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Egg Bagels

By browneyedbaker · From Open Recipes · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and egg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 22,584 recipes mention both. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

The recipe

Makes 12 large bagels or 24 mini bagels
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. In a large bowl, mix the first 1 teaspoon instant yeast, 4 cups flour and 2 cups room-temperature water until no dry flour remains. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, until bubbly.

  2. Add the ½ teaspoon instant yeast, 3¾ cups flour, 8 egg yolks, salt, malt powder and malt syrup, honey or brown sugar. Mix, then knead 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.

  3. Cover and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour, until puffy. Divide into 12 large or 24 mini pieces. Shape each into a ring, pinch the seam closed, and rest on a floured board, covered, for 20 minutes.

  4. Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C). Dust a baking sheet with cornmeal or semolina. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and stir in the baking soda.

  5. Boil the bagels in batches for 1 minute per side. Lift out with a slotted spoon, drain briefly, and sprinkle with poppy seeds if using. Place on the cornmeal-dusted sheet.

  6. Bake for 10 minutes, until deep golden and set through, with the inside reaching at least 160°F (71°C). Cool on a rack before serving.

By browneyedbaker. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Bread + eggtop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together22,584 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  2. Flour + semolinatop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together310 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Semolina + poppy seedtop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together14 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  4. Flour + eggtop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together104,138 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Egg + poppy seedtop 10% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together283 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Flour and egg share little aroma chemistry, yet 104,138 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the poppy seed

The recipe marks poppy seed as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, bread, egg, malt, semolina):

  1. Nutmegabout as good a flavor fit
  2. Cinnamonabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Poppy seedthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, bread, egg, malt, semolina. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).