By Marcy Goldman-Posluns
Updated Oct. 11, 2023
- Total Time
- 1 hour 10 minutes
- Prep Time
- 45 minutes
- Cook Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- 5(809)
- Notes
- Read community notes
As with most ethnic foods, bagels are prepared differently from city to city, community to community. But the special appeal of Montreal bagels draws even those accustomed to the New York variety.
Montreal bagels are a different breed, chewy and tinged with a tantalizing sweetness. The real thing is still baked in wood ovens, which give the bagels an irregularly charred outer surface. These bagels shine, too, with a gloss that only a short swim in a bath of honey- or malt-sweetened water can impart. With no chemical additives or dough conditioners, these bagels stand out in taste and looks.
Featured in: In Montreal, Bagels Like None Other
or to save this recipe.
Print Options
Include recipe photo
Advertisem*nt
Ingredients
Yield:18 bagels
- 1½cups water, room temperature
- 2packages dry quick-rising yeast (or 1½ ounces fresh yeast)
- 1teaspoon sugar
- 2½teaspoons salt
- 1whole egg
- 1egg yolk
- ¼cup oil
- ½cup honey
- 5cups or more flour (preferably bread flour)
- 3quarts water for boiling
- ⅓cup honey or malt syrup
- Sesame or poppy seeds for sprinkling on top
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (18 servings)
221 calories; 4 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 41 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 12 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 339 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
Step
1
In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer that has a dough hook, blend together the water, yeast, sugar and salt. Stir in the whole egg, the yolk, oil and ½ cup honey, and mix well.
Step
2
Add the 5 cups flour, and mix until the dough is too stiff to mix by hand. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface (if using electric mixer, attach dough hook), and knead to form a soft, supple dough. Add a bit more flour as needed to prevent dough from getting too sticky.
Step
See AlsoButternut Squash Polenta With Sausage and Onion RecipeMomof*cku’s Bo Ssam RecipePeruvian Roasted Chicken With Spicy Cilantro Sauce RecipeBLT Breakfast Sandwich Recipe from Barbara Bakes3
When the dough is smooth and elastic, place it in a lightly oiled bowl, and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap or with a plastic bag. (See note.)
Step
4
Let the dough rest about 20 minutes. Punch it down, and divide into 18 equal portions. Pour the water into a Dutch oven, along with the remaining ⅓ cup honey or malt syrup, and heat to boiling. Cover, reduce the heat, and allow to simmer while preparing the bagels.
Step
5
Shape the dough portions into bagels or doughnutlike rings by elongating each portion into an 8- to 10-inch coil that is ¾ inch thick. Fold the ends over each other, pressing with the palm of one hand and rolling back and forth gently to seal. This locks the ends together and must be done properly or the bagels will open while being boiled. Let the bagels rest 15 minutes on a towel-lined baking sheet.
Step
6
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring the water back to a boil and remove the lid. Have bowls of poppy seeds and sesame seeds nearby.
Step
7
When the water is boiling, use a slotted spoon, and add three bagels to the water. As they rise to the surface, turn them over, and let them boil an additional minute before removing them and quickly dipping them in either bowl of the seeds. Continue boiling the bagels in batches of three until all have been boiled and seeded.
Step
8
Arrange the boiled bagels on a baking sheet, and bake on the lowest rack of oven until they are medium brown, approximately 25 minutes. Remove from the oven. Once cooled, the bagels can be placed in a plastic bag, sealed and frozen.
Tip
- If not using the dough immediately, refrigerate it after it has been kneaded. Bagel making can be resumed up to a day later. Allow the dough to return to room temperature, and continue with step 4.
Ratings
5
out of 5
809
user ratings
Your rating
or to rate this recipe.
Have you cooked this?
or to mark this recipe as cooked.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
charlie
1 cup WW = 160gm.
1 cup AP = 150 gm
I measured it several years ago and wrote the results on the back of one of the cupboard doors with a magic marker.
Edward
Unless you've somehow transcended human genetics, all food is "ethnic food".
A Montrealer
This is a great recipe for standard, store-bought style bagels. They are overly sweet and fluffy and in NO WAY resemble Montreal bagels. I created an account just to leave this note and save others from disappointment. If a Montreal bagel is truly what you crave, there's a great recipe on Mtl Blog.
Chris
Bagels will stick to the pans. Either some cooking spray or cornmeal would help to prevent this.
Tim
1/2 cup of honey is about 185gr and 1/3 of malt syrup is 110gr for those who measure by weight (and want to pour them directly into the bowl without dirtying measuring cups!)
Tim
And the 1/4 of oil weighs 56g
Lorraine
One packet of instant yeast = 2 1/4 teaspoons. So two packets is 4 1/2 teaspoons.
Steve V
I just made these this evening only I added 1 cup of sourdough starter and a bag of semi sweet chocolate chips. They turned out amazing! I highly recommend placing parchment on the baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.
Roni Jordan
I turned the full dough recipe into 9 large bagels - weighed the dough so each one was about 145 grams. Baked on center rack on parchment-lined sheets, took only 20 minutes - 2 batches since they don't all fit on one sheet. Made the dough rings simply by poking my thumb through ball of dough and stretching into shape. Sprinkled half with sesame, half with poppy. Impossible to dip them in seeds - just sprinkle them on!
Gina
These were beautiful, though I used active-dry yeast rather than quick and activated it separately with 1/2 c of water (warm) and sugar, waiting until foamy. I'd like to try the method described though. And, I'd like them sweeter and more dense (Canadian here, I am familiar with Montreal bagels!). So may adjust the honey/water ratio.I made 12 bagels, which were reasonably large - almost grocery store size. But Montreals are smaller, next time I'd try 15.
Megan H.
Made these for the first time today. The dough was VERY sticky prior to shaping, needed lots of extra flour in order to shape them. Baked them for 25min at 450F on parchment paper, next time I'll put them in the bottom half of the oven--just not on the very bottom rack as per the recipes's instructions. I am just cutting off the burnt bottoms as we eat them! Still delicious!
Daniel Thompson
It strikes me that these are essentially challa bread made into bagels. Not bad, but very much on the sweet/enriched side of the bagel spectrum. I didn't think the two places I visited in Montreal were like this, but it gives me a good reason to go back and visit.
Colleen Baker
The bottoms of our bagels burned. Next time I will not put them on the bottom rack, we moved them half way through....but was a little too late:(
Carrie
Love these. I've made them three times now and the people I have maade them for do too! I find they only need about 20 minutes to bake
Sarah H
I just did today, and they turned out great! I've never done bagels before, and read the idea to bake them on a stone from another recipe. Did some poppy seed, some toasted black and white sesame seed, and some "everything." I lowered the temp to 425 and ended up baking for about 20 minutes each batch. (I did them in three batches.) Came out golden brown, nice crisp outside, tender inside, and totally delicious. Hubby ate my first batch completely out of the oven. :D
Marina
idk. my dough didn’t rise much and the skin wasn’t leathery or crispy. almost had more of an artisan bread crust? not sure where I went wrong here but bagels were a flop for me. taste was accurate but texture was wrong
Alf Freeman
Comparable to Fairmont and St. Viateur. Some recipes call for diastatic malt powder because of the amylase enzyme. Nowadays most bread and all-purpose flour have added amylase enzyme, and some flours also have added malt four. Just note the ingredient list of any flours you buy.A commenter complained this recipe no way resembles Montreal bagels, suggests you use the recipe on Mtl blog. You need your email at Mtl blog its a ploy to drive traffic to his blog.
Rachel
I have made this recipe several times now & the bagels come out fantastic! Like others have said, 25 minutes is WAY too long — 15 minutes is perfect. They’d be super dry and burnt if they stayed in 10 min longer. I have also halved the recipe with good results. They don’t give me Montreal bagel vibes, but that might partially be in rolling them smaller and thinner? I’ve also used this dough to make bagel dogs. I can’t believe how quick and easy this recipe is!
Vince.
425 for 15 minutes on the middle rack is plenty.
Katya
These were a total flop. They didn't rise properly, oven was way too hot and they burned on the bottom at said temperature and time. Won't do this recipe ever again!
Gwen
These are delicious, but not quite what I was hoping for. The main thing is that they’re breadier than I’d like.Part of this might be because of my including 1 cup of whole wheat flour. I wonder if a flour with higher gluten content, like a bread flour, would improve them.I also wonder if boiling with some baking soda would give more chew? I’ve seen that on other recipes. Not a failure, though! I’ll happily eat these, then look for another recipe in the future.
MSP Baker
I had no honey and substituted maple syrup 1:1. In the water I used maple syrup and molasses mixed 1/3 cup total. They are the best bagels I’ve ever eaten. Agree that 450 is too hot check after 15 minutes if you have the oven that hot.
Adam
These taste wonderful, comparable to the best Montreal-style bagels I've tried.Much faster to prepare than "NY bagels" which typically require overnight rise.I didn't have enough honey, so substituted pure maple syrup, which turned out quite well.
Yarin
1 package quick drying yeast = 7gr
Tammy
This should be in metric. The cups thing is just wrong.
Luther
Definitely enjoyed these. A bagel that can actually be made from start to finish in under two hours. Do need to lightly flour surface when turning out from rest to do shaping. Nice size bagel and flavorful. Lots of topping options besides what's mentioned here. No idea on the taste of authentic Montreal bagels, but again very happy with these and the results. Did not worry about grams and just went with measurements as listed. Worked perfectly. Thanks for this.
Isabelle C
I’m from Montreal, These are good bagels but they do not taste like Montreal Style bagels.
Kitchen Potter
This was a delightful recipe. Like others I think the spices were a little bland. We added an extra third of each spice. At serving time we added diced fresh mango. The sweet and savory blend was beautiful. Definitely making again.
Faith
Baked on second to last oven rack at 450 for 15 minutes.Perfection!
jensen
Absolutely the best bagels I’ve ever had. Wow. I had to sub out half the honey with maple syrup, and I wouldn’t change a thing. The only notes I’d make is that they definitely don’t need 25 minutes in the oven, more like 15. These are amazing. I am going to try to half the recipe next time and I’ll post a note about it.
Private notes are only visible to you.
