My parents are bagel snobs. Having lived in New York for a number of years, they both have very high standards when it comes to this particular breakfast item. You can get alright bagels here in the supermarket (and really good ones from Brick Lane but, allow, that’s the other side of London) however apparently they’re not as good as the ones in NYC.
In fact, my mum is so insistent on boycotting the ones here that a few years ago after visiting her friend in New York she came back with half a suitcase of bagels from The Bagel Store in Brooklyn. She brought me a French Toast one – heelloooo yes, yes I will eat that. (Maybe that should be the next bagel bread loaf flavour adventure?). They were much chewier than the ones I was used to with a kind of sticky texture which welcomed a layer of cream cheese.
Due to this bad bagel situation I did attempt making them once in the past – half of them worked beautifully and the other half kind of looked like someone had sat on them… They just deflated :/ So I was like eff that, I can live without bagels and resorted to spreading poppyseed-sprinkled cream cheese onto my regular toast. (It does taste pretty good but not as good as the real deal)
After having success making bagels at home using my friend Kamran’s recipe, I started thinking about using the dough to make something else… a sliceable bagel loaf.
Want half a bagel? Sure! Grab a slice, the rest won’t go stale.
Ate one bagel and still feel like you want another half? GO FOR IT. Three slices and you won’t piss anyone off by leaving half a bagel in the bread bin.
It applies the same method as regular bagel making – boil risen pieces of dough briefly in some water pre-bake – but simplifies the shaping step and is baked in a loaf tin instead of separately.
Of course, this is just a basic recipe here (the only slight twist was using some whole wheat flour because I like the flavour, but you can swap that out for plain if you wish) so you can change it as you please. I adore cinnamon-raisin bagels (who would have guessed?) so next time I make it I’ll probably knead some into the dough after the first rise and maybe sprinkle the outside of the loaf with cinnamon-sugar.
Whatever, the world is our bagel oyster. All hail bagel-loaf!!
Notes
– Recipe adapted from the ‘New York Bagel’ recipe in Hand Made Baking by Kamran Siddiqi
– I’ve used all the water stated in the recipe every time I have made this but, as Kamran says in the recipe, you may need less water depending on the flour you’re using.
– If you don’t have anywhere to leave the dough to rise you can create the perfect environment using your oven: boil some water and pour it into a shallow bowl or tray, place this inside your oven right at the bottom then turn the oven light on. Place your dough into the oven to rise – it should stay nice and warm in there without being too hot.
– Some bagel recipes require you to egg glaze them, some don’t. I added the egg glazing step to the recipe to ensure the pieces of dough stuck to each other after baking so the loaf would stay whole and also so the seeds on top would adhere well.
Bagel Bread Loaf
PrintIngredients
- 2 cups (250 g) white bread flour
- 1 1/3 cups (160 g ) wholemeal bread flour
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp active dried yeast
- 1 1/4 cups (310 ml) warm water
For boiling & finishing:
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp golden syrup , , malt syrup or sugar
- 1 egg , , beaten
- Sesame seeds or poppy seeds for sprinkling
Instructions
- Stir together the flours and salt in a large bowl.
- In a jug, mix the sugar, yeast and roughly half of the water together. Set aside for 5 minutes until slightly bubbly. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour the yeast mixture in. Add half of the remaining water to the bowl as well. Stir it all together with your hands, adding more water as needed*. Tip the contents of the bowl out onto a clean work surface and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and firm.
- Lightly oil the bowl, return the dough to the bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise for an hour.
- Punch the risen dough down and divide into 5 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and flatten into a thick oval. Place onto a floured baking tray and cover with oiled cling film. Leave to prove for 30 minutes in a warm place.
- Meanwhile, bring about 2 litres of water to the boil in a large pot. Stir the baking soda, salt and syrup/sugar into the water and leave to simmer. Oil or butter a large loaf tin and use the sesame or poppy seeds to 'flour' the tin (if you don't want to use seeds, just oiling the loaf tin is fine).
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (200 C). Use a slotted spoon to drop one oval of dough into the simmering water - boil for 1 minute then flip and boil for 1 minute on the other side. Remove from the water with the slotted spoon then place into the loaf tin. Repeat with the other ovals of dough, lining them up inside the tin next to each other. Brush the cracks in between the dough ovals with beaten egg to ensure they stick together during baking. Brush the top of the loaf with beaten egg and sprinkle on more sesame seeds or poppy seeds. Bake for 30-40 minutes until dark golden. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing.
HELLO, this is brilliant. can i eat an entire loaf by myself??? and make a bagel hole in the middle?? i admire your mom’s passion for new york bagels. but also i regularly fantasize about the salted beef bagel from the biegel bake on brick lane that i had a few years ago.
Bagels…in loaf form? Genius!! As a true-bred carb lover, this sounds like heaven. The possibilities–French toast or maybe a toasted sandwich or OMG I just need to make this. Now.
😀
THIS. IS. AWESOME. thank you for sharing!!!!!
Izzy you are a genius now i wont loose half my bagel filling through the hole! Dragons den is calling your name with this!
WHAT THIS IS INCREDIBLE. LIFE MADE. I love love love this so much — I can’t wait to try. It looks fantastic and you are a GENIUS. (PS Bahahah yes, when I eat a bagel I’m similarly committed!!! Cream cheese and NO REGRETS.)
ever since i saw this pop up on your insta i’ve been stalking because i NEED bagel bread in my life. who the heck eats half a bagel!?!? this loaf….i could probably demolish it easily. the toppings would have to vary of course, but yes, what cynthia said: cream cheese and NO REGRETS!!!!!!
xoxo
new york bagels–nah! The very best bagels are in Montreal at St Viateur Bagels. “Each bagel is hand-rolled, boiled in honey water, and cooked in a wood fired oven that was designed to both cook and flavour the bagel. What comes out of this process is a chewy, slightly sweet bagel that is incomparable to any other bagel being made today.” Nope, I don’t work there , but the desciption is 100%. There is nothing better than a fresh hot Montreal bagel. 🙂 You can find out more at https://www.stviateurbagel.com/our-bagels
This. Is. Pure. Genius. Yet another reason why I love your blog!! Seriously. I’m always the one leaving a half bagel in the bag because I just had to have another half after my whole bagel 🙂 I made bagels once (banana wheat) and they were pretty good, I’m wondering why I haven’t made them again! BEAUTIFUL pics!! <3
Ohhh YUM. Yum, yum, yum.
this is why I love the Internet! Why has this only been thought of now, so going to make this! Amazing, thank you so much.
I see this as a beautiful beginning to something magnificent. This bread looks killer and I cannot wait to see the other iterations that are bound to come.
this loaf is so, so cool! however, i have to disagree with your mum — i like brick lane bagels more than new york bagels (which from my time living there, i thought were kind of hit and miss).
This sounds so interesting! I love it and want to try it out.
I need a thick piece of this STAT! So yummy!
How I love this!It is exactly what I needed, because you never know how much bagels you can eat 😉
This is GENIUS! All my bagel eating disorders solved right here. I’m one of the annoying ones that eat just half a bagel, not because I want to but because I have to…bad metabolism issues:((( Then I seal the other half in a ziplok and stare at it with pity ALL.DAY.LONG! Your creation is the perfect answer. Thanks for sharing:)
So clever and delicious Izy! I can not wait to get out my tin to make this for brunch on the weekend! Your shots here are stunning s always but I am loving your lighting right now.
I recently went to NYC and had the best bagel of my life. Everything toasted with butter. Yum!
This is a delicious idea! Can’t wait to try it!
what a brilliant idea!! I love this!
It’s my first time here, Izy.. so halloooo all the way from Canada! How beautiful you are.. your baking, your everything here! I love bagels but eat them less frequently now that I’m, ahem, older;) Love your new take on the bagel! Now you must make them in every flavour and market them to the shops. xx Smidge
I love bagels but I have never thought I could bake them into bread! Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
OMG! Really? Bagel loaf? You are GENIUS!!! I have just posted a store brought bagel on Instagram but it even nearly not as good as yours!
What a great idea! I love this! and..next time you’re in the states you have to try a cinnamon sugar bagel! They’re fabulous – way better than cinnamon raisin!
This is amazing Izy!! Cinnamon raisin?! YES!! And an everything bagel loaf would be too awesome! And better yet, perfect for thanksgiving leftovers!
A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!!!!!!!
I love this, what could be better than sliceable bagels?
This is so amazingly awesome!!!!!!!! Now, how about a mini bagel loaf to go with the mini bagels? Or a christmas bagel loaf. Or, just be happy that you are the Einstein of the food world for doing this and drink hot chocolate to celebrate!
Bagel Bread, that’s an amazing idea. love it!
looks so delicious, I can’n wait to try.
Pinned
So amazing!!!! Totally giving this a try since I’m definitely the “wants half a bagel” type person. Brilliant recipe, Izy!
bagel bread is such a great idea! I agree with you, I’m all in when it comes to eating a bagel.
Thanks for the recipe. Pinning now!
SO freakin genius! You’ve done it again miss 🙂
Can’t wait to try this out for Brunch! So smart!!
Brilliant idea! Well done Izzy.
I have to say, the best bagels I ever had were in New York too…. This loaf looks amazing, gotta try it.
um, YES. No one wants the leftover bagel bottoms (’cause if we’re eating half a bagel, it’s always the top half)! Sesame bagels are my most favorite bagels of them all with all the cream cheese, please.
Genius! You are too good!
Love this. Really like your notes at the end too!
wow lovely pics
WHOA. How did I just discover this NOW?? I NEED TO MAKE THIS. Your blog is so beautiful!! I think I have to order your book now :).
Girl, you are a GENIUS.
I added a tablespoon of cinnamon to the dry stuff and then used the bread for French toast. Holy food coma. Tip: poke lots of holes with a fork and really let the egg soak in for a while.
The house smells wonderful while this is baking.
Is there a way to make this vegan? What could I substitute to still make sure they stick together?
You can just leave the egg wash off!