Everything Bagel Sticks

Let me start by saying these are so ridiculously delicious and addictive that I have learned to immediately cool and freeze these in order not to gobble them down. They smell awesome coming out of the oven, like you wandered into a bakery and are waiting on line to pick up some fresh baked goods and are not difficult to put together.

Both Netanel our youngest (not so young anymore! 26!) has popped into the house and has wandered into the kitchen, drawn in by his nose with a friend or two and said, can I have one, Ema? (or 2,3,4?) and now to my pleasure, our grandson Lavi wanders in in exactly the same way asking if he can have one (or 2,3). So these have totally got the seal of approval.

I got the original recipe from the course I did with Galia Agayev, which had amazing fancy desserts as well as various breads and other baked goods. Galia graciously allowed me to post the occasional recipe and since I’m not exactly using her technique and have slightly changed the recipe it’s all good.

So in Hebrew, these are called “baygeleh”, and they can be found as big circles or long sticks and have a slight chewiness to them although they are soft, not hard like a proper bagel. This, to me, is a marriage made in heaven. They are great for sandwiches but equally yum to eat as is. So let’s get started.

You can make these in a bread maker (as I did) or a mixer, as I have done in the past many times. Get your flour, sugar and salt and stir together. Then add the dry yeast once the salt is incorporated since salt retards the yeast and shouldn’t touch it directly. Let me just say here that this assumes your yeast is fresh and feisty. If you are unsure if the yeast is fresh, you must proof (or prove) it. That is, take 1/2 a cup of the warm water in the recipe, making sure it’s luke so as not to kill your yeast, add 1 tablespoon of the sugar and stir and then add the yeast and stir. Let sit for about 5 minutes or till you see bubbles forming on the surface which show you the yeast is active.

It almost looks like the head on a glass of beer. K. It’s ready to roll. If however, you have yeast which is active and you know this for sure (I periodically check mine to make sure it’s alive and kicking. Nothing more frustrating than making a dough and watching it do…nothing) then proceed without proofing. Below is a pic of the flour, sugar and salt and yeast already mixed with the olive oil drizzled on top.

Okay, add the egg, water and oil and mix in breadmaker on dough or kneading and in the mixer, start with the beater/paddle and add liquid to the dry ingredients, mix with paddle and when it comes together, switch to the dough hook. Knead dough about 5-10 minutes in mixer.

Mix till dough is smooth and looks satiny.

Cover dough and let rest till doubled in bulk about an hour (this depends on how warm your kitchen is). When you gently poke a hole in the dough and it stays, it’s doubled. Gently deflate the dough, take a piece of parchment paper or a silicone mat and sprinkle with extra flour to prevent sticking and divide into 16 equal pieces. (I obsessively weigh them but you can absolutely eyeball it). If you want bigger sticks, just make fewer pieces. These make decent sized sticks.

The dough should have a lovely almost velvety texture. Now this is the real fun part. Let them rest about 10 minutes and then, you don’t need to roll them out, just pull them into sticks. The gluten should have relaxed enough to do this without it snapping back (if you let them rest, really!) K. Good. Place the sticks on a parchment lined baking pan/sheet. (you may need 2-3 baking sheets worth to finish off the whole lot). Now I have a water shpritzer that I shpritz the elongated sticks with or you can take a brush, dip in water and lightly brush on the sticks. Immediately sprinkle sesame seeds or nigella or everything spice on the wetted sticks and very lightly press down.

Now they need to rise again for about 15 minutes so now is when you preheat your oven to 425 F/250 C, When the oven is preheated place them in and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till golden brown. Cool on wire racks and try not to finish them all off in one go!

Everything Bagel Sticks

8 loosely filled (not densely packed) cups (1 kilo) flour, plus extra flour to sprinkle on mat
10 tablespoons (130 grams) sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons (15 grams) instant dry yeast
2 teaspoons (10 grams) salt
1 egg
2 1/2 cups (600 ml) water warm water (not hot so as not to kill the yeast!)
3 tablespoons (30 grams) olive oil
water to spritz or brush on sticks
3-5 Tablespoons everything but the bagel spice/sesame seeds/nigella seeds, as you prefer

Directions:

If using a breadmaker, use the dough or knead cycle and for both breadmaker or If using a mixer, mix flour, sugar, salt and stir. If you are certain your yeast if fresh and feisty (having used it recently and it’s working well) no need to proof it, just mix into the dry ingredients. If you are unsure, take one tablespoon of the sugar from the recipe and place in a cup/measuring cup add 1/2 a cup of the water from the recipe and mix and add the yeast and stir well. Let sit about 5 minutes or till mixture begins to bubble and get what looks like a head of beer on top (see pic above).

Now add all the liquid ingredients, egg, water and olive oil as well as proofed yeast and mix together in knead/dough cycle or in mixer using the beater/paddle, mix together till dough is all incorporated in a mass and switch beater for the dough hook. Mix till dough looks smooth and satiny 5-10 minutes. Let dough rise right in mixer, covered with towel or plastic wrap till doubled in bulk (in breadmaker it’s automatic). Check for readiness by gently poking a hole in the dough and if the indentation stays in the dough, it’s ready. Gently deflate the dough and put on silicone mat or parchment paper sprinkled with flour so it doesn’t stick and cut into equal pieces of 16 by eyeballing it or weighing it as you please. Let dough rest for 10 minutes to relax gluten. Then on parchment paper on your baking sheet, pull the dough from both ends to form a stick shape. Lightly spritz or brush dough with water and immediately sprinkle with sesame/nigella/everything spice mix and very lightly press down into dough. Now let the dough rest another 15 minutes and while it rests, preheat oven to 425 F/250 C. When oven comes to temp (about 15 minutes or so) place sticks in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or till sticks are golden brown. Cool on wire racks. These freeze amazingly well for at least 2 months, just cool completely and store in airtight containers or ziplock type bags.