Sesame Seed Bagel Recipe: Homemade and Delicious

This Sesame Seed bagel recipe is surprisingly simple. With it, you can create sesame bagels that are soft and chewy on the inside with a wonderful crust and the added texture of the sesame seeds. Plus, they don’t take a lot of time to make. They do need to sit and prove for a while, but you can get on with other things while that’s happening.

What you need to know about this Sesame Seed bagel recipe

As bread recipes go, this is a very straightforward bagel recipe. Yes, there are a few steps involved and boiling the dough before baking is pretty unusual, but I’m confident that you will succeed with this recipe.

Your reward will be delicious, fresh bagels, 7 sesame seeded bagels in fact, with a slightly spongy, but firm texture, with all the chewiness that you’d expect from the best bakery-style bagel.

These have such a wonderful flavour and great texture that you may not buy bagels again

Sesame Seed Bagel Recipe Ingredients

These are all pretty much everyday ingredients that you’re likely to have in your pantry.

• Bread flour – I use strong white bread flour when making bagels. This is important in achieving the bagel texture and chewiness. You may substitute all-purpose flour (plain flour) if you wish, but the result won’t be as good.
• Sugar – sweetens the dough slightly and helps to activate the yeast.
• Yeast – dried yeast that can be used for hand-baking and doesn’t need activating.
• Salt – this brings out the flavours in the bread.
• lukewarm water – this helps to combine ingredients to create a nice, smooth dough. The amount of water needed will vary slightly depending on the flour used. The temperature of the water helps to get a good rise in the dough.
• sesame seeds – these are the all-important addition for the topping, but if you hate them, then you can leave them off. More on that later.

Steps in making Bagels

Making Sesame Seed bagels involves just a few steps. I call this recipe easy because it is straightforward, although it does require more ‘elapsed time’ than most of my other recipes. However, your reward will be the most delicious bagels you’ve ever tasted… I’m sure of it.

1. Making the bagel dough and a first rise of 1 hour or until doubled in size.
2. Shaping the bread dough and a second rise of ten minutes
   1. We use the method of making a round bun shape of dough and then making a hole in the centre of the dough ball, rather than the traditional method of rolling out log-shaped pieces of dough and joining the ends, a little bit like how you’d join a daisy chain.
3. Boiling the bagel dough – this is what gives bagels their shiny crust and chewy texture.
4. Bake the boiled bagels on a prepared baking sheet. These may be baked with or without extra toppings. Sesame seeds are a lovely topping, especially after baking, when they release a delicious nutty flavour. Definitely worth trying.

Kneading Bagel Dough

I enjoy kneading bread dough by hand, but I get that that’s not for everyone. This recipe can be made just as easily using a mixer. Attach the dough hook to your mixer (Check that your mixer is happy with the quantity of dough being made here.), and process on a low speed for 6 to 8 minutes until the dough is well combined, smooth and elastic.

Making Sesame Seed Bagels

• Step 1 – Making the Dough (Everything you need to know is in the recipe card below.)
  • Begin by adding the flour, yeast, and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Add the salt to the opposite side of the bowl to the yeast.
  • Add in 2/3 of the water and use this to create a soft dough. Add more water as needed to bring everything together and form a dough.
  • Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until it is smooth, elastic, and bounces back when pressed with a finger.
  • Oil a bowl by coating the base and sides. This allows the dough to rise freely. Place the dough in the bowl and cover it with either a tea towel or cling film. Leave it to rise, out of the way of draughts. Leave it until it has doubled in size, which will probably take about an hour.
• Step 2 – Shaping the dough and the second rise
  • Once it has doubled in size, knock back the dough. (Knock the air out of it by folding the dough repeatedly until the dough is smooth) and divide into 7 evenly sized pieces. Form each piece into a ball using the palm of your hand to help you do so.
  • Make the holes in the centre of the dough ball. Use a finger to do this and ensure that the hole goes all the way through the dough. Move your finger around to widen the hole slightly. Repeat this with all of the dough balls.

• Step 3 – Boil/poach the bagel dough. Heat a large pot of water. I use a soup pan for this as I can fit in 4 bagels at a time. Preheat the oven 425F/220C/200C Fan.
  • Allow the dough to rise for a further 10 minutes. Then, using a slotted spoon or slotted turner (fish slice), gently lower each bagel into the simmering water. I can fit 4 bagels into my large soup saucepan. If your pan is smaller, you may not fit as many in. You need to allow space for the bagels to rise and expand a little without being squashed by the bagels around them. After 2 minutes, turn the bagel over, using the slotted spoon or slotted turner (fish slice) and cook the other side for 2 minutes.
  • Once they’ve boiled on both sides, place them on a greased baking sheet or one that is lined with baking parchment (I find that baking parchment makes for an easier clean-up after baking)
  • If you’re going to add seeds as a topping for your bagels, now is the time to do this. Sprinkle with sesame seeds before placing in the oven. (Note: other seeds such as sunflower seeds, poppy seeds or pumpkin seeds or a mixture of all of these make great toppings too.)
• Step 4 – Baking the Bagels – This is a fairly quick process. Bake for approximately eighteen minutes on a prepared baking sheet or tray, or until the bagels are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool before eating.

Bagel Toppings – Sesame Seeds and other delicious things

We love sesame seeds on our bagels, but if you don’t or if you just fancy something a little different, then there are other wonderful toppings to try,

How about these simple bagel toppings that you can add to your amazing bagel before you bake it?

• sesame seeds – these are just sprinkled over the top of the bagel.
• mixed seeds – how about a mixture of seeds such as sunflower, poppy seeds or pumpkin seeds?
• sea salt – how about a little sea salt scattered over the surface.
• a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar – for a sweet breakfast bagel or for a mid-morning break. These are delicious toasted.

Freezing Bagels for later

Is it possible that you now have too many bagels to eat whilst they’re fresh? Or maybe you’d like to freeze a few so that you have them another time. Here are our tips for freezing bagels.

• It is always best to freeze the freshly made bagels.
• To freeze the baked bagels, allow them to cool completely.
• Pop them into a freezer bag with a square of parchment paper or greaseproof paper between each one. This stops the bagels from freezing together. This makes it easier to separate them to enjoy later.
• They’ll last well in the freezer for up to 3 months before they begin to deteriorate slightly.

To defrost the bagels after freezing

• Leave them out on the countertop to defrost before eating. To enjoy wonderfully fresh bagels, then reheat them gently in the oven for a few minutes.

Top Tip for freezing bagels: Slice them in half before freezing, which makes it easy to pop them in the toaster on the ‘frozen bread’ option and enjoy slathered in your favourite spread.

Ways to enjoy bagels

Bagels are always popular, so you probably already have lots of favourite ways of eating them. These are a few of our favourite ways of eating them.

• Cream cheese is an obvious filling… spread it lavishly across your wonderful homemade bagel.
• fresh with just a delicious scraping of butter or your favourite spread.
• How about hummus, the classic, traditional version or the green hummus version that adds spinach for some extra nutrition?
• Want a warm filling? How about a fried or poached egg? You could also add a little sriracha or tomato ketchup and really go to town.
• toasted and filled with a portobello mushroom that’s been baked with garlic and herbs. Delicious!
• Your favourite sandwich fillings will all work in these deliciously chewy fresh bagels, such as peanut butter or an avocado topping.

How long do fresh bagels last?

These homemade sesame seed bagels are best eaten fresh, but should last up to 3 days in an appropriate airtight container. They rarely last long enough in our house to fully test that out.

Some people say that the flavour of bagels improves on the second day and that they become even more flavourful and chewy. That would be our experience too.

Don’t forget, if your bagels need a little refreshing because they’re a few days old, they are awesome toasted. The flavour of the sesame seeds really shines.

Other Recipes you may like to try

To fill your freshly made bagel;

• Easy Avocado Hummus Dip
• Avocado Toast (with variations and ideas)
• Hazelnut and Chocolate Spread
• Peanut Butter
• Almond butter
• Vegan Cream Cheese
• Green Hummus using spinach

Other bread recipes you may wish to try…

• Soda bread
• Yogurt flatbreads
• Focaccia
• Easy Margherita Pizza

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