Bagels for the Bread Machine

Letting the bread machine handle the kneading is the cheat code for home bagels. A bagel dough is notoriously stiff, and your dough hook (or worse, your forearms) can struggle. The machine just shrugs and does the work.

The boil is the part you can’t skip. Two minutes in simmering water gelatinizes the surface starch, which is exactly what gives bagels that glossy chewy crust instead of a soft bread-roll exterior.

Bread flour rather than all-purpose is essential. The higher protein content builds the gluten strength bagels need to hold their ring shape and develop proper chew.

Let the shaped rings rise 40 to 50 minutes, no less. Under-risen bagels come out dense and wrinkled after the boil.

Kitchen Tips

• Pull the dough from the machine the moment the buzzer sounds. Letting it run into the bake cycle will ruin the dough.
• Shape by poking a hole through the middle of each ball and stretching it with your thumbs. The hole should look too big, it will close up during boiling and baking.
• Boil a few at a time only. Crowding drops the water temperature and leaves you with pale, flabby bagels.
• For a shinier crust, add a tablespoon of malt syrup or barley malt to the boiling water.

Variations

• Right after boiling, press the wet tops into sesame or poppy seeds, everything seasoning, or cinnamon sugar.
• Knead a handful of raisins and cinnamon into the dough during the last minute of the machine’s dough cycle for cinnamon-raisin bagels.
• Replace half the bread flour with whole wheat for a heartier, nuttier bagel.