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Out of all things I miss from home bagels are in the top 5. It will come as no surprise that the first thing I ate as soon as my feet touched the ground in Canada this past Christmas was an everything bagel with herb and garlic cream cheese.
Bagels have a special place in my heart. When I first moved to America I was absolutely appalled by the bread I found everywhere-white, spongy and weightless-it got stuck to the roof of my mouth when I ate.
I missed real crusty bread that is both slightly chewy and pillowy soft but I lived in a college dorm with no access to an oven and, worse of all, I had no clue how to bake bread!
So little did I know that when a friend made a stop at a local bagel shop I was in for a real treat. I never heard the word “bagel” before but when I bit into it there was no doubt in my head I knew what it was and I’ve had it before!
Bagels are usually associated with New York City because that’s where Jewish immigrant communities made them popular. The thing is though – and let me make a disclaimer here that I am not about to start a “new world vs. old world” war – but New York city is not where bagels originated.
Jewish immigrants came from Eastern Europe where bagels, or as they are known in Russia “bubliki” or “baranki” or a handful of other names in Polish, Ukrainian, Chech etc., were born. We own bagels.
National Geographic photo shows a bubliki street stand in 1970s Moscow.
Anyway, you are probably wondering what a Bialy recipe I’ve got here has anything to do with bagels. Well, these savoury onion and poppyseed buns are bagels’ cousins but…they are so much easier to make at home, stay fresh for days (unlike bagels that are only good for 24 hours) and are MADE for sandwiches. They are also delicious with cream cheese and a fresh cup of coffee in the morning.
I really wanted to reproduce that chewy crust that is easily achieved in commercial ovens because steam gets trapped, which is responsible for that wonderful “chew” we all love so much.
Unfortunately my oven is smaller than small…think 2/3 of a standard North American oven…but there is something you can still do if you are in the same situation.
Place a rimmed baking sheet filled 1/3 with water on a lower rack of your oven. The water will produce steam while buns are baking, which will result in deliciously chewy crust.
The dough for Bialy is so easy to make and produces very airy buns with slightly chewy crust. Pure beauty!
We destroyed about half the batch as soon as they got out of the oven but luckily the recipe makes about 18 so we had plenty for the rest of the week. As I mentioned Brad made sandwiches to take to work and even on day 4 they were absolutely delightful!
Savoury Onion and Poppyseed Buns {Bialy}
Ingredients
- 950 g /7.5 cups bread flour, I used Canadian bread flour
- 5 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp dry yeast
- 710 ml /3 cups water
For the filling
- 2 tbsp This is an affiliate link.olive oil
- 1 large onion, I used red onion
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, salt and yeast together in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment and mix for a few seconds. Add the water and mix until it forms an elastic dough for about 5 minutes. By the end of it the dough should come away from the walls of your mixing bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for 2 hours. it should double in size.
- Turn your dough out on a floured surface and form it into a ball. With a sharp knife portion your dough into golf ball-sized pieces. Cover and let rest for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile make the filling. Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion over low heat for 7-10 minutes. Add poppy seeds and mix. Take off the heat.
- Preheat the oven to 500 F/260C.
- Put a dough ball on your floured surface and make an indent in the middle with your thumb, then gently pull the opposite sides of ball to stretch. The indentation should be very thin but make sure not to tear. Fill the middle of each bun with 1/2 tsp of the onion filling.
- Transfer bialys on parchment lined baking sheets and sprinkle with more poppy seeds. Fill 1/3 of a rimmed baking sheet with water and place in the lower rack of your oven. Place the baking sheet with bialys on a rack positioned in the middle of the oven. Bake for 8-12 minutes and cool on a wire rack.
- Repeat until all bialys are baked.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Being from NYC I love Bealys have tried them before with not much success so now I hope this will be a great success I’m in the middle of making them rising right now and onions are done can’t wait to get them in my huge oven I’ll let you know more later wish me luc
I hope this time it’s a success, Babette!
These buns are delicious! Because I cannot follow recipes without putting my own twist, I chopped a red onion finely and cooked in butter until translucent. Let it cool and incorporated it into the dough. Yum!
Your twist to these Bialy sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing, Suzanne!
Wow Julia these look really way good love poppy seeds and a poppy seed bagel with butter or cream cheese or a smoked fish or cheese definitely gotta try babes thanx tons for posting btw can I have the dough sit over night in the fridge with a bag tied around it
Never heard of these before, but they sound fabulous! I’ll have to give it a go. I feel you on the small oven situation. I have such a small oven here in Oz that a regular sized cookie sheet doesn’t even fit! I had to buy special ones! Thanks for the recipe!
They are not as well-known as bagels but they are worth spreading the word about! 🙂
I wish I had more time for savory baking because these buns look scrumptious!
Hahaha, Laura, I feel the same about all the wonderful sweet treats you make…I wish I had more time for them!
Beautiful! I stumbled on a Bialy recipe recently and immediately put it on my list of things to try. I’ve never actually eaten one, but I absolutely know I will love them. I’m going to try your recipe, for sure. Hopefully this weekend 🙂
I hope you do, Jennifer, with your gift for baking they will turn out 10 times better than mine I am sure!