Whole Wheat Bagels with Coconut Cream Cheese and Candied Orange Peel
I’ve been really craving coconut lately. I tried some coconut-filled soft buns to satisfy the craving, but although the coconut aroma was great, the soft bread itself was far too sweet and cloying for me. I’ve always been a fan of bagels for their chewy texture, convenience, and the fact that they’re relatively healthy with low oil and sugar, so I came up with this combo. It’s orange season, so I added some orange peel to the bagel dough and ended up with an unexpectedly delicious flavor. The orange fragrance really lingers on your palate~ In the morning, first preheat the oven, and while it’s heating for those ten minutes, do a few gentle stretches to wake up your body. Then re-toast a bagel, hand-brew a latte, and enjoy your breakfast. Can this beautiful morning scene become your motivation to get out of bed too? The filling recipe is adapted from @瓜_瓜’s Matcha Coconut Cream Cheese Stuffed Waffles. I swapped the ricotta for cream cheese, the classic “official CP” for bagels, and greedily increased the proportion of shredded coconut. By the way, Gua’s waffles are genuinely delicious and completely rekindled my love for shredded coconut—highly recommended. (http://www.xiachufang.com/recipe/102214034/)
Ingredients
Steps
Combine all the bagel dough ingredients and knead into a smooth dough using your preferred method. Bagel dough has relatively low hydration and will feel quite firm; knead until it reaches the “extended” stage with a slight gluten window—no need for a very thin membrane.
Divide the dough evenly into 4 pieces, about 88g each. Shape each piece into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes.
While the dough is resting, prepare the coconut cream cheese filling. Take the cream cheese out in advance to come to room temperature. Toast the desiccated coconut in a nonstick skillet over low heat until fragrant. Once it starts to turn slightly golden, be very careful not to burn it—another ten seconds or so is usually enough. Properly toasted coconut will be very aromatic. While it’s still warm, mix the coconut, cream cheese, and icing sugar together with a spatula until well combined. The mixture will be quite stiff, so use a pressing and folding motion. (If the room is too cold, you can set the cream cheese bowl over warm water to soften it slightly.) The finished filling should be thick but spreadable.
Take one rested dough ball and roll it out to about 20cm long. Flip it so that the previously smooth side is now facing down. (We want the smooth side to become the outer surface of the bagel in the end.)
Spread one-quarter of the filling evenly over the rolled-out dough with a spatula. As shown in the picture, leave at least 3cm uncoated on the right side, and leave a 1cm border on the other sides for sealing.
Roll the dough up tightly from bottom to top and pinch the seam firmly to seal. Repeat with the other three pieces of dough. (The filling should be just enough for all four; if there’s a little left, it’s delicious eaten as is!)
Take the first rolled log and gently roll it out a bit longer. Since it has rested for a while, it should be easy to handle. Flatten the unfilled 3cm section on the right, then wrap it around and join it to the other end to form a ring, pinching the seam tightly to seal. Repeat with the remaining three pieces.
Place the shaped bagels on small squares of parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap, and proof for 30 minutes at around 25°C. Do NOT proof bagels until doubled like soft bread, or they will wrinkle after boiling. Aim for about 1.5 times their original size; the dough should still have some elasticity, feel relatively light when you pick it up, and float when placed in boiling water. The photo shows the dough before and after proofing for comparison.
When the bagels are halfway through proofing, preheat the oven to 200°C and prepare the boiling water: 1 liter of water plus 50g sugar. It’s best to use a wide, shallow pot rather than a deep one; it makes it easier to boil all the bagels at once and handle them. When the water comes to a boil, reduce to a gentle simmer. Lift each bagel by its parchment and slide it into the water, boiling 30 seconds on each side. (The bagels will release themselves from the parchment in the water. Please forgive that I only remembered to take the step photo after fishing out half the batch, so the picture is a bit out of focus from the scramble..)