The Best Bagels in New Zealand
Introduction
Tried and tested under NZ conditions. From the great Florence Greenberg and adapted by Stephen Judd's sister, Sarah Berger (nee Judd).
Ingredients
- 12 Cups flour
- 2 eggs
- Poppy or sesame seeds
- 2 Tbsps oil
- 4 Cups luke-warm water
- 6 tsps dried yeast
- 4 tsps salt
1/4 Cups sugar
Directions
- Combine sugar, salt, oil, half flour, all liquid, yeast and eggs in a large bowl and mix with wooden spoon until smooth. Cover with tea towel and leave in a warm place (30-45 mins) until risen and bubbly.
- Beat in remaining flour and knead until smooth and elastic. Put dough into floured bowl and sprinkle a little flour on top. Cover with towel and return to warm place for 1 to 1.5 hours. The dough should double in bulk.
- Punch dough down (not too viciously!) and form your bagel shapes (like a doughnut, for the culturally deprived among you). Place on floured bench, cover, and leave for 15 minutes. Heat your oven to 220 C now.
- Drop bagels into a pot of slowly boiling salted water one at a time. Leave for about 30 seconds on each side. Remove from the pot and place on an oiled cake rack, or straight onto oiled baking trays.
- Sprinkle your choice of seeds on top, bake for about 20 minutes or until brown.
- Cool them on a rack or threaded on a wooden spoon handle to prevent sogginess.
Variations
Source: http://vital.org.nz/bagels.html
Comments
Don't make your shapes too big initially; they swell a lot in the boiling/baking process. Unless you want jumbo bagels, that is. You should get between 40-60 bagels from this recipe. Halve it if you can't eat that many.
Bagels freeze ok, but you must use a real oven to defrost them - a microwave will lead to disappointingly rubbery results.
Do eat them while they're fresh. Within 12 hours, the crust will have gone soft, and the texture from cakey to rubbery.