After the success of the egg bagels for my adorable boyfriend’s breakfast, I decided to try to make another type of bagel he would like. I grew up eating poppy seed bagels, until a fateful day in 5th grade when a girl in my class pointed out that I had poppy seeds in my teeth. Then the next day she pointed out the poppy seeds in my teeth. Then the next. Then I stopped eating them altogether. My adorable boyfriend, however, is not caged by such hindrances as a loyalty to a particular type of (stuck in your teeth) bagel, and has opened my eyes to a much wider world of variety.
When I asked him what he would like next for his breakfasts, he said “Salt Bagels,” which honestly, I’m not sure I knew were a thing before he enlightened me. I looked online and found a version by the ever-delicious bread master Peter Reinhart, via the lovely blog One Ordinary Day. These come together quite easily, with just one real rising time the first day though you do need to plan ahead as these are boiled and baked the next day (after a 60-90 minute rest, which caught me by surprise).
These were, dare I say, far superior to the egg bagels. The chewiness was just outstanding and they really had a lot of flavor. I would definitely only make these with bread flour and I finally caved and bought a whole 5 lb. bag the other day, just for bagel making. So worth it. Try it out!
The recipe can be found here.
I’ve made Reinhart’s bagels several times, including a salt version – they are soooo good. Look at how pretty yours are! Don’t you love how they puff up when you boil then bake them? I’m having fun poking around your blog.