeze for up to 4 months. ENJOY!