The World of Bread
When it comes to the world of gluten goodness, it seems that the possibilities are endless. Each culture has their own specialty breads, with evolutions and variations being born across oceans. From naan to pizza dough, there’s something for everybody. But can that same repertoire of endless doughs be applied to bagels? Can you make the classic breakfast treat but with a cornbread twist? And more importantly, should you? Our team decided that the question needed to be answered.
What is in a Name – The Bagel
But before you can decide if something will feasibly and successfully become a bagel, you must first ask, what is a bagel? What makes a bagel a bagel? If you cut a hole in a baguette, does it become one? Donuts are a bagel’s twin, but what differentiates them?
Well, at Everything Bagel, we pride ourselves in being experts on manipulating the classic without taking away its identity. So what is our criteria?
- A bagel must be boiled first, then baked
- A bagel must have a hole
The Experiment
Donut
We decided to start with food whose appearance mirrors our namesake, though it isn’t necessarily bread. It already has a hole, so that criteria was checked off. The difference though, is that donuts are deep fried, not boiled. So, we fixed that. Taking the sticky sweet ingredients of the class dessert, we followed all the standard steps, but instead, boiled and baked the dough. After coating the “bagel” in glaze, it was time to taste. The result? A more dense, dry, yet tasty treat. Was it a bagel? Maybe. Was it worth it? Not so much. So our conclusions was: No, it will NOT bagel.
Pizza Dough
Yes, pizza bagels exist. However, those are usually bagel dough and pizza toppings. Our experiment was about the reverse. Pizza dough is certainly yummy enough, and bready enough, to potentially be a bagel. Needless to say, we had high hopes. We simply boiled the dough before baking it and cut a hole in the direct center of the pizza. So, Will it Bagel? 100%.
Naan
With its unique baking method via stovetop, we were excited to see what kind of results this dough would produce. Again, we boiled it first, however, rather than the standard baking of bagels, we opted for the naan method. What we were hoping for was the best of both worlds: A fluffy yet dense inside, with a crispy outer layer. What we got? Gum. Very gummy. Not a fan. 3/10, will not bagel.
Flatbread
Flatbread is typically made without yeast. Bagels require yeast. Needless to say, this did not bagel.
