Bagels: Mint Chocolate and Sage, Goat Cheese and Browned Butter (First Attempt)

The Showstopper Challenge from Series 3, Episode 2 (Bread Week) seemed like a good challenge to try next. This particular challenge entailed baking 12 sweet and 12 savoury (British spelling) bagels. I am no stranger to baking bread, and I have certainly eaten my fair share of bagels after synagogue services and at social functions, but I had never before attempted to make bagels.

Therefore, I decided to try making some plain bagels to test technique before playing with flavors. I am glad I did so, as the resultant quality of bagels correlated to the order in which I made them. What I made are still far from perfect; I would really like to revisit this challenge and tweak my technique in the future.

One of the cooking processes that makes a bagel a bagel is the boiling process... This gives the almost rubbery crust. I found that 45-60 seconds on each side works well. The boiling is a rather perilous step; I accidentally broke my first bagel trying to take it out with tongs (I then switched to using a slotted flat spatula).

I have seen tips to use only bread flour for bagels... It has more protein and gluten, which in turn helps the bagel dough have proper elasticity. Bizarrely, I was unable to find bread flour at my local supermarket. I found every other type of flour under the sun- all purpose, whole wheat, cake, coconut, almond, amaranth... flours I've never even heard of. But not bread flour. I made my bagels with all purpose flour (it does work), but would like to try again when I can get my hands on bread flour. What does not work is whole wheat flour; it makes for a dense, and therefore dry dough. I tried a batch with whole wheat flour and the bagels were rock solid when they came out of the oven. I do not recommend using whole wheat flour in bagels.

I chose some fairly classic flavor combinations for my bagels. My sweet bagels are mint chocolate bagels, and my savoury are flavored with sage, goat cheese, and browned butter. I was a little worried about introducing fats into the dough for the savoury bagels. Much to my delight, the addition of butter and cheese to the dough did not affect the texture of the bagels.

Overall, the bagels turned out reasonably well. The texture was pretty decent, although the bagels were delicate to work with before baked. The flavors turned out very well. I found the bagels started to go stale fairly quickly; I recommend storing in the freezer as soon as the bagels are cool. There are a couple of things I would really like to work on. I hope to play around with bread flour soon. I also hope to improve my shaping technique. I think my dough might have been under-worked, resulting in slightly-too-flat bagels, so I will work on the dough more.

A sneak preview into next week's bake: Mary Berry's Treacle Tart technical from Series 3 Episode 3

Recipe: Mint Chocolate Bagels

Ingredients

4-5 C flour (all purpose or bread)

2 packages of rapid rise yeast (0.25oz each)

4 tbsp granulated sugar, divided

2C warm water

1/3C cocoa powder

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 C fresh mint, finely chopped

4-6 oz semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Mix yeast, 3 tbsp sugar, and 1/2 C warm water. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, until mixture is bubbling. Do not use hot water; very hot water will kill the yeast.
2. Add cocoa powder, salt, mint, and 4 C flour and mix. Gradually add more flour while kneading, making certain to not make the dough dry.
3. Knead dough until smooth and springy, either by hand on a lightly-floured surface or using a stand mixer. Form into a ball.
4. Lightly oil a bowl and the ball of dough. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let rise in a warm place for at least an hour, or until doubled in size.
5. Punch down dough and separate into 12 equal sections. Roll each section into a ball. Press a hole in the center and stretch the hole as you turn the dough in your hands. Make sure the holes are wide enough that they will not close during the second rising process.
6. Cover shaped bagels and let rise 20-30 more minutes.
7. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Boil a large pot of water (approximately 12 qt.) and remaining tbsp of sugar. Reduce to a strong simmer. Boil bagels 2-3 at a time, 45 seconds each side. Remove and place bagels on a lined baking sheet.
8. Bake 5 minutes. Flip bagels over and bake 30 more minutes. 
9. Cool bagels completely.
10. Carefully melt chocolate chips either using a double boiler or short bursts in the microwave. Using a fork, drizzle melted chocolate over the bagels. Let chocolate harden before serving.

Recipe: Sage, Goat Cheese, and Browned Butter Bagels

Ingredients

4-6 C flour (all purpose or bread)

2 packages of rapid rise yeast (0.25oz each)

4 tbsp granulated sugar, divided

2C warm water

1/2C butter

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 tsp kosher salt

2 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped

8 oz goat cheese

Instructions

1. Cook butter on low-medium heat, stirring constantly, until a light brown color.
2. Mix yeast, 3 tbsp sugar, and 1/2 C warm water. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, until mixture is bubbling. Do not use hot water; very hot water will kill the yeast.
3. Add salt, sage, 4 oz goat cheese, browned butter, and 4 C flour and mix. Gradually add more flour while kneading, making certain to not make the dough dry.
4. Knead dough until smooth and springy, either by hand on a lightly-floured surface or using a stand mixer. Form into a ball.
5. Lightly oil a bowl and the ball of dough. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let rise in a warm place for at least an hour, or until doubled in size.
6. Punch down dough and separate into 12 equal sections. Roll each section into a ball. Press a hole in the center and stretch the hole as you turn the dough in your hands. Make sure the holes are wide enough that they will not close during the second rising process.
7. Cover shaped bagels and let rise 20-30 more minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Boil a large pot of water (approximately 12 qt.) and remaining tbsp of sugar. Reduce to a strong simmer. Boil bagels 2-3 at a time, 45 seconds each side. Remove and place bagels on a lined baking sheet.
9. Bake 5 minutes. Flip bagels over, top with remaining 4 oz of goat cheese, and bake 30 more minutes. 
10. Cool bagels completely before serving.