Cook Time: 30-35 minutes

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Inactive Time: 24 hours

Yield: 6-7 bagels

Recipe inspired by:
Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads

I’ve had a thing for bagels lately. It began with homemade bagels. Then it was cranberry bagels. Now I bring you…100% whole wheat bagels. Sure you can buy whole wheat bagels in the store but even the “Whole Wheat” bagels made in a factory aren’t really 100% whole wheat. Quite often they contain a blend of all-purpose and wheat flour which makes them much easier to work with but still retain the “whole wheat’ name.

You can’t really fault the factory for producing not-quite-whole-wheat bagels. After all, they are churning out bagels as quickly as possible and don’t have time for a nice, slowly fermented 100% whole wheat bagel. To be honest, this recipe does produces bagels that are much denser than those at the grocery store but these pack tremendously more wheat flavor than their long-lost factory made brethren.

This recipe uses a delayed-fermentation process which requires part of the dough to rise overnight in the refrigerator. The delayed-fermentation process has two benefits. The first is the dough won’t over ferment in the fridge. The other is the time in the refrigerator will allow the dough to develop some amazing flavors! These bagels go well with a little sesame seed sprinkled over the top after baking and can easily be doubled to make 12-14 bagels if you need more than a measly 6.

So here we go…100% whole wheat bagels:

Ingredients:

Soaker Recipe

Step-by-step Directions with Pictures:

Prepare the Soaker
1. Mix all the soaker ingredients together in a small bowl for about 1 minute; until all of the flour is absorbed and ingredients form a rough ball of dough. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and and leave at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. If using it after 24 hours, place soaker in the refrigerator. The soaker will remain happy in the refrigerator for 3 days.

Prepare the Biga
2. Combine all the biga ingredients together in a medium bowl. Mix until the ingredients form a ball of dough. With wet hands, knead dough in the bowl for 2 minutes to be sure the ingredients are evenly incorporated and the flour is fully absorbed. The dough should be pretty tacky at this stage. Allow it to rest for 5 minutes, then knead again with wet hands for 1 minute. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and tightly wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours (preferably overnight but up to 3 days). About 2 hours before mixing the final dough, remove the biga from the refrigerator to take off the chill.

Prepare the Final Dough
3. Use a metal bench scraper or knife to chop the soaker and biga into 12 smaller pieces each. You may need to sprinkle a little extra flour over the doughs to keep the pieces from sticking together.

4. Mixing by Hand
Dissolve yeast in the water in a large mixing bowl. Add the pre-dough pieces and salt. Stir vigorously with a mixing spoon or knead with wet hands for 3-4 minutes, until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Add the 7 tablespoons of whole wheat flour and continue to knead the dough for about 2 more minutes; until all the ingredients are incorporated into the dough. The dough should be firm and not sticky; if not, add more flour or water as needed.

Mixing by Stand Mixer
Dissolve the yeast in the water in a mixer bowl. Add the pre-dough pieces and salt and mix on slow speed with the dough hook for 1 minute to bring everything together into a ball. Add the 7 tablespoons of whole wheat flour and continue to mix on either low or medium-low speed for 3-4 minutes; until the pre-doughs become cohesive and mixed into each other. Occasionally scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as you go. Add more flour or water as needed until the dough is firm and not sticky. This is a pretty stiff dough, so turn the mixer off if the motor begins struggling.

Kneading the Dough
5. Dust the counter with flour and roll the dough around in it to coat. Knead the dough by hand for 3-4 minutes, using as little extra flour as needed to make a stiff dough that is still soft enough to shape. Form the dough into a ball and let it rest on the counter for 5 minutes.

6. Lightly oil or spray a clean bowl with non-stick cooking spray. Knead dough for 1 additional minute to strengthen the gluten. The dough should pass the windowpane test when it is finished. Place dough in the prepared bowl and roll it in oil to coat. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature unto about 1-1/2 times the original size, about 45-60 minutes.

Shaping the Bagels
7. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide into 6-7 4-ounce pieces.A 4-1/2 ounce piece of dough is about the size of a baseball. Shape each piece of dough into a ball by rolling it between the counter and palm of your hand. Cover the balls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for 20 minutes.

8. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper and spray them with nonstick cooking spray. To shape the bagels, pinch your thumb and forefinger through the middle of each ball of dough. Then, gently stretch the dough ring until the hole is about 2-inches wide. Place each shaped bagel 2-inches apart on the prepared sheet pans. Let the pans sit for 20 minutes.

Boiling the Bagels
9. Preheat the oven to 500° F. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil; the wider the pot the better. Add the 2 teaspoons baking soda. Gently drop the shaped bagels into the water. Be sure to only boil as many as can comfortably fit.

Boil bagels for 1 minute on each side using a slotted spoon or skimmer to flip them over after the first minute. Then return bagels to the pan with at least 2-inches space between them. Once all the bagels have been boiled, apply any toppings or seasonings, using an egg white wash if needed to help make the toppings stick.

Baking the Bagels
10. Place the pans of boiled bagels in the oven and lower heat to 450° F and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pans 180° and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes, until bagels are a rich brown color on the top and bottom.

11. Remove pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 20 minutes before serving.

Baker’s Tips:

• Barley malt syrup works best for this recipe and is available in most natural foods stores. It looks very similar to molasses or sorghum syrup. If you do not have malt syrup, it is perfectly fine to use honey instead.
• If you do not have instant yeast, you can substitute with active dry yeast. Just multiply the necessary amount of instant yeast by 1.25 to get the correct amount of active dry yeast. Either way, you definitely want to mix the yeast with water before adding it to the recipe with this dough.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Soaker Recipe

Directions:

Prepare the Soaker
Mix all the soaker ingredients together in a small bowl for about 1 minute; until all of the flour is absorbed and ingredients form a rough ball of dough. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and and leave at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. If using it after 24 hours, place soaker in the refrigerator. The soaker will remain happy in the refrigerator for 3 days.

Prepare the Biga
Combine all the biga ingredients together in a medium bowl. Mix until the ingredients form a ball of dough. With wet hands, knead dough in the bowl for 2 minutes to be sure the ingredients are evenly incorporated and the flour is fully absorbed. The dough should be pretty tacky at this stage. Allow it to rest for 5 minutes, then knead again with wet hands for 1 minute. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and tightly wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours (preferably overnight but up to 3 days). About 2 hours before mixing the final dough, remove the biga from the refrigerator to take off the chill.

Prepare the Final Dough
Use a metal bench scraper or knife to chop the soaker and biga into 12 smaller pieces each. You may need to sprinkle a little extra flour over the doughs to keep the pieces from sticking together.

Mixing by Hand
Dissolve yeast in the water in a large mixing bowl. Add the pre-dough pieces and salt. Stir vigorously with a mixing spoon or knead with wet hands for 3-4 minutes, until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Add the 7 tablespoons of whole wheat flour and continue to knead the dough for about 2 more minutes; until all the ingredients are incorporated into the dough. The dough should be firm and not sticky; if not, add more flour or water as needed.

Mixing by Stand Mixer
Dissolve the yeast in the water in a mixer bowl. Add the pre-dough pieces and salt and mix on slow speed with the dough hook for 1 minute to bring everything together into a ball. Add the 7 tablespoons of whole wheat flour and continue to mix on either low or medium-low speed for 3-4 minutes; until the pre-doughs become cohesive and mixed into each other. Occasionally scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as you go. Add more flour or water as needed until the dough is firm and not sticky. This is a pretty stiff dough, so turn the mixer off if the motor begins struggling.

Kneading the Dough
Dust the counter with flour and roll the dough around in it to coat. Knead the dough by hand for 3-4 minutes, using as little extra flour as needed to make a stiff dough that is still soft enough to shape. Form the dough into a ball and let it rest on the counter for 5 minutes.

Lightly oil or spray a clean bowl with non-stick cooking spray. Knead dough for 1 additional minute to strengthen the gluten. The dough should pass the windowpane test when it is finished. Place dough in the prepared bowl and roll it in oil to coat. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature unto about 1-1/2 times the original size, about 45-60 minutes.

Shaping the Bagels
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide into 6-7 4-ounce pieces. A 4-1/2 ounce piece of dough is about the size of a baseball. Shape each piece of dough into a ball by rolling it between the counter and palm of your hand. Cover the balls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for 20 minutes.

Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper and spray them with nonstick cooking spray. To shape the bagels, pinch your thumb and forefinger through the middle of each ball of dough. Then, gently stretch the dough ring until the hole is about 2-inches wide. Place each shaped bagel 2-inches apart on the prepared sheet pans. Let the pans sit for 20 minutes.

Boiling the Bagels
Preheat the oven to 500° F. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil; the wider the pot the better. Add the 2 teaspoons baking soda. Gently drop the shaped bagels into the water. Be sure to only boil as many as can comfortably fit.

Boil bagels for 1 minute on each side using a slotted spoon or skimmer to flip them over after the first minute. Then return bagels to the pan with at least 2-inches space between them. Once all the bagels have been boiled, apply any toppings or seasonings, using an egg white wash if needed to help make the toppings stick.

Baking the Bagels
Place the pans of boiled bagels in the oven and lower heat to 450° F and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pans 180° and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes, until bagels are a rich brown color on the top and bottom. Remove pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 20 minutes before serving.