Recipe for 6 bagels

Jerusalem bagels

Ingredients
 
½ Kg bread or white flour
1 Tbsp dry yeast
3 Tbsp sugar
 
2 Tbsp olive oil
11⁄3 cup lukewarm water
 
½ Tbsp salt
 
2 cup tap water
1 cup sesame seeds
 
2 Tbsp olive oil
 


Preparation steps:
    Prepare the dough and let it rise
  1. Sift the flour (it aerates the flour) and mix it with the dry yeast and sugar.
  2. Add the oil, and gradually add the Lukewarm water. Knead for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the salt and knead additional 5 minutes.
  4. Oil a bowl. Make a large ball from the dough. Slightly oil the dough and place it in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic and with kitchen towel to keep the dough warm. The dough is a bit sticky. It is helpful to lightly oil the hands when shaping it into a ball.
  5. Let the dough rise in room temperature for 1¼-1¾ hours until doubled in size.
    You may keep the bowl in a closed space, like the microwave.

    Create 6 dough balls and let them rise
  6. Weigh the dough with a a kitchen scale and divide into 6 equal parts. Each of the 6 pieces weighs around 156 grams. Make a ball from each piece, and place on a tray.
  7. Slightly oil the 6 balls, cover with plastic and then a kitchen towel. Let the balls rise in a room temperature for 10-15 minutes.

    Shape the bagels
  8. Option 1: Oval shape bagels
    Hold the ball in the air and with the 2 thumbs create a hole in the middle. Role the bagel between the hands and gradually make the hole bigger and the bagel longer.

    Option 2: Twisted shape bagels
    With a rolling pin, roll each ball into 10" ellipse.
    Fold the ellipse by hand on the long side, the 10", into a strand.
    Using the palm of the hands, roll each strand into a strand 22"-30" long.
    Hold the strand in the middle in the air and loop the 2 strands around each other.
    Pinch the ends together.

    Dip in sesame, rise, bake, and brush with oil
  9. Heat the oven to 450°F.
    Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
    Pour the 2 cups tap water into a 10" deep dish.
    Pour the 1 cup sesame seeds into another 10" deep dish.
  10. Dip each bagel in the bowl with the water on both sides and then dip the bagel immediately in the sesame bowl on both sides.
  11. Place the 6 bagels on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
    Bake on the top shelf at 450°F for 15-20 minutes until the bagels get a light brown color.
  12. Remove from the oven. Brush the top side of the bagels with the olive oil.
Serving: with a za'atar and olive oil dip
Personal notes
I've learned this recipe from my friend Odelia, who is a pro in everything baking!
Picture of recipe


Take note:
  • Bread flour = unbleached wheat flour,
    enriched with niacin (Vitamin B3),
    iron, thiamine mononitrate (Vitamin B1),
    riboflavin (vitamin B2),
    folic acid (vitamin B9), enzyme.

  • 1 Tbsp dry yeast = one packet of
    Fleischmann's ActiveDry Yeast (¼ oz)

  • Lukewarm water temperature is 105-110F

    Tips for working with yeast doughs:

  • Preparing the dough -
    due to the interaction with the yeast,
    the salt is added later.

  • Creating a ball from the dough -
    folds the edges under the ball center
    to create the ball shape.

  • Dough rise in a cold room temperture -
    Alternative 1: cover the bowl with a
    large plate and place it on top
    of another bowl with hot water.
    Alternative 2: place the bowl in an oven that
    has been warmed to 150F then turned off.

  • When rolling the dough and it immediatly
    shrinks significantly, it means that
    the dough needs to continue to rise.