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This easy homemade New York bagel recipe is the best! They're simple to make, and with basic pantry ingredients you'll be enjoying hot out of the oven, freshly made, deliciously chewy New York style bagels in no time.
NY Bagels
If you have ever been to New York, you know bagels are a staple in New York City, with almost every street corner having its own bagel shop. For those looking for the next best thing to their favorite NYC bagels, this DIY New York Bagel Recipe is perfect! This homemade bagel recipe consists of four major parts: making and preparing the dough, shaping it, boiling them and topping with your favorite toppings, then baking so that they become crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside.
I have been craving New York bagels for weeks. And I'll just say that being in Austinthere is no chance of gettingthem here. And a flight to NY just to get bagels makes this a pretty expensive craving.
A Bit Of Research To Get Started
Because I have never made bagels before, I decided I would do a little research and test some recipes. After a tiny bit of research I stumbled onto America's Test Kitchen recipe for a New York bagel recipe. Their bread master, Andrew Janjigian, created this. I was familiar with Andrew, and I have eaten many breads that he has createdwhile I worked at ATK.I knew that this would be a damn good recipe. Knowing the source, I stopped all research and went to the store to pick up the ingredients.
After reading the NY bagel recipe my first thought about this was how easy it is to make bagels. Who knew? I don't know why I always thought they would just be a huge time consumption and always wondered if it was worth it. All I can say is pick up the ingredients from your local grocer and make this recipe. It's super easy.
Ingredients in this Homemade New York Bagel Recipe
- Ice water
- Malt syrup
- Bread flour
- Vital wheat gluten (We use Bobs Red Mill )
- Instant or rapid rise yeast
- Salt
- Cornmeal
- Sugar
- Baking soda
Everything Bagel Seasoning Ingredients
- Poppy seeds
- Sesame seeds
- Onion flakes
- Garlic flakes
- Caraway seeds
- Coarse salt
How To Make This New York Bagel Recipe
These bagels are made the traditional way: you boil them in water for a couple of minutes before baking. It might sound weird, but it just works!
- Make the dough and divide into 8 pieces.
- Form the pieces into smooth balls, cover and let sit for 15 minutes.
- Working one at a time, form the balls into a bagel shape.
- Let the formed bagels stand at room temperature for one hour then cover tightly and refrigerate over night.
- Boil the bagels for 20 seconds each then cool on a wire rack and top as desired.
- Bake 10-12 minutes, flip and bake 10-12 minutes more.
- Cool 15 minutes before serving.
The NY bagel recipe requires refrigerating the shaped bagels for 16 to 24 hours before baking them. As a result, you want to make sure to plan accordingly. I like to start the bagels on Friday, and cook them on Saturday so I can have warm bagels for a weekend breakfast. These bagels are best eaten within a day of baking them. You can also freeze them for up to one month.
New York Bagel FAQ
Where did New York Bagels originate?
When Eastern European Jewish people migrated to America during the 1800s of course their traditional foods came with them like bagels. Bagels were produced in small, privately owned bakeries throughout Jewish communities in New York. By the 1960s, the bagel began to grow popular in non-Jewish communities throughout New York city and the production of bagels increased. By the 1980s bagels had grown in popularity throughout the U.S.
What makes New York Bagels different?
Two key points set apart a New York bagel and are two things we’ll do in this recipe. First, is letting the shaped dough refrigerate for hours. The cooling process helps in the fermentation of yeast in the dough and creates a richer flavor. The second part is boiling. Traditionally, bagels are boiled in a water and malt barley mixture for 30 seconds to up to 3 minutes. Boiling is essential to produce a chewy bagel with the thick crust on the outside and doughy inside.
Not all bagels are boiled? For mass production of bagels they are often baked in a hot oven and injected with steam. This creates a lighter bagel with a thinner, softer exterior.
Were New York Bagels always so large?
It is said that New York bagels grew from 3 ounces to the large 6 ounces commonly seen today.
To toast or not to toast a bagel?
A New York bagel is never toasted. New Yorker's believe that if a bagel is made well and fresh, it shouldn’t be toasted.
What is typically eaten on a New York bagel?
Since bagels originated in Jewish communities, considering Jewish dietary law means that prepared food must be kosher. Simply, one can’t eat pork, shellfish or mix dairy and meat. Also, bagels are commonly eaten cold. This is helpful for Jewish people because with the Sabbath, Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, Jews following the Sabbath will not cook.
That leaves us with the topping options: Butter, cream cheese, smoked fish and garnishes. A bagel with lox (smoked salmon), a cream cheese schmear, and capers is a go-to option.
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I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did. Now I know next time I get a New York bagel craving, I can just cook up a few of these and save my money on the airfare!
New York Bagels
Make authentic New York-style bagels at home.
5 from 6 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 24 minutes minutes
Resting Time: 1 day day
Total Time: 1 day day 54 minutes minutes
Servings: 8 Bagels
Calories: 252kcal
Author: Serena
Ingredients
Cooks Illustrated New York Bagels
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons ice water (9 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons malt syrup
- 2 ⅔ cups 14 ⅔ ounces bread flour
- 4 teaspoons vital wheat gluten
- 2 teaspoons instant or rapid rise yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup 1 ¼ ounces cornmeal
- ¼ cup 1 ¾ ounces sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
Everything topping:
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon onion flakes
- 2 teaspoons garlic flakes
- 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
Instructions
Stir ice water and malt syrup together until malt syrup has fully dissolved. (We used 8 ounces here instead of 9 because of weather in TX. I'd recommend starting with 8 ounces and if dough appears dry in the food processor add the other ounce) In a food processor, process flour, wheat gluten and yeast until combined. With processor running, slowly add ice water mixture and continue to process until dough is just combined and no dry flour remains. Let dough stand for 10 minutes once complete.
Add salt to dough and process until dough forms shaggy mass that clears the sides of work bowl, about 60-90 seconds. Transfer dough to unfloured counter and knead until smooth, about 1 minute. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
Working with one piece of dough at a time and keeping remaining pieces covered, form dough pieces into smooth round balls. Let dough balls rest on counter, covered, for 15 minutes.
Sprinkle rimmed baking sheet with cornmeal. Working with one dough ball at a time, coat dough balls lightly with flour, and then, using your hands and rolling pin, pat and roll dough balls into 5 inch rounds. Starting with edge of dough farthest from you, roll into tight cylinder. Starting at center of cylinder and working towards ends, gently and evenly roll and stretch dough into 8-9 inch long ropes. Rolling end of dough under your hands in opposite directions, twist rope to form tight spiral. Without unrolling spiral, wrap rope around your fingers, overlapping ends of dough by about 2 inches under your palm to create ring shape. Pinch ends of dough gently together. With overlap under your palm, press and roll seam using circular motion on counter to fully seal. Transfer rings to prepared sheet and cover loosely with plastic leaving at least one inch between bagels. Let bagels stand at room temperature for one hour. Cover sheet tightly with plastic and refrigerate for 16-24 hours.
One hour before baking, place baking stone on oven rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees.
Bring 4 quarts water, sugar and baking soda to boil in large Dutch oven. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and spray rack with vegetable oil spray.
Transfer 4 bagels to boiling water and cook for 20 seconds. Using wire skimmer, flip bagels over and cook 20 seconds longer. Using wire skimmer, transfer bagels to prepared wire rack, with cornmeal side facing down. At this time, dip your bagels into the toppings of your choice. Repeat with remaining four bagels.
Place sheet with bagels on preheated baking stone and pour ½ cup boiling water into bottom of sheet. Bake until tops of bagels are beginning to brown, 10-12 minutes. Using metal spatula, flip bagels and continue to bake until golden brown, 10-12 more minutes. Remove sheet from oven and let bagels cool on wire rack for at least 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Recipe Source: SerenaLissy.com
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only.Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database via Spoonacular API, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators. While this information can be helpful in estimating the nutritional information of a recipe, it is by no means accurate or official and is not evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
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Nutrition
Serving: 1Bagel | Calories: 252kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1147mg | Potassium: 139mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 3IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 72mg | Iron: 1mg
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Gail Montero says
So informative! Now I won't be so scared to make my own bagels from scratch!Reply
serena says
Give them a go, they are super simple!
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Anjali says
I never knew making bagels at home could be so easy!! Your bagel recipe reminded me of some of my favorite bagels from when I visited New York! They were chewy and delicious!Reply
serena says
I seem to make them more now a days since I can't get to NYC as often as a few years ago. Brings back fond memories every time 🙂
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Gina says
I've lived in NY almost all my life and never knew half these ingredients were the secret to the delicious bagels. So good!Reply
serena says
Yep, and they are so simple to make. Just takes a bit of time.
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Denali says
Any recommendations on brands for bread flour?
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Samantha Mix says
The syrup is available at brew shops. I use Breiss CBW sparkling amber, same as our local pretzel makers.
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Mal says
Any tips for adding dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, cherries, etc) to this recipe? Just add them to the recipe as written or do you have to account for them by changing the ratio of other ingredients? Thanks.
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serena says
Since it's a yeast bread, there is no need to soak the fruits or add extra liquid, unless the fruit is very dry.
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Eve says
Thank you so much for posting recipe. I taped the show and realized they didn't give the amount of the bread flour. I couldn't find the Malt either and saw a substitute would be Brown Rice Syrup. They are in the fridge now to be baked off tomorrow. Hope that works.
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serena says
Good luck! Let us know how it goes 🙂
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Michelle says
Hi! I am making these now. I was just wondering why you reduced the amount of water in the recipe. ATK used 1 1/4 cup vs your 1 cup. I'm using your recipe right now. I may try with more water next time just to see the difference.
Thanks!Reply
serena says
I adjusted to deal with the humidity and heat in TX during that time period.
Reply
Roselane says
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I just made two batches of these. I made one in the food processor exactly following this recipe and the second with my kitchen aid using the dough hook. I decided to add a little extra water to the ones using my Kitchen Aid, based on this comment. Otherwise, I did everything the same, even baked them all together. They all were good, but the ones with a little extra water definitely had a much better texture. It might be helpful to make a note on the recipe about adjusting the water based on where you live. Thanks again for a FANTASTIC post!
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serena says
Thanks so much for the feedback. I updated the recipe to show ATK used 9 ounces and we used 8 ounces with a recommendation that if it is dry to add the other ounce of water.
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Meghan says
I made these today after seeing the ATK episode over the weekend! Midwest bagels are pretty awful. I actually forgot to pick to the gluten but used the King Arthur Flour high gluten and they turned out super chewy and amazing. Maybe that helps anyone who doesn't want to buy another ingredient. I actually found the barley syrup with pancake toppings, not with sweeteners or baking items.
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serena says
This is definitely my go to recipe for bagels now. Andrew Janjigian was the bread maker at ATK when I worked there. All recipes I see developed by him I know are going to be darn good. If you are adventurous and looking for another winning bread recipe, try the baguettes. Soooo good!
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meg says
Just ordered the vital wheat gluten and barley malt syrup on jet.com. Had a difficult time finding the syrup. Also, the vwg in the stores was in a larger bag than I wanted. Arrived in 2 days and very competitively priced!
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serena says
Awesome! Best of luck with the bagels 🙂
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Tracy says
Just watched this episode bagel segment on ATK. Found your recipe posting and can't wait to try! Now on the hunt for vital whey gluten and malt syrup. Thanks so much!!
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serena says
I got the whey gluten and malt syrup at Central Market in Austin. I would guess you could also get these at Whole Foods and even Amazon.com
These were a little bit time consuming, but so darn delicious.Reply
