Warm, chewy on the outside, soft on the inside, fresh, homemade bagels! Yes, Yes, and YES!
Seriously, y'all, fresh homemade bagels are so easy to make, plus you get to top them with whatever you want!
Vegan cheese, sesame seeds, Trader Joe’s everything bagel seasoning, raisins, cinnamon, jalapeños, chocolate chips…whatever y’all want! I normally let each of my kids pick a flavor and try to accommodate. Everyone loves homemade bagel day in your house.
Bagels freeze really well, so make yourself a double batch on the weekend, and next week’s breakfast just got a lot easier, and a whole lot more tasty!
If you don’t believe me, I have left photo proof of our two year old digging into a fresh everything bagel that she slyly snatched as we were trying to photograph them. I mean she just did the thing the rest of us wanted to do. But who can blame her.
They are that good! And if y’all can’t do gluten, don’t worry! Our friends over at Not That Kind of Vegan took this recipe and turned it gluten free, so go check out their recipe !! Now everyone can have their bagel and eat it too!!
And if you are feeling super extra, you can give making your own easy homemade cream cheese a try. Super easy, cheaper than store bought and soooo good!!! We made ours with tofu and cashews to give it the perfect texture and taste!! And if you are feeling really super duper extra, you can make a quick batch of carrot lox to top it all off with!
Ingredients:
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon dry active yeast
1 and 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon white sugar
3 teaspoons salt
optional toppings: everything bagel seasoning, sesame seeds, salt, poppy seeds, shredded cheese, or anything else you can think of!
Boiling liquid:
Enough water to fill a large pot
2 teaspoons baking soda
Instructions:
In a large bowl add water, yeast, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. You want the water warm but not too hot. It needs to be around 100 degrees. Much hotter and it will kill the yeast. I just use hot water from the tap. Let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes until it is nice and foamy.
Add the yeast mixture along with the remaining ingredients to a stand mixer. You can either use the paddle attachment to get everything mixed up, or mix it by hand before attaching the dough hook. Allow the dough to knead on medium speed for about 10 minutes. It needs to knead for this long! I promise. If you do not have a stand mixer then you can mix the ingredients by hand and knead for about 15 minutes. Baking and a workout at the same time! Heck yes! Look at you burning those bagel calories before you even eat one!
Pull off a piece of dough and stretch it. You want it to make a “windowpane” that you can see through, but does not rip. That’s when you are done kneading!
Place dough in large bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Allow dough to rise for about an hour. It will grow but not quite double in size.
Once dough has risen, divide into 8 equal pieces. Form a ball with each piece and poke a hole in the middle using your finger. Stretch the ring of dough out a bit and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add 2 teaspoons of baking soda. Add 1 or 2 bagels at a time and allow to boil on each side for about 45 seconds. Remove the bagel from the water and place back on the parchment lined baking sheet.
Sprinkle bagel with desired toppings while the bagel are still wet and the toppings will stick.
Bake bagels for 25 - 30 minutes. You can brush the bagels with a 1/2 cup whipped aquafaba mixed with 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, or melted vegan butter. This just helps the bagels brown. You do not have to brush them with anything.
Allow bagels to cool on a the baking pan before storing in an airtight container at room temperature.
Serve with vegan cream cheese, carrot lox, or even our delicious vegan egg salad
You can freeze the bagels for up to a few months. You can also split the dough into 16 pieces if you want smaller bagels.
