This is not a recipe for an bagel egg sandwich. Nope, this is a recipe for egg bagels. If you’ve never heard of or seen them, they are the plain bagels richer cousin. They typically have a deep yellow to almost orangish color due to the egg yolks added to the dough. Maybe you’ve never tried them, but I’m here to tell you they are a must if you are a bagel lover.
Some egg bagel recipes require a LOT of egg yolks. I wanted to try and create one that used just enough to get the flavor, but not so many it felt like wasting half a carton of eggs. However, if you want to get that egg color and richness, you’re going to have to use some eggs. I thought about using a pun there, but you’re welcome for not.
Making bagels at home, is relatively simple. I love homemade bagels, especially when I have lived nowhere near a good bagel shop. I also have recipes for Pretzel Bagels and Pesto Parmesan Bagels. It might seem like its difficult, but boiling your dough and shaping the bagels are the most difficult of any of the steps, and even a novice baker I promise can achieve them. Even if your bagels aren’t beautiful, who cares? Bagels are for eating not for displaying. Let’s make some egg bagels!
Egg Bagels Key Ingredients
- High Gluten Flour – Bread flour is the minimum requirement for bagel baking. You CAN use AP but you will not get the appropriate level of chew that a good bagel has. Bread flour, or what I like to use High Gluten Flour from King Arthur, which has even more protein (14% vs 12.7%) will just help give that really chewy bite.
- Egg Yolks – Obviously we can’t skip eggs. There aren’t substitutions, if you are a vegan, I apologize but I just would make a different bagel recipe. These bagels require 6 eggs.
- Non-Diastatic Malt – This ingredient I always have on hand, as I make a fair amount of bagels. If you also want to make them with any regularity, I’d recommend grabbing some. If not, you could substitute with honey or brown sugar, however it won’t yield quite the same results. Don’t confuse this with Diastatic malt which does something completely different in bakes.
Ingredients
Bagels
- 480 g Bread or High Gluten Flour 4 cups
- 12 g Non-Diastatic malt 1 tbsp
- 2¼ tsp Instant yeast
- 2 tsp Sea salt
- 2 tsp Granulated sugar
- 6 large Eggs room temperature
- 160-180 g Warm water ⅔ cup-¾ cup
Water Bath + Topping
- 1920 g Water 2 quarts
- 24 g Non Diastatic Malt 2 tbsp
- 12 g Dark brown sugar
- Reserved Egg White from dough
- 1 tsp Water
Instructions
- Separate 5 eggs from the yolks into a bowl, reserving at least 1 egg white in a separate small bowl. Add additional last whole egg into bowl of yolks (1 whole egg + 5 yolks). Whisk until combined.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer with dough hook attached, add flour, non-diastatic malt, yeast, sugar, salt, water, and eggs. Start with 160g/⅔ cup of water, but if your dough feels too dry, add 1 teaspoon of water at a time until it feels properly hydrated. Mix on low until dough is smooth and stretchy.
- Remove dough, shape into a ball. Lightly grease your bowl, replace dough, cover and allow to rise in a warm spot for 60-90 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
- Punch down the dough, remove from bowl and divide into 8 equal portions.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- Shape the bagels either by ball or rope. Balls: Take each piece of dough and fold the edges towards the center, pinching them together. Place the dough seam side down on an unfloured counter, and gently cup your hand around the dough. Using a circular motion, move the dough creating tension. Cover your index and pointer finger in flour, then poke through the center of the dough ball, gently stretching dough into a bagel shape.Rope: Take each piece of dough and shape into a rectangular shape, then roll into a rope about 10 inches long. Flatten one end (about a 1 inch section) and place the opposite end of the rope onto the flattened portion, wrapping the flat side around the rope and pinching the seams closed.Place your shaped bagel on your baking sheet and cover. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough and let the dough rest for about 15-20 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 425°F and fill a large pot (I find a wider pot better than a taller pot) with 2 quarts of water. Add 1 tbsp brown sugar and 2 tbsp non-diastatic malt to the water and whisk in. Bring to a low boil.
- Boil your bagels, for about 30-45 seconds on each side, then place back on the baking sheet.
- Add a teaspoon of water to your reserved egg white, and brush all the bagels with it.
- Bake your bagels on the center rack of your oven for about 20 minutes. Bagels will be golden and shiny. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack for cooling. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes before eating. Enjoy!
