Sweet and Savoury Bagels

It may be surprising, but the first time I had a bagel was just this summer when I was travelling around Canada. Since then I’ve been wanting to try different as many flavours as possible and, most of all, to make my own. When I got back I started experimenting, and these are the results. I’ve come up with two bagel recipes, one savoury (cheese and red onion)  and one sweet (cherry, pistachio and chocolate). Whilst they may not be the prettiest things to look at, they taste really good and are perfect for packed lunches. They’re also a really nice bread to make as you can get really hands on and they’re not too tricky.

When I was in Canmore, Alberta I went to a shop called the Rocky Mountain Bagel Co (I’d highly recommend going there if you ever end up near Canmore). There they sold a whole variety of flavoured bagels, with toppings and fillings to go with them. Whilst the following recipes produce bagels which taste great on their own, and don’t really need fillings, if you do want a bagel sandwich you can use these, or you can easily make plain bagels. To make these plain, simply leave out the extra ingredients (such as the cheese and onions) and then fill them with whatever you want once they’re baked (smoked salmon, cream cheese and watercress is really good).

Red Onion and Cheddar Bagels

Recipe

Ingredients 

• ½ tbsp Sunflower oil
• ½ Red onion, finely chopped
• 300g Strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
• 250g Wholemeal flour
• 1 ½ tsp Salt
• 1 tbsp Runny honey
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 7g Instant yeast
• 240ml Warm water
• 2 Medium eggs
• 50g Strong cheddar cheese, grated

Method

1. Put the oil into a small pan and add the chopped onion. Heat gently until the onion begins to caramelise. Set to one side.
2. To make the bagel dough put the flours, salt, honey, olive oil, yeast, water, cooled red onion and one of the eggs into a large bowl. Mix the ingredients together to make a dough (using your hand works well) and then tip the mixture onto a worktop.
3. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy.
4. Oil a chopping board with olive oil. Divide and roll the dough into 12 equally sized tight balls and arrange on the board. Cover the balls with oiled cling film and set aside to prove for around 40 minutes, or until doubled in size.
5. Make a hole in the centre of each ball by punching a finger into the middle. Widen the hole with your finger so that it doesn’t close during cooking.
6. Cover the bagels with oiled cling film again and prove for 45 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Take a large saucepan and fill with water. Bring the pan to the boil and add the bagels in batches of two. Boil the bagels for 75 seconds on each side and then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and place on a wire rack to dry.
8. Once all the bagels have been poached arrange them on two lined baking trays, making sure they’re well spread out. Take the second egg and beat in a bowl with a fork. Brush the bagels with the egg and top with the grated cheese.
9. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown and with a skin-like crust. Take the bagels out of the oven, leave to cool on a wire rack and then serve!

Now, the sweet ones…

Cherry, Pistachio and Dark Chocolate Bagels

Recipe

Ingredients 

• 500g Strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 ½ tsp Salt
• 1 tbsp Runny honey
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 7g Instant yeast
• 240ml Warm water
• 75g Dried cherries
• 50g Morello cherries
• 60g Pistachios, chopped
• 2 Medium eggs
• 100g Dark chocolate

Method

1. To make the bagel dough put the flours, salt, honey, olive oil, yeast, water, cherries, pistachios and one of the eggs into a large bowl. Mix the ingredients together to make a dough (using your hand works well) and then tip the mixture onto a worktop.
2. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy.
3. Oil a chopping board with olive oil. Divide and roll the dough into 12 equally sized tight balls and arrange on the board. Cover the balls with oiled cling film and set aside to prove for around 40 minutes, or until doubled in size.
4. Make a hole in the centre of each ball by punching a finger into the middle. Widen the hole with your finger so that it doesn’t close during cooking.
5. Cover the bagels with oiled cling film again and prove for 45 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Take a large saucepan and fill with water. Bring the pan to the boil and add the bagels in batches of two. Boil the bagels for 75 seconds on each side and then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and place on a wire rack to dry.
7. Once all the bagels have been poached arrange them on two lined baking trays, making sure they’re well spread out. Take the second egg and beat in a bowl with a fork. Brush the bagels with the egg.
8. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown and with a skin-like crust. Take the bagels out of the oven, leave to cool on a wire rack.
9. Meanwhile put the dark chocolate into a heatproof bowl and melt over a pan of simmering water. Drizzle the chocolate over the bagels, leave to set and then serve!

Thanks so much for reading! The next post is coming out on Sunday and it’s a good’n, so keep a look out for it!

Emma x