Asiago Bagels

By EricS52

Back in the day, bagels were plain, poppy seed, onion, or sesame seed — with maybe a marble rye thrown in for special occasions. Today, we have cinnamon-raisin, chocolate, cranberry-walnut, "everything"... We Americans have gotten our creative hands on what was once a very simple roll, and taken it over the top — which is exactly where we place these Asiago bagels. With chunks of Asiago inside and shreds of the cheese on top, these bagels are dense, chewy, and marvelously flavorful.

Ingredients

• Starter
• 1/2 cup King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
• 1/4 cup cool water
• pinch of instant yeast (about 1/16 teaspoon)
• Dough
• 4 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
• 1 1/4 cups cool water
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 3/4 cup Asiago cheese cubes, about 1/2"
• Water bath
• water to fill a 10"-diameter pan about 1" deep
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon non-diastatic malt powder or brown sugar
• Topping
• 3/4 cup shredded Asiago cheese

Preparation

Step 1

Starter
1/2 cup King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
1/4 cup cool water
pinch of instant yeast (about 1/16 teaspoon)

Dough
4 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
1 1/4 cups cool water
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
3/4 cup Asiago cheese cubes, about 1/2"

Water bath
water to fill a 10"-diameter pan about 1" deep
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon non-diastatic malt powder or brown sugar

Topping
3/4 cup shredded Asiago cheese