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Friday, March 23, 2012

Honey Wheat Sourdough Bagels

Another sourdough recipe...I know some of you are groaning. Blame it on OCD that compels me to share every sourdough recipe that is in my stack of favorites. I'm almost finished. I promise.

Bagels are the perfect place to showcase the flavor of sourdough. This recipe uses an overnight rise in the refrigerator which makes it seem like not a lot of work. The recipe is adapted from Nancy Silverton. I use all whole wheat flour but you may use white if your prefer. When using whole wheat flour, I like to add a little vital gluten but they turn out well without it.


Honey Wheat Sourdough Bagels


1/2 cup milk
1 cup water
1 1/2 cup active sourdough starter
5 cups whole wheat flour (or white)
2-3 T vital gluten (optional)
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp salt

Day One:
Mix all ingredients on medium speed for 5 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl and allow to rest of 3 hours.

Divide dough into 15 pieces. Shape into bagel shapes and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Spray with oil and cover with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator overnight.

Day Two:
Remove bagels from the refrigerator and allow to warm up for about 20 minutes. Bagels are ready when they will float in water.

In a pan, boil several inches of water and 1 T of baking soda. Gently drop in bagels. Boil for about 20 seconds on each side.

Carefully remove bagels from water and place on parchment covered baking sheet. Continue until all the bagels are boiled. The bagels will not raise much in the oven and can be placed closely together on the baking sheet.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds. Bake bagels at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

Slather on some cream cheese and homemade strawberry jam. Bagels freeze well if you have extras.

16 comments:

  1. Reading all your sourdough recipes makes me think I should give it a try. I've never did sourdough. To be honest, the idea of sourdough kinda intimedates me. I'm not sure but I think I probably would kill it or something. I do however use kefir grains and haven't killed them yet so maybe I could get a sourdough starter and do okay with it. Enjoy your day and God bless.

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  2. Those look yummy! I love all of your sourdough recipes and can't wait to give them all a try sometime soon!

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  3. I love bagels and have cinnamon ones every day for breakfast (store bought ones) but had no idea they were boiled before baking. I wish I was there to try them! Lily. xxx

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  4. Thanks to you, I am inspired to try sourdoughs. After forty years of yeast-bread making, baking with sourdough will be an adventure. I received my free starter from a Website I found after visiting your blog, and I'm ready to go. Thank you for all your sourdough posts which I shall rely on as I go.
    (Pippa R.)

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  5. Thank you so much for posting this! My daughter and I have just started learning about using the sour dough starters but the bread book we have on it did not have a recipe for bagels. Quite a blessing to find it here!

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  6. Hello! Just found your blog and have been enjoying the great recipes you have here. I love using my sourdough starter, too. In fact, some friends and I have started a fun little group to get the most out of our starters, finding new and creative ways to use it! We would love for you to join us! http://sourdoughsurprises.blogspot.com/

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  7. I used sugar instead of honey. Do you think that makes a difference in the end product? I could only add 4 c flour.

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    Replies
    1. It should not make much difference. You will use less flour since the liquid of the honey will take more flour but otherwise you won't probably notice a change.
      Gina

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  8. Are they supposed to rise overnight in the fridge?

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    Replies
    1. Yes. A slow cool rise is best for bagels.
      Gina

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  9. I made the bagels and my biggest problem was the that a lot of them were soggy especially on top where the water couldn't run off after boiling. I baked them till they were well browned so that wasn't the problem. Not sure how to avoid this as I don't know what I could do differently. The ones that were baked properly were really good though.

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  10. Oh and they were really flat, not puffed up like yours

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    1. Did you try the float test before cooking? Maybe they needed to rise more? Or maybe your starter wasn't strong enough? Or maybe you could decrease the time it was in the water boil?

      Hope you give it another try!
      Happy Baking,
      Gina

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  11. I did boil them 1 min per side, that was probably too long. They were well risen for sure maybe too much. I'm also thinking my dough wasn't stiff enough. I will definitely be making them again. I enjoyed the challenge and wont rest till I've figured it all out. It's my latest mission in life, lol, perfecting bagels, after my five children of course.

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    Replies
    1. Love your determination! And I totally understand because I have had similar goals. My husband loved my bagel binge. For a while we were having bagels every week. I'm sure he would be delighted if I did it again. He never minded if they weren't perfect.
      Gina

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  12. Do you make your dough as stiff as most sites suggest? Or do you find it works with a softer dough?

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