Sourdough Blueberry Bagels

Stiff Sweet Levain: Mix together ripe, 100% hydration sourdough starter with granulated sugar, water and all-purpose flour. This will be thicker than a traditional 100% hydration levain and will require a bit of kneading to incorporate the sourdough starter. Place the freshly kneaded levain into a clear jar and cover lightly. Let it sit at 78ºF for about 10-12 hours until levain has doubled in size, is rounded on the top and full of bubbles.

Mix the Dough (15 minutes): Set the bowl of a stand mixer on a kitchen scale. Mash the blueberries until most of the juices have been released. Add ripe levain, mashed blueberries, water, maple syrup, bread flour, salt and diastatic malt powder to the bowl. Start the mixer and knead the dough together for about 8 minutes until smooth. The dough should be smooth, tacky to the touch and not overly sticky. If it is sticky, add a little extra flour to the dough. Add the dried blueberries and knead for another 1-2 minutes until completely incorporated. This dough can also be kneaded by hand for about 10-15 minutes until smooth.

Bulk Fermentation (4 hours): Move the dough to a container. Do your best to keep the temperature of the dough at 78ºF. I use a bread proofer in the winter to help the dough develop at the right temperature. Cover the container. The entire bulk fermentation will take about 4 hours. At the end of 4 hours, the dough will be more cohesive and strong, although it may not have risen very much. If your dough is colder, this process will take longer.

Prepare a Baking Sheet: Sprinkle cornmeal liberally over the sheet. This keeps the bagels from sticking to the pan while they rise.

Shape Bagels (10 minutes): Separate the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 125 grams each. Take each piece of dough and pull/pinch up the sides until it forms a ball. Roll the ball on the counter using your hand in a cupping shape (see video here) to seal the balls and create tension. Let the balls rest for a minute on the countertop before shaping into bagels. Take your finger and press it directly into the center of the ball of dough until it goes through to the other side, creating a hole. Use your fingers to widen the center hole, moving the dough around in a circle as you stretch it. Let the dough relax and repeat with the next bagel. After you've put holes in all the bagels, stretch them out again as desired and place on the cornmeal-dusted baking sheet.

Proof Bagels (4 hours): Cover the bagels with a kitchen towel or sheet pan cover and let the bagels rise on the baking sheet for about 4 hours at 80ºF. I use a baking mat to keep the temperature consistent (the oven the with light on works too, but it may make the process faster or slower depending on the temperature). After about 4 hours the bagels will be puffed up and risen. They won't look completely doubled, but you should notice a change in their texture - from dense to light and airy. If you press your finger in on the dough it should leave a little indentation. If they don't look this way, let them continue rising for another 30 minutes to an hour and check again. At this point you can refrigerate the bagels overnight if you prefer to boil and bake them in the morning.

Prepare Oven and Baking Sheet: Pre-heat the oven to 425ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Boiling: Place a large pot of water, about half full, on the stove and turn the heat to high. Have a slotted spoon and a cooling rack ready. As soon as the water comes to a boil, place a bagel into the water. It should float within the first 10 seconds or so of placing in the water. If it doesn't, this is a sign of being under-proved. Allow the rest of the bagels to proof and rise a little bit longer. Add as many bagels to the pot of water as you can without stacking bagels on top of each other (they should each have a little personal space in the water). Boil for about 40 seconds and then flip. Boil for 40 seconds on the other side. Using the slotted spoon, remove the bagels from the boiling water and place on the cooling rack to drip dry for a minute before placing on the baking sheet.

Baking: Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until bagels are golden and baked all the way through. If your bagels are too dark on the bottom, place a baking stone or baking sheet on the rack underneath the bagels to help.

Cooling: Let bagels cool for about 20-25 minutes before serving. Bagels can be stored for 24 hours at room temperature and then frozen. Enjoy!