Now, once you have mastered the art of the bagel, you might want to give these sourdough bagels a try. If you liked the homemade bagels the first time round, you will find these even more chewy and delicious. The sourdough allows you to use a variety of flours, and I am following James Morton‘s recipe here by using wholewheat and rye flour. This makes it almost healthy …

Talking of James Morton, I recently picked up his book, Brilliant Bread, and absolutely loved it. I haven’t watched the Great British Bake Off so I didn’t know him, but I really appreciate his no-nonsense approach to bread making. He has great advice for people who suspect they have a wheat intolerance: after listing the ingredients of your average supermarket loaf (E472e anyone?) he makes the case that it is the additives, as well as way in which supermarket loaves are produced, that is causing the problems. His solution? Bake your own. 

Sponge:

• 100g strong white bread flour
• 400g sourdough starter (roughly double the amount of the one on my blog; simply feed it twice!)
• 2 tbs honey
• 260ml warm water

Mix the starter and with the honey and water, as well as some of the flour. I use the breadmaker and put it on a pizza setting for a few minutes. Cover with a lid or a tea towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Dough:

• 300g strong white bread flour
• 100g wholemeal bread flour
• 100g rye flour
• 3 tsp salt

Add the ingredients to your sponge and knead until the dough comes off the bowl – it should take around 10 minutes. Leave the last cup of flour until the end – it might get a bit difficult to work it in as the dough is rather dense. Knead it well to ensure the bagels won’t disintegrate when you boil them!

Cover and rest for 3-4 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge, if you prefer a stronger sourdough flavour.

Lightly dust your work surface and split the dough into 12 pieces, which you either roll them balls or into little baguette shapes. If forming balls, punch a hole into their middle and rotate until they have a nice and even bagel shape; if forming baguettes, form little rings by crossing the ends over.

Put the finished bagels on a baking sheet which you covered with an oiled parchment paper. Cover with your tea towel and let them rest for 1-2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 240C. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop a few of the bagels into the boiling water and let them boil for about a minute before flipping them over to boil for another minute. Sprinkle a bit of cornflour on the parchment paper before you put the boiled bagels back; sprinkle seeds on top of the still wet bagels before popping them in the oven.

Bake at 220C for 15-20 minutes; you might need to turn them at some point to ensure they are baked evenly.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!