Recipe Collection: Soaked Vanilla Bean Bagels

Written by Kate Tietje

You know, when you have a busy couple of days, that seems to make it really hard to plan out the week. Yeah, me too. One day, when I was having one of those weeks, while I was at an evening meeting, I picked up some bagels for the next morning’s breakfast.  The kids were thrilled to have bagels, but my 4-year-old said, “Wait, they’re blueberry?  I wanted vanilla….”

It got me thinking.

There are no vanilla bagels commercially available.  At least none that I have seen.  But why not?  Thankfully, cooking at home means I can do whatever I want, so I decided that vanilla bean bagels were a perfect idea.  They would be soaked in whole wheat flour, rich with vanilla, and only lightly sweet.  They would be perfect.

And they are.  Crispy/chewy on the outside and soft on the inside.  They smell deliciously floral and just…wonderful.  We like to serve them with grass-fed Kerrygold butter or with our homemade butter.  They are a great, healthy breakfast.  And they freeze and toast beautifully, so don’t be afraid to make a big batch.

Soaked Vanilla Bean Bagels

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 cups freshly ground white whole wheat flour (or sifted pre-ground flour)
• 1 tbsp. vanilla bean paste or 2 vanilla beans, soaked and scraped
• 2 tbsp. butter softened
• 1/3 cup organic sugar
• 2 cup filtered water
• 3 tsp. sea salt
• 3 tsp. yeast
• Water for boiling
• 3 – 4 tbsp. honey

Directions:

Step 1: First, grind the flour.  If you are using pre-ground flour, sift it first, then measure it.  Freshly ground flour is lighter and looser than flour in a bag, and you don’t want too much.

Step 2: If using whole vanilla beans, split them down the middle and soak in water for 30 to 60 minutes.  Then, scrape all the tiny seeds out of the middle (the “caviar”) and add them to the flour.  Use the soaking water as part of the water for this recipe, too.

Step 3: Mix together the flour, vanilla paste (or caviar), butter, sugar, and water until a fairly stiff dough forms.  Cover this and allow it to sit overnight or at least 12 hours.

Step 4: After the soaking time, add the sea salt and yeast.  Knead these into the dough for about 10 minutes, until thoroughly incorporated.  Then, cover the dough and let it rise for about 2 hours, until doubled.

Step 5: Punch the dough down and separate it into 12 – 15 small balls.  Shape these into bagels by gently creating a hole in the center.  Allow the bagels to rise for another hour.

Step 6: Once the bagels rise, get a large pot of water boiling, and add the honey.  Preheat the oven to 400.

Step 7: Very gently, scoop the bagels up and add them to the water (I use a spatula for this so I don’t deflate them).  Boil only 2  or 3 at a time — don’t crowd them — for about 3 – 4 minutes.

Step 8: Remove the boiled bagels and place them on a cookie sheet.  Once all the bagels are boiled, bake them for 20 – 25 minutes until golden brown.  If you like, you can use an egg wash on them prior to baking and sprinkle them with sugar or poppy seeds, but I didn’t.

Step 9: Once baked, enjoy immediately, or allow to cool and freeze for later.

Have you ever made homemade bagels?