I have never made bagels before and this recipe looked like a good way to ease into them. I had never heard of Jerusalem Bagels before, but I’m also no bagel connoisseur. Apparently they’re apparently lighter, airier, and more bread-like than an actual bagel.

You’ll start off by heating your milk and water to 90-95F. Put this into the bowl of a stand mixture then add your yeast and sugar. You’re going to want to let this sit for 10 minutes and let it get foamy. Once it’s ready to go you’ll pour sifted flour over the mixture and add your salt. Using a dough hook let this knead for about 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let this rise for 30 minutes.

While that’s rising prep your baking sheets with parchment paper and then once the dough is doubled in size you’ll cut it into six pieces. They’re supposed to be even, but somehow one of mine got a fair amount bigger. You’ll roll these pieces into an 18 inch snake-like rope and then you’ll join the ends together and press them together so they stick. You’re supposed to stretch the dough so you make a hole in the center but mine were more like pretzels so there wasn’t really any way to make a hole because it looked like a weird donut. Brush each bagel with a beaten egg and then sprinkle on the everything bagel seasoning. Let this rise another 30 minutes and then pop this into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. I let mine go slightly longer than 15 minutes because when I temped the inside it wasn’t quite done yet at 12.

These are definitely breadier than traditional bagels. While these are best the day you make them I didn’t want to get up at the crack of dawn to make these so I could have them for breakfast. We just toasted them the next day and they were fine. I topped mine with cream cheese, smoked salmon, and a little fresh dill and it was very good. I will say that it could have used more salt in my opinion and that was some of the resounding comments on the recipe. I kind of missed the chew of the bagel but they were fun to make, pretty easy, and looked pretty impressive!

Baking Ease	10
Time Spent	8
Taste	10
Visual	10

Recipe Used: Kick Ass Baker