Super easy Vegan Bagel Recipe made with simple ingredients and the results are simply amazing. You get ultra-chewy fresh bagels every time you crave them.
Take your bread flour in a large bowl. Add sugar and salt to the flour on one side of the bowl.
Put dry active yeast on the other side of the bowl away from salt to avoid direct contact otherwise it will kill the yeast right away and your dough will not rise.
Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Slowly add the warm water and keep mixing with a spoon or hands.
Knead the dough while mixing with your hands. If the mixture is too dry add a tbs of water at a time and mix. Knead until form a firm and stiff dough.
Make sure the dough is firm and not sticky. (See the video to get an idea of the dough texture)
Oil the surface of a large bowl and swirl your dough ball to coat. Cover the bowl tightly with cling wrap and a dishtowel.
Let your dough rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1hour, until the dough has doubled in size.
Once doubled, punch the dough down to release air bubbles. Press it down to make an even flat round shape.
Carefully cut the dough into equal 8 pieces with a knife or scrapper.
Shape the Bagels
Take a piece of the dough and bring its corner towards the center and form a round shape. Press this ball gently on your palm or countertop, move it in a circular motion while using your other hand until a smooth dough ball is formed. Repeat the same with the rest of the dough.
Once you get a smooth dough ball press your index finger through the center of each ball to make a hole. Stretch the hole to about 1 inch in diameter. Repeat the same step with the remaining dough balls.
Cover all bagels with cling wrap and towel to get a final rise for about 20 minutes
Once done repeat the process of shaping the bagels as they might have sprung back into shape.
Water Bath
While bagels are rising bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add Brown sugar to the water then reduce the heat to medium-high.
Drop two to four bagels at a time into the water bath, depending on the size of your pot. Make sure they have enough room to float around.
Carefully place the bagels one by one into the water. Boil in batches and do not overcrowd the pot.
Let the bagels boil for about 2 minutes, and then flip them over to boil for another 2 minutes. Remove bagels and place them on a lined baking sheet.
Top and Bake
Preheat the oven to 425ºF (210ºC).
Brush each bagel with melted vegan margarine or vegan cream.
In a bowl mix your bagel toppings and place your bagel upside down on these toppings and swirl to get the thick coat of toppings. If you like light toppings, you can simply sprinkle them over the bagels.
Bake the bagels for about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Video
Notes
If you are using dry active yeast add it in warm water with sugar and salt but if you are using instant yeast mix it directly with flour.
Put dry active yeast on the other side of the bowl away from salt to avoid direct contact otherwise it will kill the yeast right away and your dough will not rise.
If the water content of your bagels is high it will make crispier bagels. To get the chewy bagels to keep it low and knead more to get a dense dough.
To make the perfect hole in the bagel stretch it doubles the desired hole size as gluten will stretch back and shrink the size of the hole.
Make sure the water is bubbling hot when you add bagels to the water. If it is not hot you may get poor rise small and dense bagels.