Bagel Bread Mix – Easy Overnight Recipe

Making delicious chewy and equally soft bagels at home does not have to be complicated. With the right flour, organic at best, some instant yeast, the correct amount of salt and approx. 60% hydration, you’re on the perfect way to a classic water bagel. To make it even easier and more successful you can choose a bread mix, e.g. BREADISTA’s ‘Wurzelbrot, where everything is perfectly pre-measured and organic. Turn a simple mix into your own bagel bread mix.

Turning the rustic ‘Wurzelbrot’ mix into typical American bagels will get you a soft, not too dense crumb with a portion of whole wheat flour. Whether you choose to go plain, with sesame seeds (btw, the two most bought bagel versions) or the typical Everything topping. This bread mix is the perfect base for easy homemade bagels.

Did you know – the probably most expensive bagel was made in… of course, New York! It was created by Frank Tujague, chef at The Westin Time Square, for the hotels anniversary in 2017 with a price tag of $1,000. It was the luxury bagels’ second appearance after 2007 with the proceeds going to a local Soup Kitchen. It was filled with white truffle infused cream cheese and gold leaf flakes.

How to make easy Overnight Bagels

To have the raw bagels ready to boil & bake in the morning, put them overnight or up to 8-10 hrs in the fridge, loosely covered with cling foil. Using less yeast is important for overnight bagels, otherwise they will rise too fast and too big. Thankfully, we always work with the minimal amount of yeast in all our baking mixes. Adjusting the amount of water compared to the regular Wurzelbrot bread mix is necessary.

The following instructions make you 8-9 soft crumb Bagels. We recommend making the dough in a stand mixer with the dough hook attached for easier handling. We use a Kenwood Titanium Major KM020 (older model from the Chef-series with the XL bowl).
NOTE: Use a digital scale to measure the water in grams (or oz NOT fl. oz)!

Ingredients Dough:
1/2 Bread Mix WURZELBROT

5 g / 1 TSP – Cane Sugar

300 g / 10.6 oz – Water, cool

1 TBS / 15 g – Butter, softened (salted or unsalted)

Optional:

Egg Wash (small beaten egg with splash of water)
Topping to your liking (e.g. Sesame Seeds, Everything Seasoning, Poppy Seeds…)

Day 1 / STEP 1 – Into the bowl of your stand mixer add the flour-mix, sugar and water and start kneading on low (level 1-2) until almost everything is combined. Turn up the speed to level 2-3 and let the machine knead for 6-7 min until the dough seems to get smoother with an even surface. Don’t add more water as this dough is usually a stiff one compared to other bread doughs. It will be a bit sticky to the touch but not wet. When the kneading time is over, let it rest for 10 min; covered with cling foil or the transparent bowl cover from the machine.

STEP 2 – After the resting time add in the softened butter in smaller pieces. TiP: we like to spread out the butter upfront with a knife to avoid adding chunks and thus ease the incorporation. Knead for another 7 min on medium-high speed (level 3-4). The dough will be softer in the end and lightly sticky to the touch.

STEP 3 – Preparation: Grease two half-size baking sheets very lightly with olive oil for easier removal after the long fermentation. Have your digital scale and a dough scraper ready.

STEP 4 – Slightly flour your work space, bring the dough onto it and knead it 2-3 times. Weigh the whole dough and start dividing it into equal 8-9 pieces depending on the size you prefer.

STEP 5 – Shape your dough pieces into bagels. Work quick in this step to avoid that the dough starts to rise. There are mainly 3 ways to shape a bagel:

A) Classic Wrap-Around: (Video) First, shape one piece into a round ball, then into a short log. Set aside, go further until all pieces are pre-shaped. Second, roll each short log into a longer rope and length so that it just wraps around your palm with slightly overlapping ends. Roll the dough ring (now around your palm) with the seam facing downwards over the counter to even it out and connect the ends.

B) Eyelet Version: (picture 1+2 below) Roll the dough into a longer log ca. 6-7 inch (15-17/18cm) and cut a short slit into one end. Just enough to bring the other end through.

C) Poke-The-Ball: (3rd picture below, right) After dividing the pieces roll each into a ball and set it onto the seam side. Poke with your index finger from the top a whole into the middle and widen that whole gently and evenly about 1 inch in size with fingers of both hands.

STEP 6 – Set the shaped raw bagels onto the greased baking sheet, spray or brush the pieces with some remaining oil, cover loosely (not to tide as we want the pieces to rise!) and put it in the fridge for 8-10 hrs. Stack the baking sheets (criss-cross) in case you have not enough space with the help of small containers for instance. (see pictures below)

How to cook homemade bagels with our bread mix

Day 2 / Step 7 – Pre-heat your oven to 430F and bring ca. 2 ltr/qt in a medium sized pot to a light boil. Turn back the heat to medium high (don’t boil it again), add 0.5 TBS salt and 1 TBS brown sugar or barley malt syrup and stir until dissolved.

While the water is heating up prepare your toppings – have it handy to sprinkle it direct on top of the cooked bagel OR have it on a small plate or in a small bowl/container for dunking it into.

Optional – egg-wash. It is not necessary but gives the bagels a light shine and a more even browning when a topping is used.

STEP 8 – When everything in step 7 is ready and handy, take one bagel sheet out of the fridge and start boiling the bagels. Use a flat skimmer or slotted pancake flipper to place, turn and remove the bagels. Cook them for 35-40 sec each side. Drain them 1-2 sec before you place them back on the same sheet or use a new baking sheet lined with baking paper. Brush with the egg-wash and top immediately with your choice of toppings. When the sheet is full, pop it right into the oven for baking when the oven is ready.

TiP: When you want to use the ‘dunking’ method, be careful since the pieces are hot. You do not need necessarily the egg-wash, the seeds will stick without it, but the browning will not be so evenly. (see the sesame bagels in the first picture at the top)

STEP 9 – Bake the bagels for ca. 18 min until they are honey/golden brown. Rotate the sheets if necessary for even browning. Keep an eye on the pieces since the baking time can vary because of the size & thickness you have chosen. Also, keep in mind, when you have onions in your toppings, they tend to burn around the edges.

Bagels are best when eaten fresh on the first day. You can easily freeze them after they have cooled completely. Show us your bagel versions online on Instagram & Facebook and tag us with #breadistaworld and @breadista.world – WE WANT TO SEE YOUR GORGEOUS BAGELS!