Sesame Egg Bagels

It's almost a decade since I last made bagels. And a warm toasted bagel with a generous spread of cold cream cheese is a breakfast that me and my husband love much when we were back in California. The unique chewy texture of this bread is good to munch on plus the crunchy toasted crust is very good too! Much to your preference, you can it served with savory lox or just sweet cream cheese, it's quite versatile & delicious. But I do know that not everyone likes bagels. Normally people would prefer fluffy soft bread and not chewy dough like bagels. I remember the first time I had bagels, I didn't quite understand why people like it, lol! As time goes, I got to taste really good ones and finally acquire a fondness for it. However it is not easy to find freshly baked bagels here in Asia. So I decided to give my hubby a surprise and made a batch for it for breakfast one morning. :) I made Sesame Egg Bagels.

I was elated when these 6 lovely loops came out from the oven. All nice and golden brown, yum! This is really something you can't get from your local bakery in Singapore...as far as I know.

As you can see, I sprinkled 2 different kind of sesame over the bagels. Although the taste doesn't differ at all, it just makes the bread looks good. :)

Interested to know my recipe? Here it is:

Ingredients for Sesame Egg Bagels:
1 large russet potatoes, (90 to 125g), peeled and cubed
1 & 1/4 cup (312ml) water
1 packet (2.5 tsp) active dry yeast
30ml vegetable oil
2 large egg, room temperature
650g plain flour
1.5 tsp salt
egg wash
sesame seeds for sprinkling

Method:

• Cook the potatoes in the water and bring to a boil. Cook till the potatoes are fork-tender, about 8 to 10 minutes, reserve the water. Let cool till lukewarm.
  
• Measure 1 cup (250ml) of the potato water and pour it into a large mixing bowl. Add yeast, oil and eggs and whisk till well combined.
• Add in the flour and salt, knead mixture till it becomes a soft dough. Continue to knead the dough till it is elastic and non sticky, about 5 to 7 minutes.
• Placed the dough in oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let proof for at least 1hr or till the dough doubles in volume.
• Punch out the air and turn out on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into 6 equal parts. Roll round and cover to rest for another 10 minutes before shaping.
• Take a portion of the dough and using your palms, roll each piece into a rope of about 10". Using the heel of your hand, flatten 1" of one end of the robe (See Step A). Form each bagel by overlapping the flat end of the rope over 1" of the round end (See Step B).
• Pinch together to seal. Repeat till all the bagels are formed and place them on a lightly floured surface. Cover and let proof for another 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 210C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Fill a large pot with about 3/4 full of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and lower 3 of the bagels in the water. Do not overcrowd them as they might loose their shapes. Simmer for 1 minutes and turn them over to simmer 1 more minute. Transfer the bagels on the prepared baking tray, spacing about 1" apart and repeat the boiling for the remaining 3 bagels.
• Brush the bagels with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  
• Bake in the oven till golden brown for 25 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool completely before serving.

I wish I can make this more often. But because my 2 little ones aren't fans of bagels, so I can only make it once in a blue moon. :)

I sliced open one once it was out of the oven. :) Crusty outside and soft inside...yummy!

I spread on some lox (smoke salmon) cream cheese on it and munched away, lol! Apologies for the poor quality of this photo. :P Anyway, I hope you all that like bagels will also try out this recipe. If you can't finish all the bagels, just refrigerate up to a week or freeze up to a month. Toast it up in the oven before serving...remember to get your favorite spread of course. ;) Bon appetito all!