The Secret to Authentic New York Style Bagels at Home

I went to extreme lengths to test and find the secrets to making the best New York Bagel. Thanks to Trade for sponsoring. Visit www.drinktrade.com/brian to get a free bag of coffee when you sign up.
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RECIPE
Ingredients:
▪530 grams (2 1/4 cups) warm water (86°F/30°C)
▪3 grams (1t) instant yeast
▪940 grams (7c bread flour)
▪10 grams (1T) diastatic malt powder (or 10 grams sugar as a substitute)
▪20 grams (1T+ 1/4t) salt
▪3-4 liters (1 gallon) water for boiling
▪50 grams (2 1/2 T) molasses
Instructions:
1. In a medium bowl, combine water and yeast. Stir to dissolve the yeast.
2. bread flour, malt powder (or sugar), and 20 grams of salt to the bowl.
3. Mix the ingredients with a sturdy spoon until a shaggy dough forms and you can no longer stir with the spoon.
4. Switch to a soaking wet hand and continue mixing the dough by squeezing and folding until the dough is well combined.
5. Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead for 10-12 minutes until smooth and elastic. When adequately kneaded, you should be able to tug on a piece of dough without it tearing.
6. Place the kneaded dough into a bowl, cover with a lid, and let it bulk ferment at room temperature for 1 hour.
7. After 1 hour, the dough should have risen by about 50%. Cut the dough into 12 pieces, each weighing approximately 120 grams.
8. Shape each piece of dough by pressing it out into a rectangle then, starting with the edge furthest from you, roll the dough back onto it into itself, pressing into the work surface with each roll until you have a cigar shape, then roll the dough until it’s roughly 10”/25cm long.
9. Wrap the dough log around your fingers, overlapping by about 3 inches, and squeeze firmly to seal each end of the dough together.
10. With the dough still wrapped around your hand, roll the dough back and forth on the seam side to fully integrate and shape it into a bagel.
11. Place the shaped bagels onto two parchment-lined sheet trays lightly sprayed with pan spray. Cover with plastic wrap or half sheet tray covers.
12. Move the trays to the refrigerator and cold ferment for at least 4 hours, preferably 24 hours.
13. Preheat your oven to 475°F and soak bagel boards (cedar planks with burlap stapled to them) in water.
14. Bring 3-4 liters of water to a boil in a large pot and add molasses.
15. Cut the parchment around each bagel to make handling easier.
16. Carefully drop 3 bagels into the boiling water, top side down, and boil for 30 seconds.
17. Flip the bagels and boil for another 30 seconds on the other side.
18. Transfer the boiled bagels to a baking sheet with the bottom side down.
19. Repeat steps 16, 17, & 18 for remaining bagels
20. Place the boiled bagels onto the soaked bagel boards, top side down.
21. Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes on the bagel boards. I like to place mine directly on top of my pizza stone/steel.
22. After 5 minutes, flip the bagels over so the top side is up, and continue baking for 12-15 minutes on a pizza stone/steel until golden brown and blistered.
23. Remove the bagels from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
*For Seeded Bagels: *
- After boiling the bagels, immediately press them into a tray of your chosen seeds (e.g., everything bagel seasoning, poppy seeds) with the top side down.
- Place seeded bagels on soaked bagel boards, seed side down, and bake as instructed above.
Everything Bagel Seasoning:
EQUAL PARTS (50g)
flakey salt
black sesame seeds
white sesame seeds
poppy seeds
dehydrated minced garlic
dehydrated minced onion
Whipped Cream Cheese Shmear:
450g (1lb) cream cheese
50g (3T) milk
A pinch of salt
In a stand mixer, whip the cream cheese, milk, & pinch of salt for 2 mins til smooth & spreadable.
CHAPTERS
0:00: intro, mixing, bulk fermentation
4:00: Bagel, cream cheese, and coffee
5:00: How to shape bagels
6:24: A word on cold fermentation
7:36: The boil
9:44 Baking bagels
10:35 How to make your bagels seeded
11:22 Do you need NYC tap water to make a NYC bagel?
12:06 Whipped cream cheese shmear
12:33 Finished bagel and final thoughts

[@HulkingFish08]

The Good Eats style fridge shot gave me such happy nostalgic feelings.

[@turnerjazz7872]

Good Eats!

[@trinitywright7122]

😊

[@trinitywright7122]

​@@turnerjazz7872loved that show

[@GorgonOfZola]

Much respect for the AB shout-out. The Mr Wizards World of cooking.

[@brandond5900]

Oh man those were the days. Nostalgic indeed

[@amberpipkin]

Flying to New York City to get tap water for your bagel experiment is REAL DEDICATION!!!!

[@trinitywright7122]

I thought so too. I think we should all go to New York City and get some bagels

[@chadley25]

And flying there on a 737 Max 8 is crazed dedication! :)

[@pockit5107]

Flying to NYC to prove New Yorkers are retarded for thinking their tap water is a magical ingredient to their food is dedication I can respect.

[@singe0diabolique]

The "Kid in trouble" expression when the mixer went kerflooy. ADORABLE!

[@Thexdmattx]

What the fuck kind of comment is that?

[@tomaszp2027]

and the buns at @2:10

[@mitcharendt2253]

​@@Thexdmattx a thirsty one

[@trinitywright7122]

I love that he shows stuff like that.

[@YourChannelHere2000]

​​@@Thexdmattxyou ok bro It was funny so...yeah. it was funny and cute. 🤷

[@Gopic21]

literally the greatest cooking channel on yt of all time

[@trinitywright7122]

You know I really like this channel. I am a former cook and a former chef and I love to watch cooking channels and I got to say ever since I found this gentleman a few weeks ago. He is my favorite and I love his style and his recipes and his videos.

[@jacoblief8263]

As someone who has been desperate for a NY bagel, I appreciate this so much!

[@BrianLagerstrom]

I hope you make it!

[@jacoblief8263]

​@@BrianLagerstrom I bought the bagel boards! I'm making it as soon as they arrive.

[@mikesweeney2324]

It's worth mentioning since this is a lot of bagels, that bagels FREEZE VERY WELL! Bake them according to the recipe, let them fully cool, wrap them securely in aluminum foil and then usually I put them in a ziplock bag or some other sealable container.They last 6-8 weeks easy in your freezer. I typically pop them out of the freezer right into a toaster oven for 20 minutes at 200° still in the tin foil and then remove the foil and toast them whole to get that crispy crust again. Is it as good as day of? No. But it's about 95% there and still better than any bagel you'll find in the freezer section.

[@JaninaaM]

I wanted to comment this too! 😊 I always make a double batch and freeze lots of them so have fresh Bagels whenever I want 🥯✨️

[@mrmoshpotato]

New York bagel by a Chicago guy who lives in St. Louis. Haha, nicely done. Go Cubs!

[@plumbthumbs9584]

Go Bears! Go Mets!

[@vividimaginer]

idk if i've ever seen it in one of your vids, but maybe for your next dough vid give it a tug too early to show what tearing looks like and then compare it with the glutinous dough tug later on.

[@DanteYewToob]

He did it in one video, I don’t remember which though… one of the pizza videos I believe where he showed a few examples of the tug where a “weak” dough just ripped off a chunk and it doesn’t bounce back almost at all. The mid dough stretched and then tore and the torn end slowly bounced back a bit, and the final looked like this one.. a sharp tug just stretches and it quickly bounces back a lot. Honestly, it seems like one of those things where you just know after making more bread. Once you’ve done the test a few times and then baked it, your brain will remember what it’s supposed to feel like. Kinda like how you can tell a steak is undercooked by poking it. He should definitely make a quick reference video, one with time stamped tips, tricks, and references for stuff like this that we can easily pull up and check while cooking instead of trying to remember which of his 50 pizza videos had a 20 second clip of dough strength… lol

[@blairrogers8724]

LOVE the Good Eats reference, AB and his explanations on how to do it and why it works, made me love cooking and started my culinary journey. You add to that too Bry! Thx!

[@draskuul]

Kudos on the Good Eats callback. Alton Brown has been so influential for so many of us. I really thank him as the main factor that got me more into cooking.

[@limeparticle]

I went on a bread-buying strike in January and I’ve *almost* mastered bagels. After this video, I expect to be a pro so I can finally move on to other breads 😅 (although, why? Bagels are life)

[@limeparticle]

Almost hit a snag with the bagel boards, until I remembered I own a table loom and 100% hemp yarn, so I can weave my own burlap. (I’m actually not even kidding.)

[@katekramer7679]

A strike? Why?

[@blairhoughton7918]

​@@limeparticleAuthentic, but a bread-friendly pan and some other method of streaming at the start would do it. I let the broiler pan heat up on the bottom rack of the oven and when I put the bread in I dump a cup of boiling hot water in it then shut the door quickly. Crustiest crust that ever crusted.

[@limeparticle]

@@katekramer7679 I live in a single-person household, and bread goes bad quickly. I find if I make it myself, I value it beyond money and am much more likely to 1) make sure I eat it within a couple days and 2) freeze excess before it has a chance to go bad.

[@katekramer7679]

@@limeparticle I thought you were a disgruntled SunBeam employee 😂

[@sawyer3510]

I’ve tried 20+ of your recipes. And my first recipe of yours (cinnamon rolls) is still on top 🤷‍♂️

[@BrianLagerstrom]

oh man...that's a good one.

[@alangood3920]

I've been making these for my family for the last two weeks and they are absolutely incredible. My daughter likes helping me mix the dough, and everyone loves the bagels fresh from the oven on a weekend morning.

[@ricardo9208]

Bro, you and Joshua were my go to KZbinrs for cooking (I say were because Joshua changed that format, now is tik tok and whatever) and I want you to know I REALLY APPRECIATE this videos, is so important to me to make delicious food and to have this high quality videos so I can master this type of products not available in my country. I want you to know you have become my favourite youtuber and I can feel the love for cooking in your channel. YOU ARE AWESOME, THANK YOU!

[@karenfox1671]

The blistering on your crust is fantastic! What great footage and so many important tips for an even bake. This is one of your very best videos. I know these bagels are going to be memorable. WOW!

[@trinitywright7122]

Truly it was amazing

[@vizio32]

Been using your 60 min bagel recipe with great results, can’t wait to try this recipe

[@jacoblief8263]

I made them this morning, and oh my goodness, they came out perfect! Crispy on the outside, soft and chewy inside. I put lox and cream cheese on them and I was in bagel bliss!

[@FeeFee153]

It’s great the way you always offer an alternative to ingredients and cooking methods!!

[@apatterson8128]

The bagels just came out of the oven. This recipe is SPOT ON! My first six I flipped from the boards to my steel. I had a feeling the heat from the steel would baked the bottom faster than the top. So the tops were a bit lighter and the bottoms were well done. I mitigated that issue by placing my stone on top of my steel (mainly because it was hot and too heavy to remove). Much better results because the stone transfers heat less aggressively than the steel. The shine, the blisters, and the crunch are indistinguishable from a bagel shop. Hope this helps some people.

[@jessicafeldheim7542]

This video was so wonderful,. I am from NY and love bagels. when I had to go gluten-free I went into deep grief thinking about never being able to have a NY Bagel and lox again. Of course when I can I still have it since I am not a celiac. Perhaps the next show can include bagel and lox, and bagel and white fish salad. These are dreamy foods from my childhood, and special Jewish holidays. I love your dedication Brian. thank you.

[@JustinfromNJ]

The crush and tear of the bagel gave me all the confirmation needed to know you nailed it.if theres no crunch its not a bagel.

[@kronos6948]

If you wanna cut down on the amount of kneading, you can autolyse the dough for about 15 minutes after mixing.

[@danielhakimi]

Real live New York Jew here: you did it. I can tell. I can taste your video. You have successfully made good bagels. It is not the water. If I had to credit one particular feature of NYC with our bagel supremacy, I would say it's scale. Our bagel shops pump out bagels in high volume and we get them fresh. If you order a bagel in LA, it's probably at least a few hours old. Because people aren't going into that spot ordering a constant stream of fresh bagels, the economics don't work out to enable this level of expertise or this level of freshness.

[@lobodo988]

Looks soooooo good!! I love recipe videos like this that teach me how to make the luxury expensive stuff. Which is why I appreciate the bakeries that do all this for me. MOAR bagel bakeries pls!!

[@Deutscher_Boy]

The Bagels look amazing, I'm going to try this later!

[@itwasamaazing]

Made these this morning and they were incredible. Friends all enjoyed them too! Thanks again Brian for the great recipes!!

[@LucioPoveda]

The video I've been waiting for. Thanks Brian

[@officecooking]

I never knew there was so much into making bagels! WOW! Great video.

[@jordonbay7778]

Thank you for addressing the NY water claim...I don't understand why anyone can believe such an idea. There could be room to argue that the water is naturally softer in NY than in many other cities, such as where I live. But good, filtered water would easily be comparable....if anyone even had a palette complex enough to ever notice the difference to begin with....

[@froliol]

Love your work. It is insightful and very helpful. Keep it up!

[@DarioBecher]

These came out incredible! Thanks for sharing

[@marinap6441]

Great recipe, detailed instructions as always. 💯 Have just shared the recipe with a friend who went to NY in May and loved the bagels. Thank you so much and regards from Germany🙋🏻‍♀️

[@bob81pizza]

If you make a lot of bagels or other doughs I would highly recommend an Ankarsrum mixer. Powers through double batches of bagels with minimal effort.

[@KillerTacos54]

Fantastic video as always!

[@tigerrick]

Great vid. I'd walk back to New York for another Everything Bagel. And I'm in England.

[@tonysmith7632]

Thanks for the laugh.

[@BrakesBake]

Bagels are one of our favourites here in our house. Thank you so much for sharing this.

[@rbt450]

Love your videos for many of the same reasons I loved Good Eats. Top tier, well tested recipes (understatement), and you do such a great job explaining the “why” behind a lot of what you do.

[@estherruth4692]

Oh I so want to make a sourdough version of this!! I don’t buy bread anymore, and anything I bake at home is sourdough. I tried to adapt your other bagel recipe to a sourdough version and they turned out decently I guess (I couldn’t taste them at the time because I was doing a strict meat diet then, but my hubby and kids liked them) but they looked all wrong and pale. I would absolutely LOVE a sourdough NY bagel video in the future!!! Edit: and when I say I tried to adapt, I literally made my own bagel boards and ordered diastatic malt powder - I went all out. It was so much fun.

[@WesleyScantlin-d2b]

Thank you for your lovely compliment. I hope my recipe was able to help you in your cooking.

[@justint8405]

My favorite parts of your videos is the goofy shit you leave in. Like dropping the bagels or taking ridiculously large bites like all is well. Best channel around

[@nbenefiel]

I’ve been making bagels since before Brian was born but I absolutely love those bagel boards. When I boil them, I always use barley malt syrup or non diastatic malt powder. I’m tempted to try the molasses.

[@TinySquareRoom]

Just finished these and they are indeed amazing!

[@rivhi7974]

Dude I was just considering making some this weekend myself. Thanks for the inspiration

[@armyguy9735]

I watched your videos on pizza and I'm a French Canadian and I grew up near Montreal Quebec Canada. Have you ever heard of Montreal pizza dough? They mix 7up with the yeast, and it makes a distinctive flavor. Every time, I'm in Montreal, it's pizza time. So, if you're ever in Montreal, try the pizza. Big fan, keep up the good work. Peace.

[@loufancelli1330]

I'm a Midwesterner who has never been to Canada, but learned about Montreal style bagels recently, and I dare say those are even better than NYC style. We have a bagel shop here in town that is Montreal style and they are so good.

[@2foodtrippers]

I think you've created about the best bagel recipe I've seen on the web. Oh and I love the Good Eats shot!

[@alexfullize]

Parece ser muito bom! Adoro seus vídeos 😊

[@erinletson4836]

We just got back from NYC where had wonderful bagels at Broad Nosh. Then we notice your new video and we had to try it out. I’m telling you this turned out beautifully and same quality as what we experienced in NYC. Thank you for sharing.

[@TLguitar]

10:11 Now that's how you bagelflip.

[@kencase2179]

Thanks, Brian! I need a bagel now... LOL Any tips on how to incorporate sourdough starter into your bagel recipe?

[@t1harby]

Nice! Check out his one hour bagel vid. He uses beer to help with the short development time. I have used a liquidy sourdough starter in place of the beer. Still ad yeast tho.

[@karenminchers5606]

Can’t wait to try

[@AmyLashmet]

Briiiiii the NYC water thing is about the boiling, not the dough

[@dimilton3166]

Thank you soooo much for acknowledging Good Eats. Alton Brown would explain why things would be done in recipes, which things, wouldn’t work, and even incorporate where recipes originated. You do all of that so well and it’s all you own. Love your work as always, Bri!

[@mssixty3426]

Thank you for this!

[@robertwedewer448]

How come no biga like your last recipe. That is my go to bagel recipe that all my friends seem to love.

[@jabraina]

Love the Good Eats shoutout. THE cooking show for us that want to understand the why and not just the how.

[@PeteOZ]

I've honestly haven't yet been able to nail bagels. Absolutely keen to give this one a go

[@f.aderangi8777]

Love your recipes! Thank you for explaining everything in detail and using the metric system. Can you please do a Montreal bagel recipe next?

[@leonunez2964]

I was fascinated by the accent of someone from my college, and you speak JUST like him. He was from Aurora, IL. I'm from Chicago suburbs too but I don't speak like you? help me out!! The way you say "sturdy" at 5:08 is a prime example of this quirky way he would pronounce things, and I loved it

[@cindyms.1237]

I make your quick bagels all of the time and love them.

[@tomobrien9483]

Now I want a bagel loaded with lots of cream cheese.

[@karenrosen2983]

I’ve never heard of bagel boards until today! Ordering them today!

[@kimberlycooper6321]

Love the process/method! Bagel boards? Who knew?! Love the nod to 'Good Eats'. :)

[@joelfell4981]

Definitely trying this! Loved the bagels I tried with using beer you had awhile back which were solid as well!

[@joshhansen5953]

What a champ. Nice work B, I'll give this a whirl.

[@ceegee8959]

and that's bagelnomics 101. good stuff bry-guy on smuggling the water and showing us New Yorkers how it's done.

[@bakwudzbutcher]

I'll do a biga and omit the dmp, good advice throughout - also the baking sheet works fine with parchment paper, cornmeal and spraying the tops of the bagels with water directly before baking

[@dfelekiddfelekids8644]

Wow, flying to new York to source tap water shows some commitment there. For science!

[@RaguRagu33]

If you want to use malt syrup you can get malt extract from a homebrew store. It's basically the same thing but much cheaper. Though you might have to get a larger amount than you would want. You can get it as a syrup or a dried powdered version. One warning with the powdered version. Once it's exposed to air it will absorb moisture and start to clump. It's also very sticky.

[@mackenziebrewing8706]

I love EVERYTHING you do! P.ease do more...

[@StorytimewithSai]

Awesome ❤

[@edgaresteban9088]

Bravo Bry, bravo! 🎉

[@chefpdiddy84]

Never knew I needed to see Ted in a blindfold but here we are! Great vid, as always!

[@AriIsenberg]

Apollo Bagels is great! Glad you went there. Also Good Eats 👌🏻 your bagels look great!

[@scriptrixdeo]

What the FRICK are the odds of you posting this right as I was considering going to a bagel shop before reading reviews and deciding it wasn’t worth it? THANK YOU!

[@mike-carrigan]

Not a bagel fan but I really appreciate the education on the how and why on all of your bread recipes. Not just mixing and baking like most other KZbinrs

[@plumbthumbs9584]

Brian, you're the best.

[@karenminchers5606]

Brian, you need to try Lenny’s Bagels on Olive. They are so delicious

[@WesleyScantlin-d2b]

Thank you for your lovely compliment. I hope my recipe was able to help you in your cooking.

[@chadley25]

I made too many bagels during the various lockdowns of the pandemic era (still carrying some of those calories even today), but the only thing I did not and still do not have are "bagel boards" -- that was great information. My bagels were genuinely awesome, but I still learned a couple of good things watching this video! Nice one.

[@TheWellnessCuess]

nice bagel recipe ✨

[@rosskline]

I was watching another very good video... And I dropped that video IMMEDIATELY when I saw this video. Thank you! I am an absolute bagel addict and can't wait to make these!!!

[@BrianLagerstrom]

Thanks for switching haha

[@joshuaschoonover4033]

Dude! Bagel Union is soooo good. I love getting the Delox with the everything bagel. 🤤

[@lucienbruzzese2514]

I've nerver had a bagel in my life. can't wait to try your recipe though 😀

[@julialucas1482]

GREAT video. I want to go to New York and eat bagels now.

[@WesleyScantlin-d2b]

Thank you for your lovely compliment. I hope my recipe was able to help you in your cooking.

[@timjohnson1578]

great video!!!!

[@PamSal2091]

Hey Bri! Do you think that you could use those planks for baguettes ? Or another type of bread ?

[@ClearlyPixelated]

Love your Good Eats homage!

[@jamesmalecek7586]

Good eats is an excellent show for sure

[@K0okyKats]

The best NYC bagel is in Teaneck NJ. The best NYC pizza is in Jersey City. - Pete Wells Bialys are dope

[@Heidirink]

My 13yr old son made these over the last two days and they were 👍🏼👍🏼 We are having them for breakfast today!

[@BrianLagerstrom]

HELL YEAH! Cheers to the 13 yr old king who made them.

[@Heidirink]

@@BrianLagerstrom 🤣🙌🏼

[@Uncle_Buzz]

Dude. Solid.

[@familytrieserichiltz940]

The nod to Alton was fantastic!

[@Uncle_Buzz]

I just got my first Kitchenaid stand mixer! I want recipes to use WITH a stand mixer...dang you Brian Lagerstrom.

[@SuitedCynic]

I remember making bagels to my best ability for my partner at the time who is from Manhattan (for reference: this was done in Berlin) and literally the *only* thing that happened was that the crust was too thick, as we both agreed on. I have never heard of these bagel boards before, so now I really want to give it another shot, awesome stuff!

[@charlesolson9019]

Interestingly, this recipe is very similar to my go-to bagel recipe, from _The Bread Baker's Apprentice_ by Peter Reinhart. It starts with a preferment of the water, half the yeast and about half the flour and doesn't use bagel boards, but otherwise the proportions and techniques are basically the same, and the results are pretty awesome (and have been raved about by self-avowed NYC bagel snobs, for what that's worth). I love how both you and Reinhart kind of converged on such similar formulas. Also, my 6qt KitchenAid does just fine with the dough, but I can see where a smaller tilt-head mixer would struggle.

[@dimilton3166]

A Ted Wilson cameo?!? I remember hearing how you would have him as a reference for many baking recipes and get helpful advice from Ted. Happy to see two bros together☺️

[@MS-tw3tj]

I'm from lublin, the place where the bagels originally came from. Great cooking chanel !!

[@javaskull88]

Fermentation is so important. I ferment my bread dough in the fridge for a week before baking, and I get a wonderfully complex flavor that the commercial bakeries can’t match.

[@rk9atx]

Thanks for risking TSA with smuggling back NYC tap water to make the blind taste test.

[@jamesmalecek7586]

Now that looks like an authentic bagel i want to eat

[@gregmorris2022]

I enjoyed the tribute to Good Eats. Good job.

[@deannaward7140]

It makes me happy to hear that I’m not the only one who hates the window pane test