The popularity of bagels in the United States in our time has made a global effect on the popularization of bagels throughout the world. Nowadays, you can find bagels as easy as going to your local bakery.

What is Bagels

Bagels are a type of bread that’s been widely known throughout the world for many decades or maybe even so, for many centuries. To classify bread as a bagel is, first of all, its main appearance. It has a circular ring shape similar to a typical doughnut.

Bagels are associated with Ashkenazi Jews in Poland, dating back to the 17th century. So you can say that places with a profound number of Jewish communities may very well be the reason why bagels have become so popular. One example of this would be in the eastern side of North America. In the United States, bagels have been made a popular staple of so-called American bread. New York has become one of the cities in the world that has popularized bagels.

Bagels, Doughnuts and Other Bread

So how are bagels different from any other type of bread? As I mentioned previously, the distinctly recognizable thing about a bagel is its shape; the ring shape, similar to a doughnut. Although, the hole in the centre is usually a lot smaller, and bagels are also baked while doughnuts are usually deep-fried. Another main distinction is its firm and chewy texture, which comes from having the bagel dough blanched before baking them.

The process of blanching bagels is needed to achieve a distinct chewy texture. You will need to blanch these bagels in some water with added baking soda. Adding baking soda to the water helps with browning the colour of the bagels; the more baking soda you add, the darker the colour of the bagels will be. The amount of time you have to blanch also needs to be accounted for. For example, bagel doughs that blanch for a longer time will often result in a thicker crust, preventing it from rising more in the oven, as bagels that blanch for a shorter time. A shorter time allows the bagel to rise more resulting in a fluffier and more risen bagel.

The Best Bagels Recipe

The great thing about bagels is that they are one of those bread that just goes with anything varying from sweet to savoury flavours. So what we’re going to make in this recipe is a savoury flavoured bagel, more importantly, garlic and cheese bagel.

Garlic and cheese just go very well together in many savoury dishes. Garlic adds a great caramelized aroma while the cheese compliments by adding a slight tangy kick. Any cheese would go great with this recipe, but I prefer to use cheeses that are more easily found in your local supermarkets like cheddar or mozzarella. For this specific recipe though, I chose cheddar because it has a more intense flavour than mozzarella.

These garlic and cheese bagels can be eaten all by themselves, but you can always add other toppings as much as you’d like. So what’re you waiting for, let’s bake them and find out for yourself!

Additional Notes from Author:

• Blanch the bagels for a short amount of time (30-60 seconds per side) to achieve the distinct chewy texture of bagels.
• Adding baking soda to the boiling water helps add colour to the bagels when baked.

Some terms you might need to know:

• Garlic confit
• Degas the dough