Bagels! The very word makes my mouth water. And making them does not require any extra brain-flexing on my part because most bagel recipes are usually wonderfully vegan to begin with.
You might wonder why I go to the trouble of making them. After all, a good (and vegan) bagel is really not that hard to find. But, and I swear to this, the joy of eating a homemade bagel is quite something else. Also, making them at home makes it more possible to control the ingredients, which is vital if you're a health nut like me.
This time I paired off my bagels with another one of my breakfast favorites- a tofu scramble. I love this combination because it makes for an extremely hearty, super-delicious, and, needless to say, healthy meal.
I am not going to ramble on too long here. Just one quick note- I used a combination of bread flour, whole-wheat flour and whole-wheat pastry flour. Once they were ready to go into the oven, I topped the bagels with three different flavors- black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Coarse sea salt would also make a great topping.
I know went a little crazy with the pictures of the bagels, but oooh…I just love those babies!
For the Tofu Scramble, which is of course inspired by the Indian egg burji, I would strongly advise using silken firm tofu. While regular firm tofu would do well enough at a pinch, the texture of the silken tofu does a great job mimicking the texture of eggs.
More vegan bread recipes
Vegan Bagels
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ tsp yeast (1 package)
- 1 ¼ cup water (lukewarm)
- 1 ½ cups bread flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- Salt
Instructions
- Mix together the yeast and water in the bowl of a food processor and set aside for five minutes until frothy.
- Add all three flours to the food processor.
- Add 1 tsp salt and maple syrup.
- Process for a 45 seconds to a minute until the dough comes together. If the dough is too dry, add small quantities of water. The finished dough will be slightly but not too sticky.
- Turn the flour on a lightly floured countertop and knead for a couple of minutes until it is smooth and elastic.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and set aside to rise in a warm place, about two hours. At the end of this, the dough should have doubled.
- Turn the dough onto the counter and punch it down. Cover it and let it stand another 10 minutes.
- Now divide the dough into eight pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
- Make a hole with your finger in the center of each ball. Then hook both thumbs inside the hole and pull the sides outward until the hole expands to about 2-3 inches. It will look a little funny at this stage, but rest assured the dough will pull back and rise enough so you end up with a good-looking bagel.
- After you have shaped all the bagels, let them rest on the countertop, covered loosely, for about 45 minutes to an hour.
- Boil water in a larger pot. When it comes to a rolling boil, drop the bagels, one at a time, into the water. Let each side cook for about a minute. They will still look funny- kinda like when your fingers look when you're in the shower too long. Lift out with a slotted spoon, drain, and place on an oiled rack.
- Grease a baking sheet and, if you really want to ensure your bagels don't stick, dust it with some cornmeal. Place the bagels on the sheet, brush the tops with water, and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds.
- Before you place the bagels in a preheated 400-degree oven, spray the inside with water. Bake the bagels for about 25 minutes, spraying water again after 5 minutes of baking.
- Remove to a wire rack to cool (although there's nothing in the world like a warm bagel!).
This looks delicious! I will definitely try this... It is a bit different to how I make mine so I am really excited to try it out. I just started a vegan blog to track my cooking adventures so I am loving trying new things 🙂 I love your site!
I made your bagels today and they tasted great! I have to let you know that you left out the amount of salt to add and that you must have a magical oven because my bagels never stopped looking bath pruned and didn't rise while baking, while yours looked amazing. Thanks anyway for the recipe, I will definitely try again!
Your bagels look incredibly professional. I bake bread all the time but have yet to try bagels though they are on my "to make" list.
Tofu scrambles are a favorite of mine though I have never made it with silken firm tofu. I always have silken tofu in the pantry and will give it a try!
Vaishali these bagels look divine and both the dishes are gr8 entry...am sure going to try these.
Cham, Divya, Meera, Arundati, Evolvingtastes, Liz and Uma: Thanks very much, ladies.
Suganya, So glad you plan to try them. I think it would work perfectly well to just keep a small pan of boiling water inside the oven a couple of minutes before you start baking.
Wow, they look fantastic. Makes me hungry.
those bagels look amazing, I think this is the recipe I've been waiting for!
Vaishali, I gotta try your recipe. But can I keep a bowl of water in the oven when the bagels are baking, instead of spraying multiple times?
Everything looks great, Vaishali! I can understand why went camera happy.
love the tofu scramble...am chicken enough to still be intimidated by the bagel!!
Simply awesome! I loved that combo!!
The bagels look too cute..great u tried it at home
Who didn't love those Beauty. It looks like store bought and vegan 🙂 Wonderful job!