Bagels 3: I Think We've Got It!

This is our 100th post!  When Sarah and I started this blog, I don't know if either of us thought it would get this far.  I think it was something we were trying to do because we were in denial about how far apart we were going to be from one another.  Well, a little over a year later, another sister added and some guest blogging from our dad, we still have a blog.  Thanks so much to all our readers and commenters.  We would not have as much fun with this without you!

And now, for the 100th post -- Bagels!  This seems like an appropriate 100th post.  We are all Jewish New Yorkers, which basically means bagels are in our blood and they are a baked good that all of us like, no modifications necessary.  So, yay for bagels.

You may remember that I have posted about my quest for making the perfect bagel twice before.  Neither recipe was a total success -- one didn't taste enough like bagels and one took way too long to make.  However, I was not to be deterred, so I turned to the wonderful King Arthur Flour for their bagel recipe and this was the best one yet.  It doesn't take too long, but they taste like delicious bagels.  And best of all, unlike my other tries at bagels, these didn't turn out flat!  I have made this recipe 4 times now and they get better each time.  Recently I invested in a dough rising bucket and it has really helped my bread baking.  It is VERY dry here in west Texas, and the bucket helps it not dry out.

If you want to make bagels yourself, I highly recommend this recipe.  You can find it here.

Bagels II: Because We Still Don't Live in NYC

So, we still don't leave in New York City, which is, in my opinion, the only place where one can really get good bagels. So, I decided to try again to make bagels that tasted more like the bagels I know and love. Not that my first batch wasn't good (they were), but they lacked some of that classic bagel flavor.

This recipe, which I got on Smitten Kitchen and is from Peter Reinhart, comes much closer to an NYC bagel. Some of the differences are that this bagel is made with a sponge that is allowed to rise and then ingredients are added to it, there is malt syrup in the recipe which gives is a bagel-y flavor, and the bagels are retarded in the fridge overnight. Yes, this is a two day process.

Despite baking soda in the water, my bagels still came out flat. I'm not sure why that is. Any suggestions?

You can find the bagel recipe here. I would say that if you live anywhere near where you can get a good bagel, it might not be worth making your own. Then again, if you live far away from bagels like me, you might seriously consider devoting two days to the bagel-making endeavor.

Bagels: Because We Don't Live in NYC Anymore

Ah, dear readers, Rebecca now lives in Texas. Texas has many things, but good bagels are not one of them. As people who were born and raised in New York City, there is a particular way that a bagel is supposed to feel and taste and it is really NOT just like white bread with a hole in it. The outside should be crispy (but not too crispy) and the inside should be chewy, with that special bagel flavor.

These bagels were from a great blog called Baking Bites, which you can find here. Like many of the people in the comments section, my bagels came out kind of flat, but still delicious and tasted a lot like bagels. I think I will try again with some baking soda in the water, as a number of other recipes suggest. These were a little unusual as far as bagel recipes go, since it does not recommend malt syrup, which many people say is essential for that bagel flavor. The next recipe I try will be with malt syrup, since I just found some at the store (I plan to make a few different recipes, for comparison).

All in all, these were good bagels. Certainly better than anything we have here, and everyone seemed to enjoy them. See...

Simon enjoying his bagel.