DLB Salted Bagel Sticks
RECIPE
Servings 12 sticks| Prep Time 30 minutes | Total Time 1 hour
INGREDIENTS
4 teaspoons active dry yeast (16 g)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar (38 g)
2 1/4 cups (515 g warm water), though you may need a teaspoon or so more. (I recommend using filtered water, as chlorine levels in tap water may inhibit the yeast)
1 T kosher salt + 2 tsp (total weight: 14 g)
972 g all purpose flour*
35 gm vital wheat gluten*
¾ tsp diastatic malt
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Approximately 1/3 cup “pretzel salt”
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You will also need:
A full size cookie sheet to accommodate the 12 bagels.
Large pot on stove to bring 8 cups of water, plus 1 T light molasses, to a boil.
DIRECTIONS
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar and the active dry yeast ; add the 515 g of warm water; stir and let sit for 5-10 minutes, until bubbly.
In a different large bowl, weigh out the all-purpose flour and the vital wheat gluten, salt, and diastatic malt powder. thoroughly whisk everything together.
Carefully add the entire flour/gluten/salt/diastatic powder mixture to the yeast & sugar mixture.
You can make these using a dough hook (when using a Kitchen Aid) or a roller if using an Ankarsrum Original Mixer). I generally mix the dough in the electric mixer, on low, (scraping down once or twice), until you have a pretty firm smooth dough that is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl. (approximately 7 minutes).
When the dough has come together, transfer the dough to a clean workspace (DO NOT ADD ANY FLOUR) and continue to knead the dough BY HAND for an additional 3 minutes. Depending on the moisture in the air, you most likely will need to add a little more water to make the dough pliable, but do so sparingly by adding only a teaspoon of water at a time. You can do this by wetting your hands just a little as you finish kneading. REMEMBER: This is a slightly soft dough, but not a wet dough, so be sure to add just enough water to make the dough smooth and elastic.
Lightly grease a large bowl with canola oli, into which you will place the bagel dough. Cover with plastic wrap (I use a disposable shower cap) and let rise for 50 minutes - 1 hour or until at least double the size.
Preheat your oven to 425ºF
Once the dough has doubled in size, deflate the dough and set aside for another 10 minutes. Cover the dough with a wrung out warm dampened towel.
Fill a large pot with 8 cups of water, adding 1 T of light molasses; bring to boil;
To get evenly sized bagel sticks, weigh the total amount of dough and divide by 12 to determine the weight that each bagel stick should be. (If you prefer larger bagels, divide by 11).
With canola oil, lightly grease a full cookie sheet.
Form the bagel sticks one at a time by grabbing a piece of dough (if you are making 12 bagel sticks, each bagel stick will probably weigh around 134 g - 138 g) and then rolling it firmly into an approximately 7”-8” inch long bagel stick.
Place the formed bagel sticks onto the lightly greased cookie sheet as you make them and cover them with a wrung out warm dampened cloth and let them rest for 10-15 minutes.
Place a baking rack on top of a different empty cookie tray near the boiling water mixture; (You will be using this set up to drain the boiled bagels before returning them to the cookie sheet for final baking);
Place all of the pretzel salt in a 9” x 13” serving dish (you will be rolling the bagels in the salt, right after they are boiled.
Place formed bagel sticks, a few at a time, into the rapidly boiling water, let them stay in the boiling water for 2 minutes total, flipping them over in between. As you remove the bagel sticks one at a time with a large slotted spoon, gently place them on the draining rack for a few minutes. Then, while the bagel sticks are still slightly wet, ROLL them lightly, one at a time, in the large grain “pretzel salt” - coating them evenly before placing back onto the greased cookie sheet.
Using the upper middle rack of the oven, bake the bagel sticks for 20-25 minutes (depending on their size), until golden brown. I generally bake 12 bagel sticks for 22 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.
*[NOTE: The All Purpose Flour and Vital Wheat Gluten combination can be replaced with 1000 grams of Bread Flour]
