Based on New York Style Sourdough Starter Discard Bagels from Thyme For The Table.

Ingredients

Dough

454g warm water (2 cups)

120g sourdough discard (½ cup) (substitute with additional 60g water and 60g flour)

9g instant or active dry yeast (3 ½ teaspoons)

15g white sugar or honey

16g salt (2 ½ teaspoons kosher)

800g bread flour (6 cups)

Boiling

2 qts water for boiling

30g sugar for boiling

1 Egg white

Topping Ideas

Sesame or poppy seeds

Everything bagel seasoning

Cinnamon & sugar (1:4)

Tools

A stand mixer with a dough hook or physical fitness sufficient to knead bagels

Two half sheet pans lined with parchment or silicone sheet pan liners

Oven that can hold 2 half sheet pans and heat to 400F

Stove or other means of heating and maintaining 2qts of water to a boil

A pot large enough to accommodate boiling 3 bagels in 2 qts of water

Implements with which to measure ingredients

Bowl & brush for egg wash

Plate(s) for topping(s)

Method

Mix water, sourdough discard, yeast, sugar or honey with the flour in your mixing bowl. Use the dough hook and knead for 10 minutes with a pro mixer or 13 with an artisan. It’s a dense dough, and sometimes causes the bowl on my KitchenAid Pro to detach, so stick around and keep an eye on things. If your mixer sounds kinda sad or gets warm, let it take a break. If kneading by hand: good luck and stay hydrated. Knead until the dough is no longer sticky.

Move to a covered bowl for the bulk rise, which should take 45min to an hour with the usual caveat about how ambient temp affects rise time. Dough should double in volume.

Once bulk rise is complete, divide the dough into 12 118g pieces. I don’t find it necessary to flour or oil my cutting surface. Line them up in the order they were cut and perform each subsequent operation in the same order to give each bagel similar rising and resting times.

Next, tuck edges under and roll to form a ball, then poke a hole in the middle and twirl the dough around your index finger to stretch the dough into a shaped bagel. The hole should be quite large as it will want to fill in as it rises.

Place formed bagels on sheet pans, 6 bagels per pan, to rise while you form the remaining bagels, taking care to keep track of the order in which they were placed to give similar rise time to each.

Preheat the oven to 400F and place 2qts of water on the stove to boil with 2 tablespoons of sugar in a large pot. The time it takes to boil should be enough time for the bagels to finish their bench proof.

Once the water is boiling, starting with the bagels that were formed first, and place 3 bagels in the boiling water face down. I find using my fingers is easiest. Turn after 30 seconds, then boil for another 30 seconds before using a large slotted spoon to move the bagels back to the prepared sheet pans. Repeat for remaining bagels.

Once all bagels have been boiled, brush with an egg white wash then press the tops onto a plate of your selected toppings, refilling as necessary. For plain bagels, the egg wash isn’t necessary but does impart a nice finish.

Bake both sheets for 15 minutes, then rotate the pans and swap racks, baking for another 10 minutes until the internal temperature is about 200F. 

Let cool before slicing. Store bagels not eaten the first day in the freezer. Toasting lightly in a toaster oven while whole will thaw them nicely, or microwave briefly then slice and toast if you’re into that.