New York-style bagels

Put into the bowl of the bread machine the water, honey, sugar, and salt. Don’t dissolve the yeast into the water, just break it up and add it to the rest of the ingredients.

Knead for around 10 minutes. You will have a non-stick, smooth, and easy to work with dough.

Shape a ball with the dough and let it rise in a lightly oiled large bowl, well-covered, for about one hour and a half to two hours (depending on your kitchen’s room temperature) or until it doubles in size.

Stretch the dough a bit to remove some gas and divide it into nine portions. Shape each portion into small, tight balls, and set them aside for 10 minutes (cover them with a clean cotton cloth) before making the bagels, to relax the dough.

Use your index finger to poke a hole in the centre of the balls and make the hole bigger until you shape a ring. The hole cannot be too small, or it will disappear during the rise and get lost.

Once you have shaped all the bagels, cover and let them rise again for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring some water with baking soda to a boil, because the alkaline water will turn the bagel's surface into a crunchy cover with that well-known bright. Use a teaspoon of baking soda for 3 litres of water.

When the water starts to boil, and the bagels have risen after 30 minutes, scald each in the boiling water and place them in an oven tray already covered with parchment paper.

We only need to brush the bagels with the whisked egg and sprinkle each piece with the chosen seeds. Cover the bagels and let them rise for approximately 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 210 °C and bake for about 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown.