Sea Salt & Poppy Seed Bagels

Sea Salt and Poppy Seed Bagels | The Sugar Hit

 

Sea Salt and Poppy Seed Bagels! Somehow that sounds kind of elegant and grown up, doesn’t it? I think it’s the sea salt. That’s the international ingredient for sophistication. Remember when we used to put salt on things, and we didn’t mention it in the recipe title?

 

But I think sea salt definitely deserves to be in the title on this occasion. The Sea Salt takes these bagels to another level. It gives these babies a pretzely flavour, and makes the bagel the focus of your mouthful.

 

Sea Salt and Poppy Seed Bagels | The Sugar Hit

 

I present to you these bagels in the spirit of putting your best foot forward. It’s not always easy to do that. Sometimes it’s a struggle to put any foot forward at all. You might prefer to just stay still, right where you are. But nothing is ever achieved without a little forward momentum.

 

I had another post all ready to go for today. In fact, I didn’t make these bagels to go on the blog. I just made bagels because I wanted some bagels.

 

Sea Salt and Poppy Seed Bagels | The Sugar Hit

 

But once I had made them, and there they were sitting on the counter, I couldn’t help getting my camera out for a few photos. And those photos turned out to be way better than the original post that was scheduled for today.

 

I don’t know what the lesson is there – that you do your best work when you’re not trying? That doesn’t seem right.

 

 

Sea Salt and Poppy Seed Bagels | The Sugar Hit

 

But I do know that I want to show you all the things I’m most proud of, ya know? Of course, the only recipes that I publish are the ones that I believe in, but the photos are just as important to me. And I was super proud of these photos.

 

So instead of joining the cue and patiently waiting their turn to appear in this here space, BLAMMO, here they are!

 

Sea Salt and Poppy Seed Bagels | The Sugar Hit

 

Just in time for us all to stock up on lox, cream cheese and scallions for the weekend. And then? BAGEL PARTY! And there ain’t no party like a bagel party ‘coz a bagel party has CARBS!

 

So, to summarize, my biggest focus for this space is trying to make it as awesome as possible, at all times. Even if that means throwing out the rulebook. What are you focused on at the moment?

 

xx Sarah

 

Sea Salt and Poppy Seed Bagels | The Sugar Hit

 

Sea Salt & Poppy Seed Bagels
 
Chewy, crackly bagels covered in poppy seeds and sea salt!
Author:
Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • 4 + ½ cups (675g) plain flour
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp golden syrup (or honey or malt syrup)
  • 1 + ⅔ cups (415ml) warm water
  • 1 tsp dried active yeast
  • ¼ cup poppy seeds
  • 1 tbsp sea salt
Instructions
  1. Place the flour, sugar, salt, into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and stir briefly to combine.
  2. In a small jug combine 1 tbsp of the golden syrup with the warm water and the yeast. Stir well to combine and set aside for about 5 minutes or until foamy.
  3. Add the yeast mixture to the flour, and work on a low speed for about 5 minutes until the dough comes together and is elastic. It should cling to the dough hook in a ball.
  4. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set aside for 1 + ½ to 2 hours or until doubled in size.
  5. Once the dough has risen, turn the oven on to preheat at 475F/250C, line a baking tray with greaseproof paper, and place a wide saucepan with about 3 inches of water and the remaining 2 tbsp of golden syrup in it over a high heat.
  6. Punch down the dough and divide it into ten pieces.
  7. Roll each piece out into a fat log, and then wrap each piece around your hand to form the traditional bagel shape. Roll the two ends of the dough together with your palm and then place the shaped bagels onto the baking sheet.
  8. One by one, place each bagel into the boiling water for 30 seconds a side, removing them with a slotted spoon, and placing them back on the baking sheet.
  9. Once they're all done, sprinkle them liberally with the poppy seeds and sea salt, and then bake them for 10 minutes, before turning the oven down to 400F/200C, for a further 10 minutes. Leave to cool on a rack, and eat.
 

38 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.