The
Bagel Dough Variations
Bagel Dough Foundation of a Doughy Adventure
November is a good time to be indoors baking. It is also off
the radar on the Jewish holiday calendar, this being a year when
Chanukah is firmly planted in December, instead of late November
as it sometimes is. What better time to cozy up with your mixer
or bread machine, some bread flour and a packet of yeast and start
a bagel dough adventure?
What I like about bagel dough is that first you make bagels with
it. But it is the gateway to so much more! Bagel dough is lean
and mean, and has very little rise to it (nor much resistance)
making it superb for other sorts of baking snacks. Nothing beats
the rustic taste of this spare, old-style dough.
Sometimes we change dough for different yeasted recipes just
like changing shoes or purses for different outfit. Not necessary!
Some recipes are just perfect using the same dough and in keeping,
with the efficiency of how the professional bakers do it. They
don’t keep changing doughs. They make one dough work harder.
In essence, bagel dough is the little black handbag, so to speak,
that fits all baking occasions.
This month, I share a Master Bagel Dough recipe. This recipe
results in great bagels of course, but also results in the most
amazing, crackling pizzas, soft pretzels that beg for mustard,
and an ‘everything’ bialy or bakery styled flatbread
(it is almost Foccaccio but done deli style).
Enjoy!
Marcy Goldman
Master
Bagel Dough
This recipe makes New York Style bagels, amazing bagel dough pizzas,
soft pretzels, or an ‘everything’ bialy or ‘Jewish
Foccaccio’. Malt powder is available from bagel store, home
beer brewing stores or King Arthur Flour
Bagel
Dough Pizza
Crisp, rustic, extra thin pizzas on a superb dough. This is great
for individual pizzas for a crowd but just as nice for plate size
pizzas for four.
Bagel
Dough Soft Pretzels
These are similar to New York City soft pretzels from a street vendor.
Find coarse salt in a gourmet store or pretzel salt from King Arthur
flour. Serve these with nippy, yellow mustard.
Bagel
Dough “Everything’ Foccaccio
This is essentially a flatbread, that has the shape of Foccaccio
but tastes like an Everything bagel. Cut in wedges, offer cream
cheese and lox or use as a Panini bread. The most versatile way
to use a bagel dough ever! Because of the small amount of yeast
used, these take a long time to rise. If you want to use this
dough but have less rise time, add 2 teaspoons more yeast to the
Master Bagel Dough recipe.
