Momofuku Bagel Bombs

I have a confession to make, I’m a little bit in love with those little Bantam Bagel bites at Starbucks. I would probably eat them every day if I could.

These bagel bombs are not the Bantam Bagel bites, but they certainly suffice in a pinch, and they were a huge hit at Christmas brunch last year. They’re not as soft as the Starbucks version, they’ve got a bit more heft and chew to them which I think makes them more bagel-y. I tried boiling a batch of them like you would with a regular bagel recipe, but I was surprised to see it really didn’t make much of a difference. So I say skip the boil, it’s not worth it (and wasn’t part of the original recipe anyway). They also don’t brown very much, which can be a bit confusing when trying to judge doneness, so don’t be afraid if they still look a bit pale when you pull them out of the oven.

Made as written, this recipe will make a slider-size bagel bomb. I like to make smaller ones so I cut the dough into twice as many pieces so I can have more bite-sized bombs. This can, however, make filling them a bit more difficult. Just be careful not to over-fill them so that as much filling stays inside the bomb as possible. As for the ‘everything’ bagel topping, you should probably make double because you’re going to want to sprinkle that stuff on everything.

I made the Momofuku savory version, then a sweet version as well. The filling for the sweet version was tough to nail. I wanted it to be maple-flavored but as you can imagine, adding a bunch of maple syrup to cream cheese makes it a bit…. runny. In the end I settled on just a tiny bit of maple and threw in some cinnamon and brown sugar for good measure, with an extra sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top.

Momofuku Bagel Bombs

For the bombs

  • ½ recipe Mother Dough, proofed*
  • 1 recipe cream cheese plugs, frozen (below)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • 1 recipe Everything Bagel Mix or cinnamon sugar (below)

Making the Bombs

  1. Make desired cream cheese filling (below) and freeze until firm, at least four hours or up to one month.
  2. Make mother dough (below, takes about 1 hour).
  3. Make your egg wash by mixing the egg and water together until well-combined.
    Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment. *If you’re feeling brave, pop up the oven to 350, they never get as brown as I’d like at 325 but I don’t remember until it’s too late. Keep in mind you may bake them a bit shorter if you use a higher temperature.
  4. Gently punch down the dough and turn out and divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. **Alternatively, you can divide the dough into 12 to 16 pieces, about 1.5 to 2 ounces each) They get pretty thin when you do the 1.5 ounce version, though. 
  5. Use your fingers to gently stretch each piece of dough out into a mini pizza between 2 to 3 inches wide.
  6. Put a cream cheese plug in the center of each dough circle. **If using the log method, just cut the log into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces depending on how big of bombs you are making.
  7. Bring up the edges of each round and pinch to seal so that the cream cheese plug is completely contained (I mean, it’ll probably leak out anyway, but at least you can say you tried your best).
  8. Once pinched, gently roll the ball between the palms of your hands to make it into a round shape.
  9. Arrange the bombs on your prepared baking sheet, leaving a few inches in between each one (they will grow).
  10. Brush each bomb generously with the egg wash and sprinkle with a generous coating of everything bagel mix all over the savory bagel bombs. If doing sweet, cover with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.
  11. Bake the bagel bombs for 20 to 30 minutes. They will probably leak a little bit but don’t worry, no one will know. Enjoy warm or allow to cool completely and store at room temperature for one day, in the fridge for a couple days, or wrap individually with foil and put into a large ziploc bag, freeze for up to a month.
  12. Reheat by zapping for a few seconds in the microwave or, even better, in an oven or toaster oven. From room temp or fridge, just about 3 to 5 minutes at 375 will do it, from frozen reheat while still wrapped in foil, I put them in the oven while it’s preheating and then check them about 3 to 5 minutes after it comes to temperature.

For the Mother Dough (Full recipe) 

  • 3½ cups (550g) flour
  • 1 tablespoon (12g) kosher salt
  • ½ packet or (1 generous teaspoon / 3.5g) active dry yeast
  • 1¾ cups water, at room temperature
  • grapeseed (or other neutral) oil

Make the Mother Dough

*The book calls for a half recipe of the mother dough, this will make 8 large or 12-16 small bombs. Math can be hard so if you want to make the full recipe of dough, there’s nothing wrong with having extra bombs on hand (your future self will thank you). Alternatively, you can wrap half tightly in plastic wrap and drop it into a freezer bag and stash it in the freezer for a couple weeks. When ready to use, thaw overnight in the fridge then set on the counter (1 to 2 hours) to come to room temp. 

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast until combined.
  2. Using a silicone spatula, add the water and stir, mixing until the mixture has come together into a shaggy mass.
  3. Using the dough hook attachment, mix the dough on the lowest speed for 3 minutes, or until the dough forms a smooth ball. Continue kneading for another 4 or 5 minutes on the lowest speed. The dough should look like a wet ball and should bounce back when gently poked.
  4. Brush a large bowl with oil and add the dough, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let the proof at room temperature for 45 minutes. (If you want to hit the “pause” button, throw the bowl in the fridge overnight. Be sure to take it out about an hour or two ahead of time when you’re ready to continue the next day).

Bacon, Scallion, Cream Cheese Plugs

  • 4 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled or finely chopped
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 2 scallions (greens only), thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  1. Line a quarter sheet pan with plastic wrap and set aside.
  2. Put the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until it is soft and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the chopped bacon, scallions, sugar, and salt and paddle briefly to incorporate.
  3. Scoop the cream cheese mixture onto prepared pan in 8 even lump. Freeze until rock hard, 1 to 3 hours. Alternatively, you can scrape it out onto the plastic wrap then use the plastic wrap to roll it into a log about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick (depending on if you plan to make larger or smaller bombs)
    *Once the plugs are frozen solid, they are ready to be used, or they can be stored in an ziploc bag in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Plugs

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar (dark brown is best)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Powdered sugar, if needed
  1. Put the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until it is soft and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the maple, brown sugar, and cinnamon. If it looks too runny, throw in a teaspoon or two of powdered sugar to thicken it up. Taste and adjust as needed to your preference, I make mine a little less sweet (since the bombs will be dusted with cinnamon sugar) but you could use more or less brown sugar to your preference.
  2. Scoop the cream cheese mixture onto prepared pan in 8 even lump. Freeze until rock hard, 1 to 3 hours. Alternatively, you can scrape it out onto the plastic wrap then use the plastic wrap to roll it into a log about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick (depending on if you plan to make larger or smaller bombs)
    *Once the plugs are frozen solid, they are ready to be used, or they can be stored in an ziploc bag in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Everything Bagel Mix

  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
  • 2 teaspoons black sesame seeds
  • 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
  • 1 tablespoon dried onions
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  1. Mix together the salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried onions, onion powder, and garlic powder in an airtight container. The mix keeps forever in the pantry, but it is best used within 6 months.
    Note: You can now buy pre-mixed everything bagel mix at your local Trader Joes 🙂 Amazon also it (for a higher price tag) as well as a few options if you don’t feel like buying 6 different jars of spices.

Cinnamon Sugar Sprinkle

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  1. Stir together ingredients until thoroughly combined.

Notes

  • If you do not plan to use your mother dough the day you make it, you can store it in an airtight container at least twice its size (or in its bowl, covered securely with plastic wrap) in the fridge for up to 3 days. Take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature 30 to 45 minutes before using.
  • If you’re making both fillings, split each recipe in half and fill half of the bombs with the savory cream cheese and the other half with the sweet cream cheese.
  • Reheat by zapping for a few seconds in the microwave or, even better, in an oven or toaster oven. From room temp or fridge, just about 3 to 5 minutes at 375 will do it, from frozen reheat while still wrapped in foil, I put them in the oven while it’s preheating and then check them about 3 to 5 minutes after it comes to temperature.

Bagel Face Off – Round 1

dsc090452They are both very similar except that one uses malt syrup in the dough, while one uses the malt syrup in the water bath & one allows more rise than the other. Chow’s uses malt syrup in the dough and barely any rising time in the process, which made them faster, easier, and a much better candidate after an IKEA time warp this weekend made me shorter on time than I’d have liked.

the ever-elusive malt syrup

This batch was all salt bagels – because they are BF’s favorite. Next batch will have more variety, so that I can pawn them off on the general population who love bagels that aren’t covered in coarse salt 🙂

This batch came out great- they were dense, chewy, and perfectly-sized. The recipe makes 12  goldilocks-sized bagels. The ones at the store either come in giant size, or miniature size, these ones fall perfectly in between. The malt syrup added a slight sweet-tang that is found in gourmet bagels.  Win! These will be hard to beat – but I’ll be sure to update you on how the stack up against the SE bagels which claim to have tricked NYC bagel aficionados into thinking they were purchased and not hand-made… we’ll see, SE, we’ll see…

Chow’s Bagel Recipe – Adapted from Chow.com

Printer-Friendly Version

  • 1 1/2 cups yeast-friendly water (105°F to 110°F)
  • 1 (1/4-ounce) packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
  • 4 C bread flour
  • 2 Tbs malt syrup
  • 2 Tbs kosher salt
  • 4 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 large egg white + 1 Tb water (for egg wash)
  • Desired topping

1. Pour yeast packet into water and set aside. Combine flour, malt syrup, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook . Add yeast mixture to flour mixture and mix on low until “shaggy”. It’ll look something like this:

2. Increase speed to medium-low (I put that at about a 2 for my mixer) until the dough is smooth, elastic, dryer, and somewhat stiff. (Stiffer than you think it should be).

3. Once mixed, shape into a ball and toss in oiled bowl, cover, and set in a warm place for about 20 minutes to rest. (It will not double, but should be noticeably puffy. Mine kinda looked like a brain)

4.  While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 425F. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil, cover and simmer until ready to use. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

5. When your dough is ready, divide into 12 3-oz pieces (these were perfect size to fit in my hand, slightly larger than golf-ball sized). As i divided the dough, I threw the 3-oz balls back into the bowl and kept them covered.

6. Once your dough is divided, roll each ball (one at a time) into a 9-inch rope, the shape that rope into a bagel by dampening the ends with water, wrapping the rope around your fingers, and smooshing the ends together.

*Alternatively, you could poke a hole in the middle of the ball, and just stretch that hole until it is quarter-sized. I will try that way next time and let you know how it goes

7. Set bagel loops onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet, and cover with a damp towel. Let rest for about 10 minutes.

8. After resting, re-stretch the hole to be quarter-sized. Plop your bagels into your simmering water a couple at a time. Initially they will sink, just poke them so they don’t get stuck to the bottom of the pan, and when they look wrinkly and float, remove with a spider and set back onto parchment-lined cookie sheet.

9. Brush egg-wash over bagels and sprinkle with desired toppings. Bake in 425F oven 20 – 30 min until golden-brown. Remove from oven and cool on rack 30 min before eating (or 5 minutes if you have a hungry monster in your house who you can’t defend them from)