Homemade Sesame Bagels
These sesame bagels are soft and chewy on the inside, with a beautiful golden crust and a crunch from the sesame seeds.
The dough for these bagels is slightly wetter than a typical New York-style bagel—64% hydration—so it will feel a bit stickier to handle. I like this higher hydration because it makes a softer bagel with an airier crumb. It still has a lovely chewy outer, though, because they are boiled in a water bath before baking. I add an egg wash before baking, too, to help the sesame seeds stick, giving the bagels a gorgeous, shiny golden top.
Kneading the bagel dough
The dough for these bagels can be kneaded either by hand or in a stand mixer, depending on your preference. If you’re using a mixer, simply attach the dough hook and knead on low speed for about 6-8 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. If you prefer to knead by hand, knead for about 8-10 minutes until the dough feels smooth and slightly springy
Ingredients
You can find the full amounts in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Overnight Proofing in the Fridge:
Proofing the dough overnight in the fridge is a great option for making bagels in advance. The slower, overnight rise allows for better flavor development. In the morning, simply shape the dough and continue with the recipe. I prefer overnight proofing the dough on the first rise as opposed to cold-proofing the shaped bagels because it helps prevent over-proofing. Shaping before cold-proofing can sometimes lead to the bagels rising too much and losing their structure.
Here’s how it’s done
- In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, sugar, flour and salt. Mix it with a fork to create a shaggy dough. Then, switch to using your hands to combine it. Place it on a clean work surface and knead until smooth. This can also be done in a stand mixer.
- Let the dough rise until doubled in size. You can also do this bit in the fridge overnight. A cold-proof is not only helpful to make bagels in advance, it also improves the texture and flavour. After rising, punch down the dough, remove from the bowl and weigh it. Cut it into 8 equal-sized pieces and shape into balls. Let these rest for about 5 minutes to relax the gluten. To shape the bagels, press your thumbs and index fingers into the dough ball to create a hole, then gently widen the hole by rolling the dough around your fingers.
- Let the bagels have a short second rise at room temperature until slightly puffy. The exact time will depend on your room temperature. In summer, this goes very quickly for me because my kitchen is hot, but in winter, it takes longer. The bagels should look a bit puffed but not fully doubled in size. I place them on individual pieces of parchment paper so it’s very easy to transfer them into their poaching bath.
Poaching and baking
- After they’ve been poached, place them on a lined baking tray. Sometimes the bottoms of the bagels can bake up quite dark if using parchment paper so I line my pan with a silicone mat to add a layer of insulation. Using a light-colored pan can also help avoid this – or placing another baking pan underneath the one holding the bagels. Brush them with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Bake the bagels in a hot oven for around 20-25 minutes until deeply browned. Let them cool down before serving and slicing. On the following days these are excellent toasted!
Freezing Bagels
- Once your bagels have baked and cooled, allow them to cool completely on a wire rack before adding to a freezer bag and freezing. This prevents condensation from forming inside the bag and helps them maintain their texture when frozen.
- They will stay fresh for up to 2-3 months.
- To make it easier to enjoy your bagels straight from the freezer, slice them before freezing. After they’ve cooled completely, slice each bagel in half. This way, when you’re ready to eat, you can just pop the frozen halves into the toaster and they’ll toast up like fresh bagels!
Related recipes
Homemade Sesame Bagels
Ingredients
- 300 g water
- 25 g brown sugar or honey
- 7 g instant yeast or active dry yeast
- 470 g bread flour
- 9 g salt
Poaching
- 2-4 litres water
- 1-2 Tbsp brown sugar or honey
Egg wash and topping
- 1 Egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water
- 3-4 Tbsp Sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast and sugar. If you're using active dry yeast, let this sit for 5-10 minutes to become foamy. Then add in the flour and salt. Mix it with a fork to create a shaggy dough. Then, switch to using your hands to combine it. Place it on a clean work surface and knead for around 8 minutes until strong and smooth. This can also be done in a stand mixer with a dough hook.
- Let the dough rise until doubled in size. After rising, punch down the dough, remove it from the bowl, and weigh it. Cut it into 8 equal-sized pieces and shape into balls. Let these rest for about 5 minutes to relax the gluten. To shape the bagels, press your thumbs and index fingers into the dough ball to create a hole, then gently widen the hole by rolling the dough around your fingers.
- Let the bagels have a short second rise at room temperature until slightly puffy. The bagels should look a bit puffed but not doubled in size. I place them on individual pieces of parchment paper so it’s easy to transfer them into their poaching bath.
- Bring a pot of water to the boil and stir in the brown sugar.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C. Line a baking pan with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Drop the bagels on their parchment paper squares in the boiling water, in batches one at a time. Remove the paper once the bagels are in the water.
- Let them poach in the water for 1 minute, flipping them after 30 seconds. Remove the bagels from the water using a slotted spoon and place them on the baking sheet.
- Brush them with egg wash and generously sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Bake the bagels for around 20-25 minutes until deeply browned. Let them cool down before serving and slicing.
