Esther (aka Star) has a long-standing tradition of making bagels for the crew working in the last days of shutdown at Bridgestone. (Isn't she just awesome! - One of the many reasons peoples love her.) Many moons and suns ago, Noam (GardenGnome) shared a link to a fantastically easy and delicious recipe that was adopted and copied into a Google doc for ease of use. Time rolled on, it was used each each year for Shutdown Treats for the Guys and for any other bagel-making ventures. This year, tragedy struck - it was discovered that some of the doc had been overwritten and the beginning of the recipe was lost.
We went back into the archives and found GardenGnome's post (Shoutout for sharing originally and to Thomas for remembering where it came from!) - and we have decided to repost the recipe here with Esther's little notes and adjustments so that the recipe (just the recipe without the original poster's story and FAQs and all) is posted for our edification for time eternal in case the original poster removes their link (or until the world collapses and this particular blogpost poofs out along with all the rest of the interwebs). The notes I added are purple: RB is Rebekah (maggiemagster), EC is Esther (Star)
New York-Style Bagel Recipe (Esther uses for Shutdown)
Prep
Time: 20 minutes |
Cook
Time: 20 minutes
| Additional
Time: 1 hour 20 minutes | Total
Time: 2 hours
Yield: 8 medium bagels | - RB: Note: JUST DOUBLE IT!!! If you are going to make these, might as well make enough to share! 😉
Ingredients
2 teaspoons / 6 g active dry yeast
4 ½ teaspoons / 19 g granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups / 300 ml warm water (you may need ± ¼ cup /60 ml more)
3 ½ cups / 440 g bread flour or high gluten flour (you may need up to 1/2 cup / 60g for kneading)
1 ½ teaspoons / 6 g salt
Bowl with some cornmeal (¼-⅓ cup?)
For Onion bagel (most often made): 1/2 cup minced onion (+ a little for topping the bagels)
Optional Toppings: (Refer to Notes)
Instructions
In ½ cup /120ml of the warm water, pour in the sugar and yeast. Do not stir. Let it sit for five minutes, and then stir the yeast and sugar mixture until it all dissolves in the water. (RB didn’t read properly and put all the water to bloom in 2026 – it seemed to work out…..)
Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the yeast and sugar mixture. EC note: When doing onion bagels, add minced onion to the flour BEFORE adding the wets.
Pour ⅓ cup / 80ml of warm water into the well. Mix and stir in the rest of the water (the scant ½ cup / 100ml that is remaining), as needed. Depending on where you live, you may need to add an additional couple tablespoons to about ¼ cup/60ml of water. You want a moist and firm dough after you have mixed it.
On a floured countertop, knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Try working in as much flour as possible to form a firm and stiff dough.
Lightly brush a large bowl with oil and turn the dough to coat. Cover the bowl with a damp dish towel. Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in size. Punch the dough down, and let it rest for another 10 minutes.
Carefully divide the dough into 8 pieces (OG poster uses a scale to be extra precise, but it’s not necessary). Shape each piece into a round. Now, take a dough ball, and press it gently against the countertop (or whatever work surface you’re using) moving your hand and the ball in a circular motion pulling the dough into itself while reducing the pressure on top of the dough slightly until a perfect dough ball forms. Repeat with 7 other dough rounds.
Coat a finger in flour, and gently press your finger into the center of each dough ball to form a ring. Stretch the ring to about ⅓ the diameter of the bagel and *place on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Repeat the same step with the remaining dough.
*OR have a bowl with cornmeal – dip the formed bagel into the bowl of cornmeal to coat the bottom then place on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
After shaping the bagels and placing them on the cookie sheet, *cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425ºF / 220ºC / Gas Mark 7/ Convection: 410ºF
*For making up dough night before: STOP – in lieu of counter rest, cover and put into the fridge. Once you pull out, let rest for half-an-hour, then proceed with instructions below.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Reduce the heat. Use a slotted spoon or skimmer to lower the bagels into the water. Boil as many as you are comfortable with boiling. Once the bagels are in, it shouldn’t take too long for them to float to the top (a couple seconds). Let them sit there for 1 minute, and then flip them over to boil for another minute. Extend the boiling times to 2 minutes each, if you’d prefer a chewier bagel (results will give you a more New York-Style bagel with this option). *EC note: Put the bagels into the water bottom-side up. Boil for 1.5 minutes. Flip, 1.5 more minutes, then put on cooling rack to drain.
If you want to add toppings to your bagels, do so as you take them out of the water. *Alternatively, you can use an egg wash to get the toppings to stick before baking the bagels. You may want to use the “Optional Toppings” listed above to top the bagels. Use just one topping, or a combination to make your own Everything Bagel Seasoning. *NOT alternatively - MUST use egg wash all over the top of the bagel.
Once all the bagels have boiled (and have been topped with your choice of toppings), transfer them to an oiled or parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until golden brown (OG poster usually errs on the side of 20 minutes).
Cool on a wire rack. Eat! Consume with gusto with butter or cream cheese or whatever else you deem tasty!
Notes
Optional Toppings:
Caraway seeds, cinnamon sugar, coarse salt, minced fresh garlic, minced fresh onion, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, everything bagel seasoning, or a mix of your favorite flavors.
Water measurement & similar concerns:
The recipe measurements for the water in the recipe is a guide; not all 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) will be used unless you need it. This is because of environmental factors (humidity, temperature, altitude, etc.) and the flour you are using. The most important thing when making the dough is to make sure it is homogenous and smooth– do not get caught up on the water measurement. If the dough is too firm, add in more water to ensure the dough is not dry and flaky– this has to be done when mixing the dough, not after you’ve allowed it to rise.
For any customization ideas or FAQs from the OG poster (he has a lot of good information), : see the blogpost Sophisticated Gourmet
