Ken is the bread baker in this house and loves to create wonderfully aromatic bread from scratch. Yup, I am a lucky girl. I had asked him to make bagels for me and he created these crazy good Homemade Everything Bagels!
Ken bulked at the idea thinking that they were way too difficult. I showed him a recipe from Epicurious and encouraged him to try it, he usually just needs a nudge and he is off and running. He thought he would give them a go and found out they were very easy indeed to make.
He has blessed us with round two of bagel making, this time with Sundried Tomato Asiago Bagels. These were inspired by seeing them at Tim Horton’s.
Homemade bread is magnificent!! No preservatives so that your bread will never mold or get stale, um, it is supposed to if not eaten right away.
Homemade gives you fresh, out-of-the-oven goodness!! A real treat and I am so glad Ken has mastered bagel-making!
The combination of the sundried tomatoes that burst with flavor and the asiago, which is one of my favorite cheeses, marry together perfectly in this gorgeous bagel.
I will give you all the ingredients here; the one thing I will say is that you need to make sure you plan your bagel baking in advance. This is not a recipe you can pull together in an hour or two as the dough has to rest at least overnight.
You can add other flavors to your bagels. Let your mind wander to your favorite additives. The sky is the limit and your taste buds are the winners!!
Sundried Tomato Asiago Bagels
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. honey
- 1 tsp. instant yeast
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. lukewarm water about 95 F or 35 C
- 3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
- 2-2 1/2 Tbsp. sundried tomatoes chopped
- 1/3 cup Asiago grated
- 1/4 cup asiago grated for topping
Poaching Liquid
- 2-3 quarts of water
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. honey
- 1 Tbsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
Instructions
- To make the dough, in the bowl of a stand mixer stir the honey, yeast, and salt into the lukewarm water. Add the flour to the bowl and using a dough hook mix on the lowest speed for about 3 minutes.
- Add the chopped sundried tomatoes and the grated asiago cheese to the dough for the last minute of mixing.
- The dough should form a stiff course ball. If it seems a little dry add a dash more water and mix for another minute. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
- Resume mixing the dough on the lowest speed with the dough hook for about another 3 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand for 3-4 minutes. This helps to smooth out the dough and develop the glutens. The dough should be stiff with a satiny look and should not be tacky.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature for about an hour.
- When you are ready to shape the dough into bagels prepare a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, you could also use a Silpat. Mist the parchment paper or Silpat lightly with oil.
- Divide the dough into 6 - 8 equal balls. Note if you are making more than 6 bagels you will need 2 prepared sheet pans.
- There are two methods to shape your bagels. First, you can poke a hole in the middle of the ball using your thumb to make a donut shape. With both thumbs in the hole rotate the dough around to gently stretch the dough creating a hole approximately 2 inches in diameter.
- The second method is using your hands on a dry work surface, rolling each ball into a rope about 8 inches long. Place one end of the dough rope in your palm and wrap the rope around your hand. Overlap the ends by about 2 inches and use your thumb and forefinger to squeeze the overlapping ends together. Even out the thickness of the bagel so the hole is about 2 inches in diameter.
- Place each shaped bagel on the prepared sheet pans. Lightly spray them with oil or brush the oil on with a pastry brush.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for up to 2 days.
- When ready to bake; remove the bagels from the refrigerator 60 to 90 minutes before you plan to bake them.
- To test if the bagels are ready to bake you need to perform a "float test". Place one bagel in a small bowl of cold water. If it sinks and doesn't float back to the surface shake off the water and return it to the baking sheet. Wait 15 - 20 minutes and perform the test again. Once the test bagel floats all the bagels are ready for baking.
- Prepare the poaching liquid by filling a medium pot with 2 - 3 quarts of water, add the honey, banking soda, and salt to the water, and bring to a simmer.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
- Using a slotted spoon gently lower each of the bagels into the poaching liquid, putting as many as will comfortably fit in the pot. Poach the one side for 1 minute, turn them over, and poach the other side for another 45 seconds to a minute.
- Transfer the poached bagels back to the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 8 minutes. Sprinkle the tops of the bagels with the remaining 1/4 cup of grated asiago. Then rotate the pan in the oven and continue to bake for another 8 - 12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
- Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool for 30 minutes before slicing or serving.
Nutrition
Comments & Reviews
Gail says
It appears that the link to the Epicurious site is no longer valid. I could not find it doing a search on the Epicurious site either. Could you add the complete recipe to your site? Thanks!!
Tara Noland says
Hmm, the link still worked for me. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/bagels-366757 I have always used their method to make them and just made different bagels. Please tell me if it doesn’t work again for you.
Anna @ Anna Can Do It! says
Oh I love bagels, but so hard to find a recipe that works, since your bagels looks mouth-watering, I’ll try your recipe out! 🙂 The sundried tomatoes sounds great in the bagels. – Love, Anna
Tara Noland says
Thank you so much Anna, enjoy!!