Switch up your bagel game with these delicious soft and airy Sourdough Jerusalem Bagels. Slightly sweet and slightly tangy, these no boil bagels make a great breakfast or snack!
Make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, stir together the flour, dry milk powder, sugar, yeast, and salt.
Add the sourdough starter discard, ½ cup warm water, and the olive oil. Mix on Low speed for about a minute, then turn up the speed to Medium and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. You can also mix and knead the dough in a bread machine (set to manual) or by hand. Adjust the consistency of the dough as needed by adding more flour or water in 1 tablespoon increments. The amounts will be based on the humidity of the day. The dough is low in hydration, so it will be a little stiff.
Form the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover and set the bowl in a warm place for 60 to 90 minutes or until doubled in size. The oven with just the light turned on works well.
You can also retard dough in the refrigerator overnight (and up to 2 days), both to let the dough develop more sourdough flavor, and if you’d rather have fresh bagels in the morning for breakfast.Let the dough rise for at least 30 minutes before placing the bowl in the refrigerator. When you're ready to proceed, let the dough come to room temperature on the counter for about an hour before continuing to shape the bagels.
Shape the dough: Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and press gently to deflate. Divide the dough into 6 equal-sized pieces, forming each one into a ball. Let the dough rest, covered with a towel, for a few minutes.
Shaping Method 1: Press a finger through the middle of each ball of dough then slowly stretch the dough to make the hole larger (like when making regular bagels), until you get an oval about 8-inches in diameter. Hook a forefinger into the bottom of the hole that you just made, and gently stretch the dough to make a long hole.
Shaping Method 2: Make a rope about 18-inches long, then join the ends and press them together.
Set the shaped bagels onto two half sheet baking pans lined with a Silpat silicone mat or parchment paper. Lightly brush each of the bagels with the egg wash using a pastry brush, then sprinkle liberally with the sesame seeds.
Lightly cover and let rise for about 30 minutes until puffy to the touch (they won’t quite double in size but they will increase in volume). Meanwhile preheat the oven to 375 °F.
Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. Rotate the trays back to front and exchanging top to bottom racks halfway through the baking time.
Remove the bagels from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool before serving.
Serve with hummus, tahini, or za’atar seasoning mix. Or be like my husband and just eat them plain!
Storage instructions: The bagels are best eaten the day they are made. They'll keep for a few days at room temperature, but should be toasted or warmed in the oven before eating. They can also be frozen for up to two months.
Notes
If you don't have dry milk powder, substitute ½ cup warmed milk and omit the water.If you use Active Dry yeast, then you might want to sprinkle yeast on to the warmed water with a teaspoon of sugar and allow it to sit for a few minutes before proceeding with the recipe. Letting it foam "proves" the yeast is active and ready to go to work.If you want to omit the commercial yeast altogether, replace the yeast in this recipe with ½ cup (114 grams) of active, fed starter, and reduce the amount of flour by about ½ cup (57 grams) and water by about ¼ cup (57 grams) in order to keep the proper bread recipe ratio of 5 : 3 flour to water. (Note, there are some rounding inconsistencies here due to the volume vs. weight measurement conversion.) The rising time will also be longer (about double) for both the first and second rises.For the topping, you can leave the sesame seeds plain, or mix them with sugar, a pinch of salt, or a bit of pomegranate molasses.