We’ve all been there. It’s one of the two weekend mornings, and you decided to pick up a dozen everything bagels, only to return with a lesser seeded variety because they were sold out. Or worse, they only have plains. (In those moments, I’ve reconsidered even buying bagels.) Instead of resigning yourself to eating bagels you don’t love, turn plain bagels into any seeded variety you want, in five minutes.
I have a very expressive face, and the bagel shop staff must have seen my anguish play across it the last time they informed me they were out of the everythings. “Give me two minutes and I’ll make it for you,” said a kind bagel angel. As a baking professional who’s made many a bagel in my time, this sounded bananas to me, so obviously I said yes, and he did it! He walked into the kitchen with two plain bagels, and walked out with two everythings. And so can you.
Unless the dough is flavored, all seeded bagels start out the same– plain. When making bagels, seeding it is the very last step before the bagels jump in the oven. The seeds stick a bit to the residual moisture from boiling the dough, but to further secure the seeds and offer a shiny finish, many bagels are given a light wash of egg white. A thin coating of egg white is flavorless, and cooks and dries within minutes in a hot oven. This means you can coat your bagels in seeds after the fact too, without overcooking your bagels. In fact, if you were going to toast your bagel anyway, now you’re multitasking.
Unpack the plain bagels from the store, and set them up on a parchment lined sheet tray. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Use the oven if your dealing with a large amount of bagels, and use a toaster oven (or air fryer set to “Bake”) if you’re just working with one or two. Depending on how many bagels you’re coating, dump roughly one cup of everything bagel seasoning into a bowl wide enough to fit the bagel for dipping. (By all means, use any topping you love, poppy seeds, garlic chips, dried onion, or sesame. This is your party.)
In a smaller bowl, add one egg white and scramble it lightly to loosen it up. Using a pastry brush, or something like it, brush a coating of egg wash onto the bagel. Anywhere you put egg white, the seeds will stick. If you want it all over, flip the dang thing and brush the bottom too. Dip the bagel into the seasoning bowl. Tilt and turn the bagel into the seeds to coat it as desired. Place the bagel onto the baking sheet, and bake for three to five minutes to cook the egg wash and toast the topping. Enjoy the bagel you wanted, hot out of the oven.