The neglected bialy is getting it’s heyday recently with appearances in places outside their usual NYC residence like San Francisco’s Wise Son’s Deli as well as showing up on articles about new restaurant food trends. But a bialy isn’t just a bagel with some onions thrown into it, it’s a delicious creature all it’s own. With a center depression (but no hole) and a direct bake in the oven (without boiling them first like you do with bagels), bialys make a great savory breakfast or pretty much any time of day snack option. Traditionalists will probably quibble with the poppy and sesame seeds and be slightly horrified that I add a dash of black pepper as well. Feel free to use whole wheat or white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour to give the bialy a little more bite of flavor, but these will be awesome with just plain all-purpose. One more thing about my recipe, traditional bialys are made in commercial kitchens where ovens can be cranked really high. The resulting steam released and trapped in the commercial ovens helps to form a crust. Chef Elizabeth Falkner actually prefers to make hers with a wood-fired oven which can get even higher in temperature. Being a mere mortal at home with my cheap-o oven that came with my rental apartment, I resorted to a simple home baking trick. Take a metal 9 x 13 inch baking pan (the sort you make brownies in) and turn it upside down and place a brick, cast iron skillet or heavy oven-proof pot on top. The weight of the brick or skillet traps the steam from the dough inside the pan, which in turn makes for a great chewy crust. It’s a similar trick to using the Dutch oven to make artisan bread (which is what inspired me to come up with this method). However if you find the baking pan and brick too fussy, you can just skip it, but I think it really does make a difference in the final product. We’re talking bakery style bialy results folks with this method! To make this recipe you need to create a poolish starter the day before you make the bialys. Keep this in mind when planning.
Course Appetizer, Breakfast
Cuisine American, Jewish
Keyword bagel, baking, bialy, jewish, yeast
Prep Time 35 minutesminutes
Cook Time 25 minutesminutes
Resting Time 10 hourshours
Total Time 1 hourhour
Servings 16
Calories 120kcal
Author Irvin
Ingredients
Poolish Starter
1/2cupall-purpose flour70 g
1/3cupwaterroom temperature
1/4teaspoonactive yeastnot fast acting
Bialy Dough
1/2teaspoonactive yeastnot fast acting
1/4cupwarm waterbetween 105°-110°F
3cupsbread flour480 g
2cupsall-purpose flour280 g (you can also substitute the same amount whole wheat or white whole wheat flour if you'd like)
2cupswaterroom temperature
1tablespoonkosher saltDiamond brand preferred, if using other brand, use 1/2 tablespoon
Filling
2tablespoonsolive oilextra virgin
1medium onion, finely choppedabout 1 cup
2tablespoonspoppy seedsoptional
2tablespoonssesame seedsoptional
additional salt and pepperto taste
To Bake
cornmeal, semolina flour or extra all-purpose flourto dust bottom of pan
Instructions
Make the poolish starter by mixing all three of those ingredients together in medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature overnight (anywhere from 8 – 24 hours).
Make the bialy dough by dissolving the yeast and warm water in a bowl or glass measuring cup. Stir and let set until it starts to foam (about 5 minutes). While the yeast proofs, place both flours in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Stir the two ingredients together for a minute to blend. Add the room temperature water, the proofed yeast water and all of the poolish starter to the flour and turn the mixer on to low. Stir until all the ingredients start to form a dough. Turn the mixer up to medium high and knead the dough for 5 minutes. Add the salt and knead for 1 more minute to incorporate.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover it with plastic wrap. At this point you can either let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours to rise, or you can refrigerate the dough overnight for a slow rise. Line three 13 x 18 baking pans with parchment paper and dust with cornmeal, semolina flour or all-purpose flour. Once the dough has risen (either method) remove it from the bowl and roll it out into a log on a clean floured surface. Using well-floured hands, pinch off an 85 g (3 oz) piece of dough, roughly the size of a large tangerine (think large golf ball or small baseball). Flatten the piece of dough and pinch the center of the disk so the middle has a depression. Place on the baking sheet and continue with the remaining dough, five or six to a sheet.
Once you’ve formed all the bialys, cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rise for an hour at room temperature. In the meanwhile, place the olive oil in a medium pan and heat the oil until it starts to shimmer. Add the onions and cook until they soften and they turn golden. Remove from heat and let cool. Once the bialys have risen, preheat the oven to 450˚F. Remove the plastic wrap and spoon roughly 1 tablespoon of onions into the middle of each bialy. Sprinkle each bialy with a pinch of kosher salt as well as poppy and sesame seeds if using. Sprinkle each with a pinch of fresh ground pepper as well if using. Move the bialys close to the center of the pan and to each other.
Place the 9 x 13 baking pan upside down over the bialys, covering them completely and then put a heavy brick, cast iron skillet or heavy oven proof pot on top of the pan.
Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the brick and 9 x 13 baking pan. Place the bialys back in the oven and bake an additional 5-8 minutes or until the edges of the bialys turn golden brown. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before moving bialys to the wire cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining uncooked bialys. Eat immediately or within a day. Freeze any remaining bialys as they don’t keep well at room temperature past the first day.