Asiago Bagels

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4.8 from 84 votes

These Asiago Bagels are made with an initial sponge of yeast, flour, and water to improve flavor and texture, followed by a dough enriched with malt and shredded Asiago cheese. The dough is kneaded to develop gluten and incorporate cheese before shaping and boiling with baking soda for bagel crust, then topped with additional Asiago cheese and baked.

Prep Time

4 hrs

Cook Time

16 mins

Total Time

4 hrs 30 mins

Servings: 12 large bagels

Calories: 408 kcal

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Italian, American

Ingredients

Sponge:

1 teaspoon instant yeast (0.11 ounce )
4 cups bread flour 18 ounces, unbleached high-gluten, or bread flour
2½ cups water 20 ounces, at room temperature

Dough:

½ teaspoon instant yeast (.055 ounces )
3¾ cups bread flour 17 ounces, unbleached high-gluten, or bread flour
2½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons malt powder 33 ounce, or 1 Tablespoon (.5 ounce) dark or light malt syrup, honey or brown sugar
8 ounces Asiago cheese shredded

To Finish:

1 Tablespoon baking soda
cornmeal or semolina flour, for dusting
1 cup Asiago cheese shredded

Instructions

Cup of Yum

1. To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter (like pancake batter). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the countertop.
2. To make the dough, in the same mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour and all of the salt and malt. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining ¾ cup flour to stiffen the dough.
3. Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or for 6 minutes by machine). Add the Asiago cheese during the last minute or so of kneading, and knead until evenly distributed. The dough should be firm, stiffer than French bread dough, but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour - all the ingredients should be hydrated. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77 to 81 degrees F. If the dough seems dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems sticky or tacky, add more flour to achiever the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not be tacky.
4. Immediately divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Form the pieces into rolls.
5. Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.
6. Line 2 sheet pans with baking parchment and mist lightly with spray oil. Proceed with shaping the bagels: Push a hole through the center of the roll with your thumb and stretch out the hole to 2½ inches in diameter, making sure that the resulting ring has a fairly even thickness all the way around.
7. Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pan. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
8. Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the "float test". Fill a small bowl with cool or room temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped into the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days). If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the ambient temperature and the stiffness of the dough.
9. The following day (or when you are ready to bake the bagels), preheat the oven to 500 degrees F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the better), and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.
10. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit (they should float within 10 seconds). After 1 minute flip them over and boil another minute. While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour. Sprinkle the bagels with the shredded Asiago as soon as they come out of the water.
11. When all the bagels have been boiled and topped, place the pans on the two middle shelves in the oven. Bake for approximately 8 minutes, then rotate the pans, switching shelves and giving the pans a 180-degree rotation. (If you are only baking one pan at a time, keep it on the center shelf but still rotate 180 degrees.) After the rotation, lower the oven temperature to 450 degrees F and continue baking for about 8 minutes, or until the bagels turn golden brown.
12. Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.

Nutrition Information

Calories 408kcal (20%) Carbohydrates 61g (20%) Protein 20g (40%) Fat 8g (12%) Saturated Fat 4g (20%) Cholesterol 18mg (6%) Sodium 1199mg (50%) Potassium 120mg (3%) Fiber 2g (8%) Sugar 1g (2%) Vitamin A 215IU (4%) Calcium 336mg (34%) Iron 1mg (6%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 12 large bagels

Amount Per Serving

Calories 408

% Daily Value*

Calories	408kcal	20%
Carbohydrates	61g	20%
Protein	20g	40%
Fat	8g	12%
Saturated Fat	4g	20%
Cholesterol	18mg	6%
Sodium	1199mg	50%
Potassium	120mg	3%
Fiber	2g	8%
Sugar	1g	2%
Vitamin A	215IU	4%
Calcium	336mg	34%
Iron	1mg	6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.