Copycat Bagels

 

Welcome to a Magical Land where in under forty five minutes start to finish, you can indeed have Freshly Baked, Homemade Bagels, Made by You, with no yeast, with minimal ingredients, and minimal clean up.  It is true.  Welcome to the land of Copycat Bagels...

Yes I am waving a wand in the air.

You're totally doubting me and that's totally ok but by the end of this, you will be a convert.
 

Uhh huuuuhhhh, yeahhhh, see??

So apparently these originated over on Weight Watchers or something or other I read but I have to tell you, this recipe here, I have tinkered and jiggled with and crisscrossed to get the best, most optimum results as opposed to fitting within the Weight Watchers system.  Just fyi, as a head's up.

I came across this premise, oh, I'm not so sure when but only recently did a moderate dive into what the whoo-ha heck this was all about.  The idea being, well, you'll find out later.

Bagels.  Everybody loves 'em, or, many people do, right?  Oh the banter about where the best bagels are made, oh my goodness.  It's the water, it's the baker, it's the flour, it's the I dunno I'm about to make stuff up.

If you ask me, the best bagels, and trust me, I have had plenty of bagels in my half-Jewish lifetime, the best bagels I've ever had are from Collegetown Bagels in Ithaca, New York.  Yeah, come fight me.

I've had bagels in Chicago -- decent ones, ok ones, terrible ones of course; bagels in New York City; bagels here, bagels there....There are some bagels around town here that I have yet to try so I need to correct that.

Bagels are awesome for an ever-expanding list of reasons.  They're great for breakfast, brunch, lunch, a snack, and dinner.  Spread them with things like duh obviously cream cheese or freshly toasted with melty peanut butter.  Chop them up, turn them into a breakfast casserole.

Use a bagel as the bread for a sandwich.  Turn them into a pizza bagel for dinner.  (Ask Mike about that one.  Or no, don't.)

You can put things on them, put things in them, and mix things into their dough for a veritable cornucopia of flavor sensations.

So bagels are the best. 

Making bagels at home, not the best. 

Until now.  Until Copycat Bagels.

Yeeeeeppp.  I'm hungry now too.  Good thing these are fast!

These here spiffy bagels are known around the interwebs as 2-ingredient bagels, easy bagels, no-yeast bagels, etcetera and other similarly related names.

Beeeccaaaaause, all you need is self-rising flour* and Greek yogurt.  Literally.  Much like the Grilled Yogurt Flatbreads but these are in bagel form.  So I'm helping use up leftover Greek yogurt here, kudos!

If you don't have self-rising flour, not a problem.  You can make your own.  Better yet, make this recipe which uses bread flour* for that extra step towards the real deal.  Trust me, it's worth it for a bit of extra bagel-esque chew.

You can even use cup for cup type gluten-free flours* but, note, you can't use stuff that is not or does not emulate gluten, i.e. almond flour or other alternative type.

Now, a note about the Greek yogurt.  You want to use whole milk here for peak Copycat Bagel form.  You can use low fat or nonfat, or the alternative dairy types, fruity even, but what you cannot use is Greek-style nor regular yogurt as they're too watery.  

Don't ask; I have duly noted for you.  Seriously.  I've outlined the two critical aspects to get you rockin' results.  Anything else?  Fail.  Ok?  Ok!

You can mix this dough up by hand but it's of course handier in a stand mixer.*   Bonus, the yogurt can even be cold from the fridge for this!  Yes!  For real!

Really this is so simple, you could practically do this with your eyes shut.  Toss all the ingredients in a bowl (except for the egg yolk and whatever you're adding to the top, if you are).  You can toss in mix-in's here too, say, if you wanted cinnamon raisin bagels or cheese or whatever.

Tossed.

Mix.  Yep.  Mix.  It'll be shaggy and weird but keep going.

Fresh from the mixer.

Knead.  Again, by hand or let the mixer knead for you until you reach a nice smooth, elastic ball.

Kneaded, yep.

Cut.  Cut the nice smooth elastic ball into six pieces, much like cutting the dough for the Currant Scones.  Hot tip:  after cutting the six pieces, let the dough rest for a few minutes so it'll be easier to roll.

Cut! hahaha

Roll.  Roll one of the pieces into a log shape until it's about an inch thick.  Doesn't matter how long, it's the diameter.

Abstract art here.

Curl, pinch and rest.  Curl that log into a round bagel shape and pinch the ends together well.  Let the round shapes rest for another couple minutes.  This will make it easier to enlarge the hole further.  You want that hole at minimum three inches across so it doesn't close completely up during baking.

Line, wash, sprinkle, and bake.  Line your baking sheet* with parchment paper* or better yet, with a washable, reusable silicone baking mat,* and set your rounds atop.  You might need to ever-so-lightly grease the parchment.

Sprinkle a little water in with your egg yolk, or honey even, or milk if you wanted, whisk that up and with a pastry brush,* coat the bagel dough with that wash. 
 

Use just the yolk to get stellar browning.  With the white, it'll be too watery.

Sprinkle on any seasonings you like such as everything bagel or sesame seeds or poppy seeds or parmesan cheese or grated cheddar, whatever, or nothing at all.  Then bake!

This is post-main baking time, still a little pale so bump the heat and you get...

Oooooohhhhh yesssss.  Yes.

Do let these cool all the way down before eating, it does make a difference. 
 

Seriously, you almost wouldn't know these are sans yeast and only took you forty five minutes.  For real.

Slice, toast or not, spread or not and mmmm!  Happy Copycat Bagel day to you, my friends!  Yes!

Copycat Bagels

Yield

6 bagels

Prep time

20 Min

Cook time

23 Min

Inactive time

5 Min

Total time

48 Min

The next best thing, these no-yeast Copycat Bagels are a ringer for the real thing in a fraction of the time!

Ingredients

• 3 cups (360 g) bread flour -- see note
• 1 1/2 cups (428 g) Greek yogurt -- see note
• 3/4 teaspoon (5 g) fine sea salt
• 4 teaspoons (16 g) baking powder
• 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten with a splash of water
• optional toppings or mix-in's of choice

Instructions

1. Begin preheating the oven to 375° F (190° C) and with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, line a baking sheet.  Very lightly grease the paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the bread flour, Greek yogurt, salt, and baking powder.  Alternately, add the ingredients to a large bowl to mix by hand.
3. With the bread hook attachment, mix the ingredients on stir or low speed until the dough starts to come together.  It will be very shaggy at first.
4. By hand, mix with a spoon or spatula until the flour is dampened, lightly flour a work surface, and turn the dough out to knead for about 5 minutes, until it forms a smooth, elastic ball.
5. If using the mixer, turn the speed up slightly and knead the dough until it forms into a solid mass of dough, about 3-5 minutes.
6. Lightly flour a work surface and knead the dough a few times until it is a smooth, elastic ball.
7. Flatten the ball slightly and cut into 6 even pieces.  Let the dough rest for about 2 minutes to make it easier to work with.
8. Roll one piece into a log shape about 1" thick; length does not matter.
9. Curl the dough into a circle shape and pinch the ends together well.
10. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough and allow the dough to rest again for about 2 minutes. 
11. Stretch each circle slightly to increase the size of the interior circle.  It should be at minimum 3" across.
12. Place the circles on the lined baking sheet.  Mix the egg yolk with a splash of water and brush each bagel round with the egg wash.
13. Sprinkle the optional toppings on such as everything bagel seasoning, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or your favorite topping.
14. Place the sheet in the oven and bake for 18 minutes.  Turn the oven up to 450° F (230° C) and continue to bake for another 4-5 minutes or until the desired shade of golden brown.  It's best to keep a close eye on them to avoid burning.
15. Remove the bagels from the oven and cool completely on a rack.
16. Serve as desired.

Notes:

Flour note: You may use most types of flour including self-rising, a cup for cup gluten-free, but not alternative flours such as almond or coconut. If you use self-rising, substitute the same amount but exclude the baking powder and salt in the recipe.

Greek yogurt note: You may use whole milk, low fat, or nonfat Greek yogurt as well as alternative Greek yogurts but Greek-style as well as regular yogurts will not work for this recipe.

Adapted from several sources including That Spicy Chick.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

335

Fat (grams)

7.1

Sat. Fat (grams)

2.3

Carbs (grams)

54.5

Fiber (grams)

2.2

Sugar (grams)

3

Protein (grams)

13.7

Sodium (milligrams)

339.2

Cholesterol (grams)

12.3

Nutritional information is provided for bagels that are plain and with nothing mixed into the dough.

Please see the "info" section for nutrition details.

bagel

recipe

American

Created using The Recipes Generator

*The self-rising, bread, and gluten-free flours as well as the stand mixers, baking sheets, parchment paper, silicone baking mats, and pastry brushes are all Amazon affiliate links.  Happy baking, thanks!  Please see the "info" tab for more, well, info.