Cinnamon Raisin Bagels
Easy to make, and better than the bagels from your local shop, you'll never buy bagels again!
Ingredients
- 6 grams active dry or instant yeast
- 235 grams water
- 25 grams sugar, divided
- 455 grams bread flour
- 20 grams non-diastatic malt powder, plus approximately 2 Tablespoons for water bath ((if using malt barley syrup, use 10 grams in the dough and 1 Tablespoon for water bath))
- 10 grams salt
- 6 teaspoons cinnamon
- 5 teaspoons water
- 73 grams raisins
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl fitted with the dough hook, combine the active dry yeast, water and approximately 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Gently stir to hydrate the yeast. Allow to sit until foamy, 3-5 minutes. (If you are using instant yeast, add it with the water and all of the sugar to the rest of the ingredients.) Add the bread flour, rest of the sugar and malt powder (or malt barley syrup). Knead on a medium-low speed for about 7 minutes. Then, with the mixer on a low speed, slowly add the salt. Once combined, increase the mixer to medium-low, and continue kneading an additional 3-5 minutes. The salt should be fully absorbed (you should not feel the salt when you touch the dough) and the dough should be very smooth.
- While the dough is kneading, mix the 6 teaspoons of cinnamon with the 5 teaspoons of water to make the cinnamon paste. Set aside.
- To make sure the gluten is fully developed, do a windowpane test. Take a small piece (about 1 teaspoon worth) of dough and stretch it between your fingers. It should form a “window pane”, meaning it should get thin enough that it is translucent without it ripping. If it is not at that point yet, continue kneading in the machine at 1 minute intervals or knead by hand until it passes the test.
- Add the cinnamon paste and knead until the dough starts to look marbled. (It is less messy to knead the cinnamon in with the mixer.) Add the raisins and knead until they are fully incorporated. (It may be easier to turn the mixer off and knead the raisins in by hand.)
- Divide the dough into equal portions, each approximately 138 g. if making six bagels. (If you want your bagels to each be equal, weigh the entire dough and divide the weight by the number of bagels you want to make. I suggest 6, but you can also get 7 or 8 slightly smaller ones.) Shape each one into a ball, covering each with plastic wrap. Taking one dough ball at a time, flatten the ball into an oval with your fingers so that the long part of the oval is horizontal in front of you. Fold over the top third, toward you, onto itself. Make another fold over the remaining portion of the dough. With the palms of both your hands, roll the dough into a rope, approximately 8-9 inches long. Cover with plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining dough balls. Allow the six ropes to rest for 15 minutes.
- Attach the ends of each rope to form bagels. Be careful not to deflate the dough, but you can gently pinch the ends together and gently rub the dough ring against the countertop to flatten out the places where the dough was joined. Place each bagel on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the tray, tightly covered in plastic wrap, in the refrigerator overnight.
- In the morning, remove the tray from the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature, approximately 90-120 minutes (1½-2 hours).
- Approximately 30 minutes before you plan to boil the bagels, preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Using a pot large enough to comfortably hold 2 or 3 bagels at a time, bring a pot of water with 2 Tablespoons of non-diastatic malt powder to a boil. (I use a 4½ quart pot and fill it up at least half way with water.) Place 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the boiling water for 30 seconds. (If the bagels are sticking to the parchment paper, do not force them off. Cut the parchment into squares and place the bagels, parchment side up, in the boiling water. Using tongs, immerse the bagels for a few seconds in the boiling water and remove the parchment paper with the tongs.) Flip each bagel and boil for an additional 30 seconds. Using a strainer or a slotted spoon, remove each bagel from the water and place on the prepared baking tray. Repeat with the rest of the bagels.
- Bake the bagels for 16-20 minutes, until the tops are browned.
Notes
- Rather than 6 bagels, you can also get 7 bagels from this recipe. At Step 5, weigh the dough and divide that number by 7. Each bagel will be approximately 120 grams.
- Some people spread corn flour or semolina flour on the parchment paper before placing the bagels on the baking sheet before refrigeration to prevent the bagels from sticking to the parchment paper. If the bagels stick to the parchment paper just prior to boiling, I prefer to avoid the additional mess and instead just cut the parchment paper into squares (each square holding a bagel) and boil the bagels with the parchment squares on them. After a few seconds in the boiling water, you can easily remove the parchment with tongs.
- Once baked and cooled, the bagels can be stored in the freezer for months. I recommend slicing them before freezing. To defrost, wrap each bagel individually in foil, place in cold oven, and turn oven on to 350°F. Within a few minutes of your oven reaching 350°F, your bagels should be defrosted and nicely warmed, begging for butter or cream cheese to be shmeared all over them.
Nutrition
Calories: 353kcal | Carbohydrates: 76g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 655mg | Potassium: 215mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 17IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 2mg
