Egg Bagels
A few weeks ago I realized that I hadn’t made bagels in a few months and that I was long overdue for whipping up a batch. I asked my Chief Culinary Consultant if he wanted Cinnamon Raisin Bagels (his favorite), plain bagels or something different. He mentioned that he’s always been a fan of egg bagels and wouldn’t mind if I were to tackle a batch of those. I love getting ideas for new things, and jumped at the chance to make them. I ran into a problem, however, after poring over every cookbook I own and realizing that none of them had a recipe for egg bagels. I turned to the web and found multiple recipes that were all very, very similar, so I gave it a shot and they were okay, but certainly didn’t live up to the standard I was used to, which were all variations on Peter Reinhart‘s basic bagel recipe. A light bulb finally went off and I emailed Peter to see if he had a recipe for egg bagels that perhaps hadn’t been published, and he was wonderfully generous with his time and explained to me how I could adapt his basic recipe for bagels to make egg bagels.
To sum things up, Peter basically stated that I should add 1 egg (or just 1 yolk for a richer egg bagel, which is what I chose to do) per 1 cup of flour. Since eggs have water content, there needs to be an adjustment of the water that goes into the recipe. As a general rule of thumb, each whole egg contains 1.5 ounces of water, while yolks contain about 0.5 ounce of water. Given those guidelines, I made the adaptation to his original recipe and have shared it below.
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The bagels turned out absolutely fabulous! My Chief Culinary Consultant said that while the cinnamon raisin bagels are still his favorite because he loves the flavor, that these egg bagels were, without question, the best bagels I have ever made in terms of texture and traditional bagel flavor. High praise, indeed! A great big thank you to Peter for taking the time to help me create this recipe!!
While I was looking around the cyber world for egg bagel recipes, I read that egg bagels topped with poppy seeds are traditional Jewish fare, which is something I didn’t know. In an attempt to be authentic, I made half of the bagels “regular” plain egg bagels and topped the other half with popppy seeds. Both were phenomenal – the poppy seed egg bagels were great with cream cheese, and the egg bagels were fantastic as typical bagels and also made awesome sandwiches!
1 year ago: Apple Hand Pies
2 years ago: Brown Sugar Raisin Bread
Egg Bagels
Ingredients
Sponge:
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast, (.11 ounce )
- 4 cups (500 g) unbleached high-gluten flour or bread flour, (18 ounces )
- 2 cups (500 ml) water, at room temperature, (16 ounces )
Dough:
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) instant yeast, (.055 ounce)
- 3¾ cups (468.75 g) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour, (17 ounces )
- 8 egg yolks
- 2¾ teaspoons (2.75 teaspoons) salt, (.7 ounce )
- 2 teaspoons malt powder OR 1 Tablespoon dark or light malt syrup, honey or brown sugar, (.33 ounce )
To Finish:
- 1 Tablespoon baking soda
- Cornmeal or semolina flour for dusting
- Poppy seeds, optional
Instructions
- 1. To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until all of the flour is hydrated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubby. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the countertop.
- 2. To make the dough, in the same mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour, the egg yolks and all of the salt and malt. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining ¾ cup flour to stiffen the dough.
- 3. Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or for 6 minutes by machine). The dough should be firm, stiffer than French bread dough, but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour - all the ingredients should be hydrated. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77° to 81°F. If the dough seems too dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems tacky or sticky, add more flour to achieve the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not be tacky.
- 4. Immediately divide the dough into 4½-ounce pieces for standard bagels, or smaller if desired. Form the pieces into rolls.
- 5. Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.
- 6. Line 2 sheet pans with baking parchment and mist lightly with spray oil. Proceed with one of the following shaping methods:
- 6a. Poke a hole in a ball of bagel dough and gently rotate your thumb around the inside of the hole to widen it to approximately 2½ inches in diameter. The dough should be as evenly stretched as possible (try to avoid thick and thin spots).
- 6b. Roll out the dough into an 8-inch-long rope. Wrap the dough around the palm and back of your hand, between the thumb and forefinger, overlapping the ends by several inches. Press the overlapping ends on the counter with the palm of your hand, rocking back and forth to seal.
- 7. Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pans. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and slip each pan into a food-grade plastic bag, or cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
- 8. Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the "float test". Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped into the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days). If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the ambient temperature and the stiffness of the dough.
- 9. The following day (or when you are ready to bake the bagels), preheat the oven to 500°F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the pot the better), and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.
- 10. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit (they should float within 10 seconds). After 1 minute flip them over and boil for another minute. If you like very chewy bagels, you can extend the boiling to 2 minutes per side. While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you decide to replace the paper, be sure to spray the new paper lightly with spray oil to prevent the bagels from sticking to the surface.) If you want to top the bagels, do so as soon as the come out of the water.
- 11. When all the bagels have been boiled, place the pans on the 2 middle shelves in the oven. Bake for approximately 5 minutes, then rotate the pans, switching shelves and giving the pans a 180-degree rotation. (If you are only baking 1 pan, keep it on the center shelf but still rotate 180 degrees.) After the rotation, lower the oven setting to 450°F and continue baking for about 5 minutes, or until the bagels turn light golden brown. You may bake them darker if you prefer.
- 12. Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.
Did you make this recipe?
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Thanks for this recipe – it will be my next bagel adventure. Peter Reinhart is my bread hero! It’s really helpful to check Peter Reinhart’s 15th Anniversary Edition of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice from the library and read his detailed instructions and explanations about making bagels. The recipe is the bomb! You’ll deduce why the sponge for egg bagels is fairly stiff (the total liquid, including eggs, should be limited), why the bottom crust can be crackly (cornmeal can be crunchy – buy fine ground), and the importance of kneading thoroughly for the correct smooth and silky texture. Bagel dough is probably the stiffest bread dough out there, so kneading with a stand mixer is pretty much a no-go. I’ve made his bagels 3 times now, and each attempt has been an improvement over the previous. My latest batch are truly the best bagels I’ve ever tasted. Making bagels at home is a labor of love – I do it because I enjoy each of the steps, the science of the process, and have lots of time. If not, I’d certainly be visiting a commercial bagel store.
this recipe turned out perfectly. Followed everything to the letter… mostly. The first time around, I didn’t know what a sponge was, so I didn’t realize I was supposed to add all of the water to the flour and yeast and stir that, I thought I was supposed to have the mixer stirring while I add water slowly like making a dough. So it made a dough. I looked up pictures of what a yeast sponge is supposed to look like and realized I messed up, so I started over and let it sit for an extra half hour while I cleaned up the kitchen to set up my kneading surface. after adding the additional yeast and flour, and the egg yolks, my mixer was nearly overflowing, so I had to mix it by hand until everything was more or less one heap, which I turned out onto the kneading mat and worked into a nice tacky dough. I cleaned the mixer bowl and put the dough back in, and added a little flour while mixing with a dough hook, until the dough was soft, smooth, and had nice give. I divided it up and got a perfect baker’s dozen (what are the chances!) and set them up under plastic wrap in my fridge overnight. I boiled and baked them this morning, and had fantastic results. It wasn’t until the afternoon, while I was reading up on non-egg bagels (I’m planning on making a vegan batch for my roomie) that I realized I didn’t add any baking soda to the water pot, which probably would have added flavor but I didn’t really notice anything missing when eating one. So I’ve had three bagels today and I’m going to make more in a couple of days, because holy crap they are delicious. I wonder if I can get away with using fewer yolks, or if I have to find a meringue recipe to put these eight egg whites to use.
Hi, I just found this recipe and I was excited to try it! I live alone right now, so I attempted to halve the recipe, but I have noticed that my sponge does not seem to have risen at all in the past two hours in the way that you describe. I used all-purpose instead of bread flour, could that be that the problem is?
Hi Mary, Oh no! Are you sure your yeast is fresh? It definitely gets super bubbly in that timeframe so I’m thinking either the yeast might be expired or your kitchen may be a bit too cold. If that’s the case, try turning on your oven for just a few minutes, then putting the sponge in there. The little burst of warmth may help it get a jump start.
They were fine, had little taste and were definitely not NY egg bagels. No sweetness, and needs more salt. Next time I will try adding more salt, more egg yolks and definitely adding some sort of sugar. NY Egg bagels are sweet, they don’t taste like plain bagels.
Sounds wonderful. Was wondering if you have any suggestions for doing this recipe in High Altitude. 7500′
Thanks in advance.
Hi Susan, Unfortunately I’ve never made this at high altitude. I do have a page with general tips though: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/high-altitude-baking-tips/
I’ve made these a few times now. These are darn good bagels! I’ve been adding a few extra yolks & topping mine with coarse sea salt. Keeper!
Do the bagels have to sit overnight? Or can I skip fridge and go straight to boiling if they float?
Hi Natasha, They should rest in the refrigerator overnight, but if you are crunched for time you can try proceeding after the float test.
Panic and Horror!
I followed your recipe to the absolute T. I watched several youtube videos as well on kneading techniques. Everything was perfect and amazing until I boiled the bagels. They shriveled up as soon as they were in the water. I boiled one batch for 1 minute and one batch for two on each side, just to see if there was a difference. They didn’t rise at all in the oven, so I have totally flat bagels. Considering this process took me more than 24 hours, and so much work, I am pretty heartbroken. I did this recipe once before and unfortunately last time I accidentally put in too much yeast so they tasted super yeasty, but otherwise were perfect texture.
What could have gone wrong? I don’t understand, and I am so sad. :(
Megan
Hi Megan, Oh no! They definitely should not shrivel in the water. If they did and didn’t rise in the oven, I wonder if your yeast was old/bad? Unless you made any other substitutions or changes?
Michelle, thank you so much for taking the time to help me!
I did not make any substitutions and the yeast was brand new. After reading a bunch of threads online, I think it may be that my bagels were overproofed. There could be several factors unfortunately at work here- I am in Germany, so maybe the ingredients are different, or maybe because German fridges aren’t as cold as American ones, then my bagels didn’t really retard at all, and just kept proofing? Do you think this is possible? I don’t know much about yeast doughs, I make mostly cakes. Should I just turn my fridge up next time? What happens if I just put them in the fridge for an hour instead of overnight, and then boil them immediately after?
Megan
Hi Megan, We keep our fridge at 37 degrees, so I’m not sure how that would compare to what you keep yours at. If it overproofed, you would definitely be able to tell that they were either incredibly huge, or that they had risen and completely deflated. If neither of those happened, then I don’t think they had overproofed. You could try doing it just an hour, but all of the bagel recipes I’ve ever seen recommend at least overnight, up to 24 hours in the fridge. Good luck!!
Made these this weekend with very few of the “proper ingredients” and they still turned out well. I live in Uganda, so I do not have high gluten flour, malt powder, or eggs that have a deep yellow yolk (ours are a very pale yellow-green color). I am from NJ so very picky about bagels, and have made them dozens of times before with my dad. I think the egg in these made up for using honey instead of barley malt. Mine looked like plain bagels but had the richness I wanted. I will make these again, as I think they turned out better than plain bagels under the conditions of having all purpose flour and honey to work with. Impressed that you just casually emailed Peter Reinhart!
One thing i did this time which i have never seen in instrutions before is adding salt to the boiling water. Obviously not as much as for pasta, but it was way better flavor-wise than sprinkling it on
Hi,
I have made these bagels a couple of times now and while they taste fantastic and look great, mine are hardly yellow at all. What could I be missing that would result in a more normal bagel color?
Thanks!
Hi Scott, If you’re talking about commercially made/sold egg bagels, then it may simply be artificial color. Same thing goes for things like pistachio and mint ice cream… the real deal is not nearly as green as the commercially sold products!
Interesting, was wondering if perhaps it was food coloring. Every egg bagel I ever had growing up in NYC was very yellow, the color of the yolk itself really. Sort of like the pics that accompany this article. These were all from local bagel shops for what that’s worth. Thanks for the reply!
Made these with my sister last weekend. We live in Portland, Oregon and you cannot get egg bagels anywhere here. They were amazing! I think it took longer to make them than we took to eat them they were so good. My wife is requesting pumpkin bagels. I’ve looked at your plain bagel recipe and see how easy it is to add dry ingredients but what about wet ingredients like pumpkin? Any suggestions for more flour or less liquid to account for the pumpkin? Thanks!
Hi Ellie, I haven’t played around with a pumpkin version, but you would certainly need to compensate for the extra moisture.
I have made these bagels like 8 times. All of a sudden they keep turning out flat once done in the oven. What am I doing wrong? I even bought new yeast. I also kneed by hand for the total 10 minutes. They all loved them. They even stay a little wet on bottom. Do I need to add a lit more cornmeal at the bottom? Please help figure this out. Thx
Hi Sally, If you have made them successfully for a long time and the results are suddenly different, without changing anything to the recipe, I would check to be sure your oven is registering the correct temperature.
I made these over the weekend, with a couple mistakes that I’ll generously pretend were modifications. (Didn’t have high-gluten flour, so I just used all-purpose. Also, I read incorrectly and used 1 tsp of honey instead of 1TBSP. Also, we didn’t dust the pan with cornmeal before baking, since my wife’s allergic to corn. We baked them on a silpat instead so they wouldn’t stick.) As a result of the flour, my knead time was a lot longer (like 30 minutes instead of 10) and I had to wet my hands repeatedly during kneading to keep it pliable.
But the good news is that despite my mistakes, they came out extremely well! Bakery-quality, my wife says! Finally I have a recipe to use all the yolks next time she makes an angel food cake!
I know this recipe is from a while back, but I just made these today and they are the best bagels I’ve ever made. The recipe worked beautifully and they are chewy on the outside, soft and fluffy and huge! Thanks for such a great recipe!
Hi ijust found yor recipe and thought they sounded yummy so I made them right away I followed the sponge recipe excatily and it came out like a big thick glob a little like almost dried out play dough I checked my yeast and it was fine the doug never bubbled way to thick and it never rose when I rechecked yor recipe it was 4 cups of flour to 2 cups water witch I used but I noticed it also said to use 16 oz water witch is 2 cups but 18 oz of flour which is only 2 1/3 of flour could that have been my mistake I hate the fact that I had to throw out 4 cups of flour any advice befor I try again
Hi Marie, Are you using the high gluten flour as the recipe states? If so, 18 ounces IS 4 cups of flour. The whole 8 ounces = 1 cup only holds for liquid measurements.
Hi, I tried out your recipe two days ago.
I made the bagels last Saturday and let them stayed in the fridge over the weekend.
I boiled and baked them on Monday, they turned out fabulous! I guess I’ve helped answered Emil’s question above, that you can keep them in the fridge for 48 hours.
A few modifications I’ve made to your recipe are as follows:
1. Substituted molasses for barley malt syrup as I cannot find it anywhere in town
2. Boiling the bagels in water with molasses (instead of baking soda) to get that distinct tan on my bagels.
3. After boiling, put the bagels into cold water for a few minutes – I read this off another website and decided to try it as my previous trials on Reinhart’s plain bagels recipe resulted in flat, deformed bagels if they weren’t sent immediately in to the oven from the boiling water. This time, however, ALL my bagels sprung back beautifully in the oven, even when some stayed out longer while waiting for the baking tray to be filled.
4. Egg washed the bagels after before topping with seeds, so that the seeds don’t fall off.
The bagels are fluffy on the inside and chewy outside, my family enjoyed them so much.
I have to say, these are the best bagels I’ve made so far!
Thanks very much for sharing this excellent recipe!
Can this be adapted to make the dough in a bread machine? I have arthritis in my back and have a hard time kneading.
Hi Nancy, I’ve never used a bread machine, but you could certainly give it a try. If you do, I’d love to hear how it went!
Would it be possible to proof these bagels in the fridge for 2 days before baking?
Hi Emil, I haven’t left them to proof longer than 1 day, so I can’t guarantee what the result would be. If you try it, definitely share your results!
I just made your egg bagels and they are AMAZING. I am a high altitude person vacationing at sea level, so I HAD to make them, they never come out back home. I gotta say this is one of the most forgiving recipes I’ve ever used – the world was against my bagels. My yeast was almost dead so I had to leave the sponge overnight, and then the oven turned out to not be able to manage anything higher than 415 degrees, and once I opened it, it never got back up past 375. I had to leave them in nearly 20 minutes and the crust isn’t as bagel-y as a result, but they are still AWESOME! They’re yeasty (from the overnight), chewy, fluffy and delicious. I need to retry when I’m at sea level and there is an oven that actually works correctly. Thank you for the great recipe!
Hi! I love this recipe and I have been searching for a good egg bagel recipe! Is there any stage in the bagel process that could be a good freezing point? I want to make these for a friend, but I was hoping he could freeze them and then bake as needed. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks!!
Hi Emily, I don’t know that the dough could be frozen effectively. You could certainly bake the bagels and then freeze them, though, reheating them as needed.
Recently brueggers stopped making egg bagels much to my 9year old’s chagrin. Tried several quicker recipes than yours the others were yuck. Enter BEB recipe! Your recipe is heaven!! My kids are thrilled super light and fluffy — we did the two minute boil and the one minute boil both were terrific with the two minute giving a little more tooth. Thanks. We would love it if you had a whole wheat version?
Hi Mir, I’m so happy you and your kids enjoyed the bagels! I have whole wheat on my list, stay tuned!
Nope – these are NOT real egg bagels. Somebody added too much WASP to the recipe!
Okay, this post is from 2009, and I just found it in 2012. I have to share with you that this is the best freaking bagel recipe ever! Seriously. EVER! Yeah, it’s a lot of work, but so worth it for the final product. Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting it!
I’m wondering about your use of instant yeast. Is this rapid-rise yeast? This may be a brand as it’s been a long time since I’ve bought yeast in a grocery store (I get active dry yeast in bulk from a co-op). I remember my mother told me a while ago that the rapid rise yeast gave her bread a funny flavor so I’ve always stuck with active dry yeast. Have you had experience with any of this?
I’ve been making bagels with active dry yeast for a while and I’m really excited about your egg bagels. Thanks for the substitution suggestions!
Hi Emily, I’ve never had an issue with instant yeast causing flavor issues and I use it quite often. To answer your first question, yes instant yeast is rapid-rise (or bread machine) yeast.
I tried this actual recipe over the weekend and they came out fluffy and delicious.
Followed the recipe to a T. Somebody I work with worked in a bagel store and the bagel stores all high gluten flour. I used bread flour which did the job. Wonder where I can high gluten flour from? But..about 4-5 of bagels them on one of the sides came out alittle too crispy hard with a rough surface. Maybe I boiled them too long. Any suggestions. but these were
You can order high-gluten flour from King Arthur Flour (that’s where I get mine).
Michelle, I have a question. :) Do you have a recipe for Honey Whole Wheat bagels? I love Whole Wheat bagels, but I am too afraid to use whole wheat flour without knowing the new bread flour and water ratio, etc. Can you help?
Thank you, Starry
A little while ago, I made the egg bagels. They were very good. I had difficulty incorperating the last 3/4 c. flour, because I was doing it by hand. In the end, the bagels turned out an interesting molten yellow and white since I didn’t have a mixer to thouroghly mix everything, but they were super tasty! The texture was perfect. I will definately do again soon.
I don’t have a recipe for honey whole wheat bagels, but that sounds delicious! I am definitely adding them to my list!
Just came across this courtesy of the google, looking for an egg bagel recipe. I’d tried adapting the BBA recipe, but I started by just guessing how much egg to add. Went with three yolks, and the results were okay, but definitely not sufficiently eggy. So this confirms, pretty much directly from Reinhardt himself, I need to add more yolk. Guess I’ll have to make some macarons or something with all the leftover egg white.
These bagels look amazing, and I can’t wait to try them.
My husband has like egg bagels for years but for some reason they’re really hard to find in our small rural community – they don’t come into our grocery stores very often, and when they do I buy up as many as I can to freeze so that he can get his fix :)
At least now I can try some fresh ones. Thank you for sharing.
I made these this past weekend and they were delicious! However, they were not quite as chewy as a real NY bagel usually is…not sure why. I used King Arthur bread flour, so maybe I should have gotten some vital wheat gluten to add? Also, my poor standard Kitchen Aid mixer couldn’t stand the mixing for too long, so I had to knead for awhile. I didn’t get to add the last 1/2 cup flour due to my kneading by hand, so the outside was nice and shiny/satiny, but the inside of the dough was still a tiny bit tacky when I cut and shaped the bagels. I’m guessing this affected the overall chewiness, too. Can’t complain, though because they really did turn out nicely and taste great. One odd thing – the first half all puffed up beautifully after boiling/baking, but the second half (I left in the fridge a little longer) were more flat. Any ideas as to why? Thanks for a great recipe!
I’m a bagel and cream cheese fanatic but I’ve never tried making my own bagels. That would probably be more cost effective. Thanks for the idea!