Best Breakfast Bagels-Montreal Style
These are my Montreal Style Bagels. They’re healthier than normal bread from a store and, in my opinion–taste WAY better! Plus they freeze well, work great for breakfast and lunches.
I’m proud of this recipe 🙂
Ingredients
1/2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast
1 & 1/2 C Warm Tap Water
1 Whole Egg & 1 Egg Yolk
1 C Runny Honey divided in half
1/4 C Veg. or Canola Oil
1 tsp Coarse Sea Salt
Just under 5 C of Flour (AP or Bread works here. Bread provides higher gluten for a more crispy crust)
Approximately 12 C of water for your boiling step
Everything Bagel Spice Mix
(Optional)
Tbsp Onion Flakes
2 Tbsp Poppy Seeds
2 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
1 Tbsp Black Sesame Seeds
1 tsp Garlic Powder
Instructions
1. Preheat an oven to 460F with a stone on a low rack, an upside down cast iron pan or a prepared baking sheet with parchment paper on the side.
2. In a large bowl mix warm water and yeast and let set for 5 minutes until activated and frothy. Add in your eggs (whisked on the side before adding), half of your honey, oil and salt.
3. One cup at a time add your flour to the mixer until the dough pulls away cleanly from the sides. I read this in a blog post and thought it was quite interesting: The dough is at the right consistency when you’ve mixed it for about 5-10 minutes and when you pinch the dough, it feels like pinching your earlobe! Neat or weird trick? Haha! Let the dough proof for about 1 hour in a warm area in a greased bowl covered with a damp cloth. Then do the fun part seen below…
4. Remove your dough from the bowl and portion out into roughly 16-18 uniform pieces. Roll each dough ball out in an 8-10 inch long ribbon. Fold the ends together and roll between your hands to make a bagel ring!
5. In a large pot or deep pan bring the remaining honey and approximately 10-12 C of water to a rolling simmer. This is a key component of making bagels. You boil them for roughly 30-60 seconds per side. The sweetened water helps develop the signature chew that associates with a bagel.
6. Using a skimmer pull the bagels out of their bath and dunk them in the Everything Bagel Spice Mix! Roll them around to coat all sides evenly.
7. Bake the bagels on the preheated stone, cast iron pan or baking sheet for approximately 10-15 minutes (depending what you use) until they are golden brown! Slather some cream cheese and dive in cause they’re frickin fantastic!
About Chef Michael G.
Chef Michael is a culinary personality who performs across a variety of mediums and owns a private event company hosting unique and interactive culinary events for private groups. Michael was completing graduate school in mathematics when he discovered his love of food after competing on MasterChef Canada. He leveraged is academic background to create and explain how food can speak to all.
Want more great recipes from Chef Michael G.? Visit the chef and try some of his tasty recipes at the 2019 Fall Home Show. Tickets are available now, just click the banner below.
Photos courtesy of Chef Michael G.
