Sourdough Onion Bagels

This is the forth time I’ve made bagels, and the first time I’ve been successful at it.

Since I do not keep bread flour in the house, I do use vital wheat gluten to increase the gluten in the all-purpose flour.

Also, it is critical to use malt syrup in this recipe (for the flavor). Some recipes say that you can substitute brown sugar but I do not think the taste is the same. I get mine from our friends at Briess (supplier of fine specialty malts to the brewing industry. And the best dang malted milk balls on the planet if you can get your hands on them).

I also added 2 tablespoons of buttermilk powder (for the extra tang!), and dried onions. Onion bagels have always been a favorite of mine (probably because when I was growing up, all you could get was frozen Lender’s bagels. While those are *ok*, these are amazing.

Mix the dough ingredients and knead for 5 minutes.

Place in a well-oiled bowl and turn once to coat. Allow to rise for 1 hour (I use the Breville Air Fry Smart oven on the proofing function because it’s so amazingly consistent, regardless of room temperature).

After one hour, stretch and fold the dough 3 times. Repeat the rise process 2 more times.

Prepare your cookie sheet. I like to use parchment paper and corn meal.

And roll out your bagels. For consistency I did weigh the dough out into 12 balls of dough.

Roll it like a snake.

And twist it on itself. I did have a couple open, but they still tasted delicious.

Ready to go into the refrigerator overnight. I placed a well-oiled sheet of food service wrap on top to prevent drying.

Make some schmear. This was a block of Philly cream cheese, 2 cloves of pressed garlic, and 2 tablespoons of dried chives. SO good.

The next day I removed from the refrigerator and allowed to rise until puffy. The first time I made these, I followed the original instructions and just waited for the oven to pre-heat and the water to boil. I got small rocks. This time I allowed them to rise until they were visibly puffy, which took 2 hours in an oven with the light on. Thinking back, I should have known that (even though my sourdough starter is KICKIN) after keeping so cold in the refrigerator overnight, they’d need more time.

Bring water to a boil with sugar and baking soda in it.

And boil on each side for 30 seconds.

Mix an egg with 2 tablespoons water and brush the tops of the bagels. Add your topping. I used Everything But the Bagel seasoning and Pretzel Salt (because salt bagels…OMG)

And bake in a 450 degree Fahrenheit oven for 17 to 20 minutes, flipping and changing racks halfway through (unless your oven is much better than mine). They should be golden brown like these…

Slice and serve with schmear. I promise you these are totally worth the effort.

This recipe was adapted from Baking Sense.

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Sourdough Onion Bagels

These amazing bagels are surprisingly easy to make

Prep Time40 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Rising time8 hours hrs

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: sourdough

Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 1 cup fed sourdough starter
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
• 2 tablespoons dried onions
• 2 tablespoons Briess Malt Extract Syrup
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk powder
• Corn meal

For the finish

• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 egg plus 2 tablespoons water whisked

For toppings

• Everything bagel seasoning
• Pretzel salt

Instructions

• Combine sourdough starter, water, all-purpose flour, wheat gluten, dried onions, malt extract and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix and knead for ~5 minutes. Add to an oiled bowl, and place in a warm area or proofer. After one hour, fold the dough over on itself 3 times. Repeat the process 2 more times. Roll out the bagels as shown in the recipe, and place on parchment paper with some cornmeal on it. Spray some food service film with oil and place it on top of the bagels. Refrigerate overnight. After refrigeration, remove bagels to a warm area and allow to rise until puffy. This took about 2 hours but that’s going to depend on how warm your area is. After the dough is puffy, bring 1 gallon of water to a boil with sugar and baking soda. Boil the bagels for 30 seconds on each side, and place on 2 cookie sheets with parchment. Brush with egg/water mixture and sprinkle on your toppings. Bake in a pre-heated 450 degree Fahrenheit oven for 17-20 minutes, rotating once somewhere in the middle of that time. Bagels should be golden brown.