Seeded Bagels with Leek, Dill & Crispy Onion Schmear

Fresh, chewy bagels with a generous toasty seeded topping and filled to the brim with a lip-smacking buttery leek schmear, fresh dill and crispy onions. If anyone needs me, I’ll be thinking about these for the next few weeks.

Treat yourself to a proper good lunch and spend a morning knocking up a batch of these beauties. They’re pretty easy and are such a satisfying bread to make. Once shaped, they’re boiled in a malt water bath to get that iconic chew (you can use honey if you can’t get hold of malt syrup). I like to boil mine for 1 minute per side as that’s the perfect level of chew for me, but if you like a very chewy bagel, I would go for 1 and a half minutes. My preferred topping is every-single-seed-I-have-lying-around-my-kitchen and packing it on as much as I can. White sesame seeds are also one of my favourites.

Ingredients: makes 8
Bagel dough:**
7g active-dried yeast
10g soft light brown sugar
300ml warm water
440g strong bread flour
6g salt

Boiling liquid:
2lt water
60g malt extract

Bagel toppings:
Poppyseeds
Seeded topping: 65g mixed seeds/20g crispy onions

Buttery Leeks:
2 medium-sized leeks, thinly sliced
15g unsalted butter
10g oil (rapeseed, olive oil etc)
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 good pinches of flaky salt
Black pepper

Leek Schmear:
400g cream cheese
140g sour cream
Squeeze of lemon juice
A handful of dill, chopped
40g crispy onions
Salt/pepper, to taste

**Bagel dough adapted from Sophisticated Gourmet

Method
Start by cooking the leeks so that they can cool right down. Place the butter and oil into a pan on low heat until melted. Add in the sliced leeks, salt, pepper and garlic. Continue to cook on low for approx. 10 minutes until very soft, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and set aside until needed. 

For the bagels; dissolve the sugar and yeast in 120ml of the warm water and set aside for 5 minutes until frothy. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, salt and yeast mixture. Add in another 80ml of warm water and knead on medium speed. Continue to add the remaining 100ml of water as needed. Your dough should be soft and pliable but firm. I usually use about half (50ml). Knead the dough for approx. 8 minutes until lovely and smooth. Shape into a ball and place into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and leave to prove for 1 hour at room temperature, or until doubled in size.

Lightly oil a baking tray and set aside. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured worktop. Knock back the dough and divide it into eight pieces. Roll them into balls, cover and leave to rest for 5 minutes. To shape the bagels; using a floured finger, press a hole into the middle of a dough ball. Stretch the ball into a ring by running it around both of your index fingers until the hole is approx. 1.5 inches. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls and place on the oiled baking tray. Cover and rest for 10 minutes.

Pre-heat your oven to 220°C. Place the water and malt syrup for the boiling liquid into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Have two baking trays lined with baking paper ready, as well as your toppings.

Once the bagels have rested; boil each bagel in the boiling liquid for 1 minute on each side. Try not to overcrowd the pan as they will puff up. I usually do three at a time. Transfer the bagels to your lined baking trays and top with your seeds. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

To finish the leek schmear; whip together the cream cheese and sour cream using a whisk, until smooth and fluffy. Stir in the remaining ingredients, along with half of the buttery leeks and season to taste.

To serve, slice a bagel in half and slather on a thick layer of the leek schmear. Layer some more of the buttery leeks on top, crispy onions and a good grind of black pepper. Pop the lid of the bagel back on, wrap in parchment and slice in half to serve.