Vegan Jerusalem Bagels

Vegan Jerusalem Bagels

This recipe is based on Uri Scheft’s recipe in Breaking Breads. These soft, pillowy, bagels are the perfect balance between warm, savory sesame seeds and slightly sweet bread. Best eaten the traditional way, dipped into some good quality olive oil and za’atar.

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 cup and 3 tablespoons cool room-temperature water
• 7 grams instant yeast
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading and shaping
• 2 1/2 teaspoons coconut cream powder
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon olive oil

Wash and topping:

• 1/4 cup plant milk; almond, soy, coconut, etc or aquafaba
• pinch of salt
• sesame seeds
• more salt!

Instructions

1. Gently combine the yeast and water in a large bowl. Add the flour, coconut cream powder, sugar, and salt. Attach the dough hooks to your mixer and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds.
2. With the mixer running, add the olive oil, and once the dough comes together, increase the speed to medium, and continue kneading for about 3 minutes, until it looks smooth.
3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface (I used my countertop). Hold on to one side of the dough and with your other hand stretch the dough until it tears, then fold it on top of the center. Give the dough a quarter turn and repeat until it has been stretched and folded about 12 times.
4. Shape it into a round ball, lightly flour the bowl and put the dough back in. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a plate and set it aside to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes, a little more if the room is cool.
5. Transfer the dough back to the lightly floured surface and divide the dough into six pieces. Turn each piece into a ball by turning the corners upwards into the center and then turning it over. Then using a cupped hand, push and pull the dough in a circular motion on the work surface to create a round ball (kind of like light handedly using a computer mouse). Cover the balls with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
6. Gently make holes in each ball with your finger and use two fingers to make the holes bigger, similar to a doughnut. Transfer the dough balls to 2 parchment-lined baking trays and cover for 5 minutes.
7. Then repeat the previous step and stretch the holes to be a bit bigger. Set aside, covered with the kitchen towel, to rest for 10 minutes
8. Preheat the oven to 175 °C.
9. You can choose to skip this step if you prefer a round bagel, but for the traditional Jerusalem Bagel continue with the following: stretch each shaped piece of dough to make oval rings.
10. Now it’s time to brush on the wash. First mix together the plant milk or aquafaba and salt. Then, using a pastry brush or paintbrush, brush each bagel to make sure they’re evenly coated.
11. Generously sprinkle the sesame seeds over the bagels and extra salt (coarse salt is the best). Place the bagels in the oven and bake for 8 minutes; then rotate the bottom tray with the top tray, turning them around as well. Continue baking for another 7 minutes longer, until golden. Remove from the oven and they’re ready to eat!

Notes

• These bagels freeze very well. Let them cool completely and then transfer them to tupperware boxes or zip lock bags and store them in the freezer for up to 2 months. Whenever you want one just pop it into a preheated oven at 190 °C for about 7 minutes, no defrosting necessary.
• Alternatively, top these bagels with poppy seeds or flax seeds.