These bagels are chewy, crusty and properly dense New York Style Bagels. The overnight rise creates the perfect texture and flavor – and you’ll have fresh, hot bagels for breakfast or brunch less than an hour after getting out of bed.
I promise you if you follow this recipe correctly you can make a good bagel at home. I mean, there are loads of really bad bagels in the world and life is just too short to eat a bad bagel.
Like a really great loaf of Rye Bread there’s nothing like a true New York style bagel.
What is a true New York Style Bagel?
A good New York Style Bagel (really, is there any other kind?) must have a nicely dense and chewy texture with a toothsome crust.
To get that characteristic chewiness we’ve got to develop some really strong gluten in the dough.
How to make New York style Bagels:
Pastry Chef’s Tips for making bagels overnight:
- Allow the sponge to rest for 30 minutes before mixing the dough. During that rest the water has time to hydrate the flour and gives us a head start on gluten develop. This little bit of hands off time also improves the flavor of the final product.
- Use unbleached bread flour for maximum gluten development. Bread flour has a high protein content. More protein means more gluten development. Kneading also helps develop the gluten.
- You can substitute molasses for the Malt syrup, but the malt syrup does give the bagels an authentic taste and color.
- You could skip the overnight rise in the refrigerator and go straight ahead and boil and bake the bagels, but that long, cool rise is what gives these bagels their chewy texture and deep flavor.
- Boiling the bagels in sugar/baking soda water is what gives them a super chewy yet crisp crust. If you skip this step your bagels will have a crust similar to a roll or bread.
- Bagels should be baked in a very hot oven for a quick oven spring and good crust development.
- Bagels are best the day they are baked. For longer term storage slice the bagels about 3/4 the way through and pack them into freezer bags.
- Previously frozen bagels are best if toasted before serving.
Fresh, hot delicious bagels for breakfast or brunch. They also freeze beautifully for future enjoyment. Now all you need is a schmear of cream cheese!
If you’ve got a sourdough starter, I highly recommend my Homemade Sourdough Bagels for a real treat.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.
Overnight Bagel Recipe
Chewy, crusty and properly dense, New York style bagels. They rise overnight so you can have fresh bagels for breakfast or brunch. All they need is a schmear of cream cheese.
bagels
Ingredients
- 16 oz warm water (2 cups (about 100°F))
- ¼ oz instant yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
- 25 oz bread flour (5 cups, divided)
- 1 ½ oz barley malt syrup ( 2 tablespoons, see note)
- 1 tablespoon table salt
- 2 oz granulated sugar (¼ cup (for boiling))
- 2 teaspoons baking soda (for boiling)
- 1 egg white (whisked lightly)
- Topping (Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, caraway seeds or coarse sea salt)
Instructions
- In a bowl for a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl combine the water, yeast and 3 cups (15 oz) of the flour . Mix to form a thick batter. Cover the bowl and set aside for 30-60 minutes.16 oz warm water, ¼ oz instant yeast, 25 oz bread flour
- Add the barley malt syrup and salt. If using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook. Add the remaining flour and mix to combine. Knead 5 minutes on medium/low speed. If working by hand, stir in as much of the flour as you can, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in the remaining flour. Knead 5 minutes. Form the dough into a smooth ball.1 ½ oz barley malt syrup, 1 tablespoon table salt
- Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat the dough. Cover the bowl and set aside to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper lightly sprinkled with flour or sprinkle the pan generously with cornmeal. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Divide the dough into 10 even pieces. Use a cupped hand to roll each piece into a smooth, tight ball.
- To form a bagel, poke your finger all the way through the center of a ball to make a hole. Use two fingers to gently widen the hole. Continue gently stretching to form the bagel or twirl the dough around your fingers to widen the center hole (see photos). The hole should be 1 – 1 ½" wide.
- Place the bagel on the prepared sheet pan and continue to form the remaining bagels. The dough will probably spring back a bit so you can go back and re-stretch them once you're done forming all the bagels. Cover the pan with lighly oiled plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 15 minutes then place the pan in the refrigerator overnight.
- In the morning, take the pan out of the refrigerator. The bagels should be noticeably fuller. Leave the tray out until the bagels come to room temperature, about 1 – 1 ½ hours. The time will vary based on the temperature in the room and how much the dough rose in the refrigerator. Once the dough comes to room temperature the bagels are ready to boil.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 °F. In a large pot combine 1 gallon of water with the sugar and baking soda and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to keep the water at a rolling simmer. Set a cooling rack over a clean sheet pan and place it next to the stove.2 oz granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons baking soda
- Lift a bagel off the sheet pan and lower it into the boiling water, bottom side down. Boil the bagels for 30-45 seconds on each side. Depending on the size of your pot, you can boil 3-4 bagels at a time. As you remove the boiled bagels from the water, set them on the cooling rack to drain.
- Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and generously sprinkle with cornmeal (or flour). Place 5 of the boiled bagels on each sheet pan. You could fit them all on one pan but they may rise enough to stick together as they bake. I like all the sides to be crusty so I leave plenty of room between them.
- Brush the bagels with egg white. You can leave the bagels plain or add the topping of your choice. To make "everything" bagels combine a tablespoon of each of the seeds & salt with a pinch each of garlic salt and onion powder. Adjust toppings to your taste.1 egg white, Topping
- Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Equipment
My Book
KA Stand Mixer
Half Sheet Pans
Parchment Sheets
Cooling Rack
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Notes
You can use 1 tablespoon molasses plus 1 tablespoon of honey instead of barley syrup.
Nutrition
Serving: 1bagel | Calories: 292kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 923mg | Potassium: 79mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 0.002mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 1mg
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!
David
Saturday 11th of February 2023
Nice recipe. The bagels look better if you boil then top side first
Sarah
Monday 23rd of January 2023
I have never made bagels, so I was a little intimidated, but figured I’d give it a shot as my husband loves bagels and we can never find any good ones.
Followed your instructions and got some amazing bagels. I have now made these 4 times (starting #5 now) in the last two weeks. My husband and I (and some friends) are hooked!!
Thanks for the great recipe!
kt
Sunday 15th of January 2023
OK. Growing up just outside of NYC, bagels are a way of life. I tried this recipe for the first time last night into this morning, and I have to say, great flavor and decent texture. I ran into a bit of an issue with them sticking to the parchment and plastic wrap overnight, so they weren't as fluffy as I would like. So, I am going to try a second batch today — baking bread takes practice, and no two environments are the same.
Question, while I know this is not a sourdough recipe, it does have a long rise, so will it aid in the digestion of gluten like a sourdough? I only ask because I am trying to cut down on gluten, and it seems like more traditional fermentation is better for the body and aids in the body's ability to process.
I am eager to learn more. Thanks for posting this recipe and for sharing your knowledge.
Eileen Gray
Sunday 15th of January 2023
Hi kt. For the sticking I have the best results when I put the bagels on a sheet pan dusted with cornmeal. You can lightly oil the underside of the plastic wrap to prevent it sticking to the dough. I have no expertise on the affect on gluten with long fermentation. I've read articles that say it's better for digestion but couldn't comment on it myself. I do have a Sourdough Bagel recipe if you have a starter or are interested in jumping into the sourdough world.
bea
Sunday 15th of January 2023
Sorry, not freeze, put in fridge.
bea
Sunday 15th of January 2023
Hi Eileen,
This seems like a great recipe but I have had the same issues as other people and I follow your instructions to a t (well the second time around).
1) First, please fix the weight translation in Step 1 (it says to add all 25 oz of flour which is not 3 cups), which led me astray the first time I made these. As a result I got no sponge. I still plowed ahead and the end result was pretty decent.
2) Also, for those of us who just go on automatic pilot, please remind us to put flower on the parchment paper and oil on the film, or the dough sticks miserably. It had risen fine but they deflated while "unsticking" them. I had to reshape my bagels but they did inflate when baking and still came out pretty nice.
3) The second time around no problems with the sticking to paper/film, but when I picked them up after the 1.5 h at room temperature, they could not hold their shape, deflated and fell apart. I baked half of them like that and reshaped then baked the other half. By then I was extremely frustrated. The reshaped ones look ok. And they taste great.
4) At this point I am with others and wonder why it is preferable to shape and freeze than the other way around or else what is the trick for them not to fall apart after warming up back to room temperature.
Thanks !
Eileen Gray
Sunday 15th of January 2023
1. The weight listed in step one is the total amount of flour for the recipe. That automatically populates from the ingredient list. The instructions specify 3 cups. I did add a note next to the 3 cups that is 15oz. 2. I try to be as detailed with my instructions without overwhelming with too much text. I put extra reminders in those steps. For me, I prefer cornmeal to anything else for preventing the bagels from sticking. 3. I can't say what happened. But if they deflated it's likely they were over-risen. The amount of time needed at this stage will vary based on the temperature of the room and you do have to use your own judgement as to when the dough is ready. I added yet another note to this step but the more often you bake bread doughs you'll get used to reading the dough. 4. I prefer to shape then refrigerate so all I have to do in the morning is boil and bake. Although I developed this recipe you are free to change the way you make the bagels to suit your own schedule.