Comments on: peter reinhart’s bagels

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:17:55 +0000

Is it okay if i subsitute with wheat flour? Or would it make them to dense?

By: Danielle

Danielle — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:37:28 +0000

Finally made these after eyeing the recipe for probably a year. I have no idea why I waited so long. As a displaced New Yorker living in Colorado, I couldn’t have been happier with the results. Thank you for another fab recipe.

By: Maria

Maria — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:10:43 +0000

I’ve made these three times and the third time was by far the best. I think the difference may have been that I put more gluten in with the flour. I used approximately 3 cups ‘high gluten flour’ (from the bulk bins at Winco) mixed with all-purpose for the rest. I make my bagels small- 2 oz each- and 1 minute of boiling per side was sufficient for a good chewiness, while a 2 minute boil made them too rubbery. These are delicious, and I love that just by varying the toppings, you have what seems like a whole new creation. Oh, Deb, I hope you make these again in your new-found time since your book is off to the publishers!

By: Mala

Mala — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:20:33 +0000

Can you make half the recipe? Or would it not work to do half the sponge and half the dough. This is just too many bagels for our small family. thank you

By: Lane

Lane — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 04:47:40 +0000

Hello! I have made this recipe a couple times and found the bagels to come out too hard and a little too small (even though I divided the recipe for large bagels). Today I made them again and decided to cut out the fridge step completely, and actually let them rise in a slightly warm oven for about 20 minutes. This gave me huge, delicious, still chewy and still fluffy bagels. Not sure what the fridge step was adding (sometimes I don’t notice depth of flavor that well anyway), but I won’t be doing it in the future. I also made one of two batches into chocolate chip bagels by adding cocoa powder (1/4 cup), sugar (1tbsp), and chocolate chips (1/2 cup) and they were incredible. Thanks!!! Gave these to family members for Chanukah presents.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 21:57:06 +0000

Anna– I have this problem too, but I’m going to decrease the liquid in my next batch to see if that helps.
Deb–from the number of continuing posts on this recipe, I think you should definitely make bagels again and report your results. Personally, I like egg bagels–but I suppose that would just complicate the basic discussion.

By: Kendall

Kendall — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:42:06 +0000

Hey deb, I’m actually making these as we speak and I notice that my sponge is too thick (or, I think) what would you recommend for water to flour ratio when substituting?

By: Jill M

Jill M — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 03:48:47 +0000

I made these over the weekend. I am a bread fiend…seriously, I would do unethical things for a loaf of sourdough. But, my husband doesn’t share my cravings. He could take bread or leave it. When I told him I was making bagels, he was pretty unexcited. I decided then and there that he wouldn’t be allowed to have one.

But, then after 2 days of prepping, rising, waiting, kneading, waiting, rising, boiling, and baking….they came out of the oven and resembled little holy (literally) rolls of heaven. The chewy/tough outside…the warm, doughy moist inside…I couldn’t deprive him of their greatness. I gave in, and let my husband eat one. He was actually speechless. He LOVED them. He wanted to eat all of them at the same time. Now HE is the one who will do unethical things for these bagels! And me…? I will never buy store bought bagels again. It just wouldn’t be right.

Thank you for making my bread cravings a little bit stronger…too bad these take so long to make…it just makes me want to eat 4 or 5 when they are finally ready. If my jeans don’t fit anymore, I’m blaming you.

By: Alison

Alison — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 23:03:35 +0000

I was looking for a bagel recipe and came to Smitten first to see whether there was a recipe here, and alas there was.

I found the recipe easy to follow (the notes were helpful) and even though the recipe takes two days, that is mainly waiting time so it felt like barely any effort went in at all.

They taste great (although I don’t have much to compare them to, bagels being a bit normal bread like in Australia) and I am sure I will be making them again, but making sure I add the garlic or onion (only sea salt this time).

Thanks again for an awesome recipe, Deb.

By: Lexi

Lexi — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:56:29 +0000

Hi Anna – I was just about to make these again and stumbled on your comment. I found that the longer the time between boiling and baking, the flatter my bagels turned out. The ones I popped in the oven straight away were plump and round and those I left sitting while boiling more I didn’t get the same height or plumpness with. How long did you leave them between boiling and baking?