A Little Bit of Everything Bagels

Bagels are truly one of the ultimate joys of life. If you don’t like bagels, I don’t know if I can talk to you (okay that’s a little harsh, but I mean honestly). That’s why I was so excited to make A Little Bit of Everything Bagels; but wow, did I have to do some research to get this one right.

The only ingredient I didn’t have was barley malt syrup, so I used molasses instead; but that’s not what you should be concerned about with this recipe. More important than anything, not only should you read over this recipe well, but you are honestly better off going along with Claire’s process in the YouTube video she did for the New York Times. Is this somewhat cheating from what I usually do in making the recipe and then watching Claire’s Dessert Person Youtube videos? Yes…but unless you want to end up with a nightmare of a bagel baking experience, you will take my word on this one.

I had no issues mixing the all the seeds and seasonings together for the “Everything” mixture or proofing the active dry yeast…or so I thought. I did find it very strange that the only liquid holding around 4 cups of bread and rye flour together was water and molasses; I never knew there aren’t any eggs in bagels! I followed Claire’s directions of adding the flour mixture to the stand mixer while the yeast and molasses foamed up together. All seemed hunky dory until I mixed the yeast mixture with the flour for 10 minutes—that’s where I got nothing but a crumby, somewhat moist mixture. It was absolutely nowhere near the tacky dough consistency Claire said would occur.

I looked back at the directions—didn’t miss anything there. I looked back at my measurements—didn’t mess that up. What could have gone so wrong? I looked for answers on the internet about bagels; other people said a stand mixer IS NOT USEFUL FOR MAKING BAGELS. In fact, it would probably take 20 minutes if I was lucky for the dough to form with a stand mixer. Love Claire, but what the hell?! Other people also said a common problem with bagels is a “dead” bread flour. The gluten development is crucial for bagels, but this will not happen with flour that’s perhaps old or not sealed well in storage. I’ve discovered issues with dough that relates to dead yeast before, but I never thought about it with bread flour. This made more sense in my situation as my bread flour is simply rolled up in its original paper packaging with a clip and sitting in a pantry when I’m not using it.

I purposely saved this bagel for the last quarter of my Dessert Person experience because it was listed as a long, challenging recipe. Between knowing how these situations can go with my flops during other recipes like the Honey Tahini Challah and this recipe being a level 4 difficulty, I decided to be a smart baker this time around and just go to the source. Claire had nothing on her YouTube Channel, which broke my heart. This has always saved me in times of desperation to see where I’ve gone wrong. In hopes there was something out there that could be relative and helpful, I searched “Claire Saffitz Everything Bagels” to discover she basically did the same style video for The New York Times (I’m guessing this is why she’s never done it for her own channel). And guess what—this process was SO different and WAY better than what’s in Dessert Person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l8BheCDjeA

Not only does Claire skip a stand mixer, she ENCOURAGES kneading the dough for 20 MINUTES BY HAND, saying it puts too much work on a mixer (which I found to be VERY accurate even with my crumby mixture). She also shows a special technique for making the bagel rolls and DIPS the bagels in the seasoning rather than mixing it throughout the dough! I was floored to say the least. I understand when one is writing an advanced baking book, they need to write it so the average person understands the steps. Overall, I think Claire is fantastic at doing this, but I don’t understand why she would publish one method that is so different and not encouraged in the bagel world. After reading back, she did mention you can do this by hand, but did not emphasize it at all, so I went with the mindset this would be a similar process to brioche or sweet yeast dough that you definitely would want a stand mixer to create. However, it is not a similar process at all.

I threw my first attempt at bagels away and started over with new active dry yeast and bread flour. The yeast mixture seemed fine the first time around, but this time, it was very active as it foamed. I later read on the active dry yeast container that it should be replaced after six months; I honestly was probably getting to that amount of time since I bought the original, so perhaps it was time for a new jar. I skipped the stand mixer entirely, resorting to stirring the yeast mixture into the flour mixture with a spatula until it was flaky, then meshing it with my hands until I had a very rough dough situation.

From there, I followed the NYT video, sprinkling a tiny bit of flour on the counter, and kneading the dough for about 20 minutes (I recommend having a TV or podcast nearby during this time). Once I got this workout in, my dough was the tacky, but not sticky texture Claire said would occur in Dessert Person. I think using molasses gave my dough a darker brown tone than Claire’s in the NYT video, but overall, I had a comparable dough that would work!

In the video, Claire said her recipe is along the lines of a New York style bagel, which appeared to be the same case for Dessert Person. However, I enjoy the seasonings on the top of an Everything Bagel, so I went with her method in the video, skipping the recipe step to incorporate them in the dough (this involved the stand mixer anyways). I then placed the dough in a clean bowl and let it proof with plastic wrap on it for about two hours; it had doubled in size after that much time.

After covering the rimmed baking sheets with cornmeal, I continued to follow Claire’s method in the video of dividing the dough out in equal sizes and pinching and rolling them into balls. In the video, she got about 12 pieces of equal dough, but I got nine like Dessert Person mentioned. I rolled each piece out in to a long piece, then wrapped it around my hand, connecting the ends together with my palm. I found the heat of my hand helped the dough stick together better. Then I carefully rolled the ring out so I could get the biggest donut hole possible, which would ensure the bagel actually looked like a bagel when it was fully baked. The first couple of bagels were a little thicker on one side than the other, but most of them turned out looking pretty damn good. I placed those bagels on the baking sheets, covered them in plastic wrap and refrigerated them overnight for about 12 hours total.

It was definitely helpful seeing the next series of steps for boiling the bagels from the NYT video before doing it myself. Before boiling the water with molasses (I also added a teaspoon of baking soda like Claire did in the video), I tested one bagel to make sure it would float, and it did (such a relief)! Claire mentioned that once you start the boiling process, you can’t really stop, so I got my Dutch oven with molasses boiling, preheated the oven to 475° (although she did 450° in the video), set up a bowl of ice water, scattered the “Everything” seasoning on a plate and set out my wire racks all in a line across the counter.

I brought out the first batch of bagels and found going at a ten-second rate helped me move things along; the first bagel went in the boiling water, ten seconds later the second and so on. Once I had three or four bagels in the Dutch oven, I flipped the first one I set in, waited ten seconds and flipped the second one, etc. I followed the same timeline as I placed them in the ice water. It took about another 30 seconds for each bagel to be cooled by the ice bath, so then I dipped them in the “Everything” mixture on both sides, and placed them back on the rimmed baking sheet with cornmeal. I completed the same process with the second sheet of bagels; the quantity of seasoning mixture proved to be the perfect amount for getting all the bagels covered on both sides. Once this process was done, I placed them both in the oven for 15 minutes, flipping them between the two oven racks after ten minutes. These steps were pretty much on par with the directions in Dessert Person as well.

Not only did the Little Bit of Everything Bagels look fantastic, they were so freaking good! I am very happy I made them by dipping the seasoning on the tops and bottoms of the bagels rather than putting all the seeds and toppings throughout the dough; I don’t think I would have enjoyed them as much. It tasted just like a bagel with the molasses, but not only that, it tasted better than most bagels I’ve had before. As Claire says in both Dessert Person and the NYT video, a homemade bagel will definitely taste heartier, warmer and overall freaking delicious. I tried it with cream cheese, then the next day I made our family’s beloved breakfast sandwiches with them (Cream cheese, ham, cheddar cheese, over medium egg with pepper and chives on a bagel. You’re welcome.).

I am so happy I decided to research how Claire has made bagels prior to giving this recipe a second try. I’m sure she formulated a method with a stand mixer that she found worked for the average baker, but now that I’ve made numerous bread recipes in Dessert Person, I’m a firm believer that kneading bread dough is what’s best. I can’t wait to make more bagels!

If Claire ever makes a video on A Little Bit of Everything Bagels on her YouTube Channel, I will post (and be SO interested to see how she makes this recipe with a stand mixer!).