Bagel Bombs

Bagel Bombs

A memo to the kids and newcomers to Chicago: it gets cold here.  It can get really, really cold here.  Sometimes we get lucky and have a mild winter, as has happened for the past couple of years.  Other years we get hit by a blizzard or a cold snap.  It happens.

Today is now on record as the second coldest day in Chicago because there was about an hour that it was -23F.  If you followed the news or social media, you would think it was -23 the entire day but no, it was an hour.  That's it.  I am old enough to have been around in 1985 when the other really cold day happened.  I was 9 years old at the time so I don't remember much but here is the Chicago Sun-Times front page.  See that?  The headline says, "Brave" and that most folks bundled up and kept moving.  Really, the only person who should worry about a blizzard or cold snap is the Mayor.  God help the person in office who doesn't handle it well.

I know I am being nostalgic and sounding as old as dirt when I say this but I miss the days when Chicagoans took pride in their thick skin and ability to put on long underwear and power through a cold day.  I know that in 1985 the deep freeze (-27F) was on a Sunday but I guarantee my Mother had me in church.  I also never, ever remember having school cancelled because it was cold.  The fact that school was cancelled today and tomorrow, when it it supposed to be a balmy 0 degrees, is nuts to me.  Last I checked, I am the Mother of my kid.  If I determine if it's too cold for him to go to school (see never, ever), then I will keep him at home.  Thank you Oak Park School District for parenting for me.  Can you also cook dinner and help with homework?  That would be lovely!


So, since we are all at home taking the time to post pictures of our weather apps showing the chilly temps with cute and creative icons, emoji's and enlightening commentary such as "Holy F--- it's cold!" or "Make sure your heat works!" (seriously?), I thought I would bake.  Granted, bagel bombs require some advance planning but they are well worth it.  I have had the cream cheese stuffed bagels at Starbucks and I have to say, they were awful.  Dry and flavorless, my tastebuds died a little bit the day I bit into one.

The base recipe I used for these bagel bombs was from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook by Christina Tosi.   I was a little perplexed about the recipe not using the usual bagel ingredients or boiling before baking - standard with any bagel.  She uses a "mother dough" recipe which she explains is quick, versatile and reliable for their mass production necessities.  Not sure how I feel about that in my home kitchen but I went with it and added in some more classic bagel ingredients like malted powder and bread flour.

Bagel Bombs
Recipe adapted from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook by Christina Tosi and David Chang

Mother Dough
You will only need half of this recipe for the bagel bombs.  Save the rest for another bagel bomb bake or half the recipe.

Ingredients:
280 g all-purpose flour*
280 g bread or high gluten flour*
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3.5 g instant yeast
1 teaspoon malt powder (optional)
2 cups of water at room temperature
*You can use all-purpose flour for the entire recipe since that is what the book recommends

Method:
Combine all of the above ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Knead the dough on the lowest speed for about 6-8 minutes.  My dough was extremely wet and sticky.  Christina said the dough should look like a wet ball and bounce back softly when prodded.  Your guess is as good as mine but the finished product turned out well for me.

Oil a bowl and dump the dough into it.  Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and let sit for 45 minutes.  Mine sat for almost two hours and turned out just fine.

Cream Cheese Plugs

Ingredients:
50 g bacon - diced and cooked until brown and crunchy
1 tablespoon of leftover bacon fat
200 g (7 ounces) block of cream cheese
2 g scallions finely diced
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Method:
Combine all ingredients above in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix until well combined - 2-3 minutes. You will have to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times throughout the mixing process.

Scoop the cream cheese mixture on to a parchment lined plate into 8 even lumps.  Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until frozen solid - about 2 hours.

Assembling and Baking the Bagel Bombs

Ingredients:
Half of the mother dough recipe
Cream cheese plugs
One egg beaten with a splash of water
Everything bagel seasoning - happily, you can actually now find this magical mixture at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Amazon and King Arthur Flour

Method:

Heat the oven to 325F.

Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.  Gently stretch each of the pieces out to form a mini pizza pie looking surface.  Put a frozen cream cheese plug in the middle of the disk and pull the ends over the cream cheese and seal together so no cream cheese is showing.  Place the seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and repeat with the remaining pieces of dough and plugs.

Work with one bomb at a time on this step since the egg wash dries quickly.  Dump about half of the everything bagel mixture into a small bowl.  Brush the top of the bomb with the egg wash and then immediately dip the wet part into the bowl with the seasoning.  Try and cover as much of the surface area as possible and place back on the sheet pan.  Repeat with remaining bagels.

Bake bagels for 20-30 minutes or until the cream cheese starts to escape.  I froze the bagels before proceeding with the egg wash, seasoning and baking steps, so I needed the full 30 minutes of baking time.  If you are not freezing beforehand, set the timer for 20 minutes and then check progress.

Enjoy warm out of the oven, with a few minutes for cooling.  Any bagels not used can be frozen or refrigerated for 2-3 days and heated up in the oven for about 10-15 minutes at 250 degrees.