Black Russian Bagels {Pumpernickel Everything Bagels} are the favourite-in-perpetuity around our house. We love buying them at Wegman’s, but we love making them at home just as much… Visit our Bread Recipes page for more fantastic homemade breads!
To say that I love bagels might be the understatement of the century. They are on a very short list foods against which I am utterly powerless at all times with no exceptions. All bagels are not created equal, though… Sweet bagels are better than a kick in the pants, but my preference is for a pumpernickel or a salty, seedy, garlicky, oniony, popping with flavour Everything Bagel. And even better than either of those are my all-time best-beloved Black Russian Bagels. Black Russian Bagels are deep, dark Pumpernickel Everything Bagels. Holy swoon, Batman.
I ran into these for the first time a few years back at my closest Wegman’s. I brought four home (with the remaining dozen being regular Everything Bagels) thinking it was a sure-fire way to guarantee I got two bagels out of the bunch. My kids are stalwart Everything Bagel boys and they always scrunched their noses up a bit when I had my pumpernickel ones. Somehow, one of them grabbed one of the Black Russian Bagels and before I knew it, there were rapturous boys proclaiming their undying love for pumpernickel-plus-everything. I ordered one of them to give me a bite since I clearly wasn’t going to get to enjoy an entire bagel by myself.
Wowza.
I was hooked and hard just like the kids. The trouble is that the nearest Wegman’s is a thirty minute drive in either direction, so the Black Russians were a rare treat for us. I picked them up when I did my monthly shopping trip (and when other Black Russian Bagels aficionados hadn’t cleaned out the basket before I got there.)
Then I visited King Arthur Flour’s Baker’s Education Center last spring and picked up a bag of the Pumpernickel Artisan Bread Flavor. It languished on my shelf until two weeks ago, when I picked it up and read the label: “Takes bread from average to Artisan in one easy step.” and my brain screamed, “BLACK RUSSIAN BAGELS!”
Sure enough, King Arthur Flour had a recipe for pumpernickel bagels on the site, and -like you can count on King Arthur’s recipes to be- it was practically perfect in every way.
I bumped up the amount of pumpernickel flavour just by a smidge to get it super dark and bursting with pumpernickel and crusted the top with homemade Everything Bagel topping* to make Black Russian Bagels that have cured me of the need to burn an hour’s worth of gas and time.
*If you’re not keen on making your own, King Arthur Flour also sells jars of pre-mixed Everything Bagel Topping.
My kids are nutty over them. My hubby is nutty over them. I am BONKERS over them. People, we’ve had Black Russian Bagels five mornings in the last two weeks, and I don’t see signs of it slowing anytime soon.
Don’t be intimidated if you’ve never made bagels before today. The dough is very forgiving and is sturdy enough that you don’t feel like its going to rip every time you look at it. It’s a great baking project whether you’re beginner-to-intermediate or a full-blown expert.
Black Russian Bagels {Pumpernickel Everything Bagels}
Rate RecipeIngredients
For the Dough:
- 1/3 cup plus1 tablespoon King Arthur Flour Pumpernickel Artisan Bread Flavor or 2 ounces by weight
- 3 3/4 cups Unbleached Bread Flour 1 pound by weight
- 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water 10 ounces
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
To Boil the Bagels:
- 2 quarts water
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar or raw sugar
For the Egg Wash:
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon water
For the Everything Bagel Topping:
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 3 tablespoons dried minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons dried minced onion
- 1 tablespoon pretzel salt or coarse sea salt
Instructions
To Make the Everything Bagel Topping:
- Add all of the ingredients to a pint jar, screw a lid on tightly, and shake to combine. Store in a cool, dark place and use as needed.
To Make the Dough:
- Mix all of the dough ingredients together in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook on low speed then allow the mixer to knead it for 10 minutes. Do not crank the speed above low unless you'd like to damage your machine! If you do not have a stand mixer, use a sturdy spoon to combine the dough ingredients before turning it out onto a clean counter and kneading it for 15 minutes. Either way, the dough will be quite stiff... Don't be tempted to add water to loosen it up.
- Remove the dough from the stand mixer bowl and oil it (or oil another mixing bowl). Put the dough in, flip it once, then cover the bowl with a clean, dry tea towel and let it rest and rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour to 90 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
- Turn the dough out onto clean work surface, divide into 8 equal pieces, and roll each piece into a smooth ball. This is easiest to do if you roll it around on the countertop in a repetitive circular pattern with your hand cupped gently over it. Let the dough balls rest, covered with a clean towel, for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- While the dough rests, combine the bagel boil ingredients in a large, high-sided skillet over high heat. When the sugars have dissolved and the water is at a gentle boil (not a full, rolling one) turn your attention to the rested dough.
- Poke your index finger down through the center of each dough ball to the counter. Pick the dough ball up and gently stretch the hole you made until it is about 2 inches in diameter. Take care not to deflate the dough too much. Place it back on the mat and repeat with the remaining dough. Once they're all done, lower one bagel at a time into the water (lowering the side that was facing up on the countertop into the water first.) Do not overcrowd the pan. Each batch for boiling should be no larger than 4 bagels. Boil those 4 bagels for 2 minutes on the first side, carefully flip the bagels and boil the second side for 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bagels to a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. They will not expand greatly while they bake, but should still have a little space between them to allow heat to circulate well. Repeat with the remaining bagels.
- Whisk together the water and egg white until frothy. Brush the boiled bagels then generously crust the top of the bagels with the Everything Bagel Topping. Bake for 25 minutes. The internal temperature of a finished bagel should be at least 190°F.
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
did you make this recipe?
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This post was originally published December 7th, 2013.
Reader's Thoughts...
Robby says
I love Everything bagels and pumpernickel. How have I missed these before!? Can’t wait to try this out. Thanks!
Nutmeg Nanny says
These bagels look SO good! I can’t wait to try this 🙂
KirstenInCO says
I have never made bagels before but would love to try! My favorite are also everything bagels, usually with home made chive cream cheese. I also have an afinity for Black Russian bread, marble rye, anything with that yummy dark bread in it. I regularly bake this recipe of bread so I’m looking forward to trying your bagel recipe too! http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/black-bread-recipe.html.
On my King Arthur wish list is (now this pumpernickle mix, but also…) a dough whisk, a rising bucket, a new kitchen thermometer and I’ve always wanted to try the Vermont cheese powder. Thank you for this opportunity!
Julie says
I have never made bagels before
thanks for the giveaway
cyndi says
I love just plain bagels with lots of different cream cheeses
mollie says
I love cinnamon raisin bagels
Sarah Beth says
wish list – english muffin bake set
favorite flavor – cinnamon sugar
never made them homemade!
Peggy in MN says
I have just started reading your blog and really enjoy it—I have made your kimchee and my family is now waiting for the next batch. I want to try bagels because my family loves pumpernickel. My husband is diabetic and his Dr. told him pumpernickel was the best choice for diabetics. Bonus!! My wish list includes the English muffin baking set, and I always drool over the Kitchen Aid mixers on the King Arthur site. I’m not much of a baker, but I love to cook. For what I have spent buying used Kitchen Aid mixers at yard and estate sales, I probably could have bought a new one.
Karen D. says
I have never made bagels since we have an excellent bagel shop in the neighborhood, but they do not make Black Russian bagels. I am a sucker for Pumpernickel. They are my favorite. The whole fam loves everything bagels. I would love to try making these.
Marisa says
I haven’t made bagels for a few years. These pumpernickel bagels look good!
Desta R says
I have made bagels before, but it has been a long while. Time to try them again!
Ellen Renee says
I have never made bagels before – but would be willing to give it a try. We have a local family owned bakery and I do adore an occasional everything bagel – made into an egg sandwich of some sort.
Maegan says
I’ve never made bagels before but i can’t wait to try!
Rachel says
I have never made bagels before but this is inspiring me. I think I need to dig into my Jewish roots and start bagelmaking. These look amazing!
Jen says
My family and I love bagels!! Our favorite bagels are from NYC but sadly we leave in MA where. We’ve found some good bagels, but they don’t have the same chew as the ones from NYC. I’ve tried to make my own and they were good, but still not quite right. My girls and I love pumpernickel bagels so I can’t wait to try your recipe! They look DELICIOUS. 🙂
Kelly says
I would love to try King Arthur’s Toasted Almond Flour, i’ve made bagels from scratch once… they were edible but I could use some more practice!
Sara says
I love those black russian bagels too and for some reason so does my 3 year old picky eater. They are our sunday breakfast after my grocery shopping. Your recipe looks pretty easy, I can’t wait to try it.
Jacky says
I Love all King Arthur products and have one of their cookbooks and love it.. I have never made bagels but would love to try these for starters !!!!!
Nora Charles says
There are so many gadgets I like from King Arthur’s catalog. Special shortbread pans, a madeleine pan — I could fill up my kitchen. Probably tops is the red bread baking crock/dutch oven.
I made bagels once. I was fourteen years old and had only ever made brownies from a mix or scrambled eggs before, but I decided I could take on bagels. Mistake one of many: I figured my mom’s White Lily flour (soft flour for biscuits) would work just fine. I ended up throwing the results over the fence to the neighbor’s dog, who sniffed them once, then scrupulously avoided them. I think I may be ready to try bagels again, twenty-eight years later.
Amy S. says
I’ve never made bagels, but they are on my to-do list. I love Asiago cheese bagels, everything bagels, cinnamon bagels… If it’s a bagel, chances are I’m going to love it!