Homemade Bagels, à la Jo Goldenberg Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my homemade bagels tough? ›

Moreira: Usually if you get dense bagels, it's because they were underproofed. But it could also be that your yeast is bad. When you're at home using dry yeast—especially if you don't use it that often—you should always bloom the yeast in a little bit of sugar and water to make sure it's active.

Swapping in ½ cup of whole-wheat flour for ½ cup of the bread flour will make the bagels slightly less chewy but will also give them a boost of flavor.

A good bagel should have a thin, shiny, crackly crust spotted with the kind of microblisters that you can only get from proper boiling followed by a high-temperature bake. It's these little bubbles that add both surface area and crunch.

That is what really tells which Goldbergs are the real ones. A real Goldberg bagel is pretty much the same recipe Izzy took from Poland, made with four ingredients: flour, water, yeast and malt. The bagels are formed either by hand or machine, and placed on wooden boards that are dusted with cornmeal.

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.

If the bagels are fresh from the bakery, make sure they cool completely before you put them in the plastic bag. It's also important to squeeze any excess air out of the bag before sealing it, otherwise the bagels might harden. Stored this way, whole bagels should stay fresh for about six days.

What Makes a Bagel Chewy? Bread flour is the essential ingredient to creating that distinct chewy bite we all crave in a bagel. Its high protein content creates a stiff dough that holds its shape while baking and develops more gluten for more chew.

All-purpose flour has a lower percentage of protein which means that it will produce a much softer texture. You need the higher protein content from the bread flour which creates more gluten and a more elastic dough. This equals the ideal chewy bagel.

Baking soda makes the water more alkaline, giving the bagels a pretzel-like quality that contributes to their chewiness. Just one teaspoon helps the bagels develop a shiny, dark-brown exterior as they bake.

The New York Water and Local Ingredients

NYC bagel purists will claim the main difference between a New York bagel vs. a regular bagel is the water you boil them in. 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.

What can I add to a bagel to make it better? ›

Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint water onto the surface of the bagels, then sprinkle with toppings–sesame seeds, poppy seeds, pretzel salt, or my favorite, the mixture of poppy seeds and dried onion flakes.

Eggs contain a lot of nutrients even in small volumes—they are a good source of calcium, iron, potassium, and linoleic acid as well as protein. It's not just carbs in your bagel now! Embrace the egg bagel.

Alper, for various business decisions, figured out a shortcut, bypassing the crucial boiling step, to turn out thousands and thousands of decent bagels. The main thing about Noah's product, was that they were soft and not traditionally dense and chewy.

Those perfect Goldberg's bagels and famous Po' Boys have remained, while the culinary options have expanded tenfold to offer a menu of New York City proportions. To this day, Saxe and Aaron remain the two sole owners-both are still onsite every day integrally involved in every aspect of their business.

A proper bagel should be chewy enough that it takes a bit of jaw muscle to bite into it. Good bagels are denser than most bread, but not hard. Bagels are fully proofed before being boiled, then baked.

The shorter you boil your bagel, the thinner the layer of cooked dough on the outside. You could technically cook the whole bagel for several minutes. By that time, all the starch will have gelatinized.