Making Joshua Weissman’s Everything Bagels

Today I did something that I honestly didn’t think I would ever do. I made bagels! And to my surprise they turned out quite amazing thanks to a great recipe and a fabulous kitchen partner.

During my Thanksgiving celebrations, one of my American classmates, Haven, voiced how much she had been craving bagels and how she wanted to try making them. Naturally, I wanted to be a part of the experimental creative process. So we picked a date, bought all of our ingredients and hunkered down this morning.

I have to say, I’ve never been a huge bagel person and I think that's because I was so used to eating those super dense Dempster bagels. Lock jaw just for a sandwich? No thanks. It also didn’t help that when I was super young I remember reading that eating one bagel was equivalent to eating five pieces of toast. I have to say, however, my attitude towards bagels has changed this past year.

In fact, there were many a day this past summer when me and my friends would grab a fabulous bagel at The Old Bagel House in Port Credit. I would go crazy for a reuben on an everything bagel and tbh, I’m craving that as I write this post… Take me back to bagel picnics in the park!

When I saw this recipe by chance of TikTok, I got super excited! I love watching a recipe be executed, especially when there’s yeast involved...I’ve lived through too many bread disasters that now I’m a bit scarred, so a video definitely helps. Though the TikTok was very informative, naturally I needed to look for a written version because I take a bit longer in the kitchen. Though I only found a Youtube video of the recipe here, I have taken the liberty of writing it out below for your convenience!

I’d like to mention that not much changes between the two versions, except for the resting time. Haven and I decided to let our dough rest for about an hour and a half. Other than that, this recipe is pretty foolproof!

We were impressed with how fluffy and perfectly round our bagels turned out to be. In fact, many of our classmates reached out to us asking to take part in our next bagel workshop! That said, I’m happy to announce that we will be hosting a bagel brunch this Sunday where we will make a variety of sweet and savoury bagels and have a sort of bagel bar where guests can customize their bagel toppings with meats, cheeses, spreads and more!

While nothing beats a buttery bagel, we dressed up our bagels with cream cheese, dijon mustard, lox, capers and purple onions. Absolutely delicious! Though you can only eat one (maybe two!) of these bagels, I wish I bought more stuff to make a BLT or Reuben bagel, but there’s always next time!

. . .

Joshua Weissman’s Everything Bagels

*Makes 8 bagels*

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons fresh yeast

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 1/3 cups water

• 3 ½ cups flour

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1 egg white

Everything Bagel Seasoning

• 2 tablespoons dehydrated onion flakes

• 2 tablespoons onion powder

• 2 tablespoons poppyseeds

• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

• 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt flakes

METHOD

1. Mix the yeast, sugar and water and set aside for 15 minutes until it starts to fizz.

2. In a bowl, add flour and salt. Combine yeast mixture to the flour and mix roughly.

3. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and knead for 10 minutes until smooth.

4. Drizzle olive oil in a bowl and add the dough. Let it rise for 1 ½ hours under a damp towel.

5. Divide into 8 pieces and roll into balls. Set on a baking sheet and let rest for 10 minutes, covered.

6. Poke a whole in the centre of the dough balls to create the bagel shape. Add to boiling water and boil for 1 minute for each side.

7. Remove from water and add to a baking sheet. Brush egg white over bagel tops and sprinkle a healthy dose of everything seasoning.

8. Bake for 25 minutes at 350° F (177° C) until the edges are golden brown. Let cool on a cooling rack and dress them up however you’d like!