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In the Kitchen – Baking Bagels at Home

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Growing up, bagels were one of my favorite comfort foods (breakfast, lunch, and occasionally dinner). This love only grew when I moved to New York City (from the Washington, DC area) to discover the wonders of a good New York bagel. Our apartment in Queens, where we lived for nearly ten years, was right around the corner from a bagel bakery that frequently had lines out the door on weekends.

Two bagels with "everything bagel" toping sit on a silpat on top of a baking tray. A stove and stainless steel pot is in background out of focus.

When we moved from NYC to the Hudson Valley our options for a good bagel went from plentiful, to nearly zero. With no good bagel shops within a reasonable drive, and store bought bagels leaving something to be desired, baking our own suddenly started looking like my best option (since driving to NYC for a bagel seemed a bit much).

Finding the right recipe

We follow a mostly Gluten Free (GF) diet in our home and baking GF breads that mimic traditional glutinous breads has taken some trial and error for me to get right. A big part of learning how to bake GF breads has been through experiments with GF cookbooks checked out from the local library and searches through online cooking blogs, before finding the right recipe.

From experimenting, I found that the key to a good bagel comes down to the baking technique of first boiling and then baking bagels (discussed below). This process should be the same for either traditional or GF bagels.

Dough is mixed in the bowel of a kitchenaid stand mixer.
Four palm sized mounds of dough sit on a silpat on top of a baking tray on a stainless steel stove top.

Secret to a crusty and chewy GF Bagel

For GF bagels and all things GF baking I love the recipes from Cannelle et Vanille and Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple by Aran Goyoaga. The general steps to bake a bagel (using your dough recipe of choice) are:

  • Mix your dough ingredients in a large bowel or stand mixer
  • Form into palm sized mounds
  • Allow dough to rise
  • Use a chopstick or something similar push a hole through the middle of the dough mounds
  • Boil bagels in water for 30 seconds on each side to form a “skin”
  • Sprinkle your favorite toppings (we used everything bagel mix)
  • Bake until golden brown
Four uncooked bagels sit on a silpat on top of a baking tray. A stove and stainless steel pot is in background out of focus.
Bagels with "everything bagel" toping sit on a silpat on top of a baking tray. Stone countertop, stone salt seller, and pair of kitchen scissors are in background.
Two bagels with "everything bagel" toping sit on a silpat on top of a baking tray. A stove and stainless steel pot is in background out of focus.
A bagel with cream cheese and "everything bagel" topping sits on a white enameled plate with blue rim. Plate sits on countertop, canisters labeled "sugar" and "GF All Purpose" in background.

See more of our favorite recipes and kitchen experiments from cooking and baking, to cocktails, food preservation, and more with more posts from In the Kitchen.

Hudson Valley Home – Opus 40

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I recently visited Opus 40, a truly remarkable sculpture park in Saugerties, NY that rises up out of an abandoned quarry. It is truly something that is hard to believe, without seeing for yourself, but the entire 6 acre site was constructed by the sculptor Harvey Fite. Built by hand over decades Opus 40 consists of a series of paths, pools, and ramps, carved and constructed out of native bluestone.

I came to Opus 40 for a class on building stacked stone walls (read about this class here) and had a few hours to explore after the class was finished.

A view of Opus 40. Bluestone rocks set into landscape, surrounded by stone walls. Trees with fall foliage in background.
A view of Opus 40. Bluestone rocks set into landscape, surrounded by stone walls. Concentric stacked stone platforms with large vertical stone monolith on top. Trees with fall foliage in background.

It is not a overstatement that in many ways Opus 40 can be compared to some of the great wonders of the world (it has been called the Stonehenge of North America). The central focus is a massive stone spire that sits in the center and frames the stacked layers of the sculptural passageways and amphitheater of bluestone.

In addition to the sculptural main attraction, the Opus 40 grounds have the original house that Harvey Fite built by hand in the 1930s, as well as a museum that has a collection of traditional masonry tools.

A view of Opus 40. Rays of sunshine form a V shape as they pass over walls of bluestone that fill the field of view.
A view of Opus 40. Bluestone rock walls create a narrow passageway. Rocks are covered with green moss and ferns, ground is rocky and brown from dried leaves. Blue sky and trees are visible at end of passageway in foreground.
A view of Opus 40. Bluestone rocks set into landscape, surrounded by stone walls. Concentric stacked stone platforms with large vertical stone monolith on top. Trees with fall foliage in background.
A view of Opus 40. Bluestone rocks set into landscape, surrounded by stone walls and platforms. Trees with fall foliage in background.
A view of Opus 40. Bluestone rocks set into landscape, surrounded by stone walls. Trees with fall foliage in background.
A view of Opus 40. Bluestone rock walls create a narrow passageway. Stacked rock walls, blue sky, and trees are visible at end of passageway in background.
A view of Opus 40. Bluestone rocks set into landscape, surrounded by stone walls. Concentric stacked stone platforms with large vertical stone monolith on top. The sun is placed behind the stone monolith and rays of light stream towards the viewer.

Know before you go

  • The Opus 40 sculpture itself is created entirely of bluestone and there are areas that can be wet or slippery from the ponds and other water features. Sturdy shoes or hiking boots are recommended.
  • Opus 40 hosts frequent classes, workshops, and events including nature walks, stone work classes (like the one I took on building stone walls), and yoga/body movement. See here.
  • Picnicking is allowed and there is a small cafe onsite.
  • The sculpture is currently undergoing a phased rehabilitation to preserve and protect and restore areas that have begun to decay (so some areas may be temporarily closed).
  • The “Fite House” was recently purchased by the not-for-profit that owns Opus 40 and is undergoing a significant restoration.
  • No pets allowed (other than service animals)

Follow our exploration of the area around our Home in the Hudson Valley including favorite day trips and excursions an easy drive from New York City with more posts from Hudson Valley Home

DIY-Stacked Stone Wall Class

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Learning how to build a dry stacked stone wall

How do you create a stone wall without any mortar or cement? On a sunny fall day I took a trip to Opus 40, a quarry turned museum, in Saugerties, NY to find out. The instructor was artist and stoneworker Chris Layman of Fox Stonework, who would spend the day teaching me and a group of students how to build a stacked stone wall.

For the class, we worked to build a retaining wall set into a hillside in a wooded area of the Opus 40 grounds. As a former quarry, the site was overflowing with flat bluestone rocks, just waiting to be assembled like a puzzle into a strong and durable wall. For more on visiting Opus 40 see here.

Chris Layman uses a hammer and chisel to show students in the stacked stone wall class how to split stones on a wooden table. Trees roots, pieces of bluestone, are in the background.
A rocky clearing in the woods, with trees in the background and stacks of flat bluestone in the foreground.

Tools

Building the wall required few tools, primarily hammer and chisel (or masonry hammer) for splitting and shaping the bluestone pieces, a level, and safety glasses for stone splitting. Many of the class participants also had knee pads and steel toed safety boots, something I would definitely recommend.

Students in the stacked stone wall class stand and kneel along the side of a rocky hill, placing the foundation slabs of bluestone for retaining wall. Blue sky, piles of stone, a clearing, and wooded area are in the background.
Chris Layman uses a hammer and chisel to show students in the stacked stone wall class how to split stones on a wooden table. Trees roots, pieces of bluestone, are in the background.

Setting the Stone

Stacking stone for the wall was like a puzzle. We learned to start with a layer of stone, anchored into the hillside by wedging into the dirt, stones, and crevices that already existed. Then a new row of stones would be placed on top making sure that the new layer overlapped the gaps between the layer directly below. We used smaller rocks as wedges and to fill larger gaps. A level was used to check the wall, and in some cases a hammer was used to help wedge stones together. Stone-by-stone the wall started coming together.

Students in the stacked stone wall class stand and kneel along the side of a rocky hill, placing the foundation slabs of bluestone for retaining wall.
Students in the stacked stone wall class stand and kneel along the side of a rocky hill, placing the slabs of bluestone for retaining wall.
Students in the stacked stone wall class stand and kneel along the side of a rocky hill, placing the slabs of bluestone for retaining wall.
Students in the stacked stone wall class stand and kneel along the side of a rocky hill, placing the slabs of bluestone for retaining wall.
Students in the stacked stone wall class stand and kneel along the side of a rocky hill, placing the slabs of bluestone for retaining wall.
Stacked stone retaining wall construction in progress. Wall frames a rocky hill with green ferns and small trees. A white bucket sits next to the wall and loose stone is in the foreground.
A close up of stacked stone retaining wall construction in progress. Wall frames a rocky hill with green ferns and small trees. Loose stone is in the foreground.

The class was only an afternoon, so we did not complete the wall within the time we had, but build enough to get the basics down. We used many of the techniques I learned in the class at Opus 40 to build the stacked stone wall for our Studio Build Project and shed several years later.

Get inspired to do it yourself with more projects in our DIY series.

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