Everything Bagel Da Bing

Dang, it was a hot one this weekend! Living in the Bay Area turns you into a wimp when it comes to extreme temperature swings. When you live at a constant 65 degrees, a weekend of 100 degree highs is… A LOT. This happens about once a year and it never gets easier. We made the incredibly poor choice of cranking our oven on to as hot as possible on Friday for pizza night. The pizza was excellent, as always, but I think it kept our house all toasty the entire weekend. I could barely tolerate a hot coffee in the morning and even boiling a pot of water turned the kitchen into a sauna. So recipe testing was completely out of the question. The positive outcome of this heatwave was that it forced me to finally enjoy a weekend doing absolutely nothing. When was the last time I did that?

I felt a little antsy not working but it was so hot I didn’t want to move and finally felt content lounging on the couch all weekend watching Jersey Shore Spin-offs and terrible Netflix teen rom-coms. Once you get sucked in you’re pretty stuck.

On Sunday it actually rained! And we had a little respite from the heat. Growing up in Ohio, Summer rain and thunderstorms are so normally. It barely rains in California (draught!), so waking up to rumbling skies and a gentle drizzle was so unexpected. Thankfully the temperature is still slowly dropping and I’m able to head back into the kitchen and turn the oven on without sweating buckets. Back to baking breads and cakes every day.

Before the heatwave, I “baked” up a few batches of these Everything Bagel Da Bing and they made excellent no cook breakfasts. They curb my New Jersey bagel cravings. Have you had da bing before? It’s a delicious leavened flatbread that’s stuffed with scallions, crusted with sesame seeds, and cooked on a flat top. You’ll find street stalls in Northern China with lines going for blocks, full of hungry customers waiting for these fluffy sesame crusted breads. You can eat them plain, dip into jook or soup, or slice in half and stuff them with eggs.

I added some dried garlic, flakey sea salt, and poppy seeds to the sesame seed crust for that irresistible everything bagel flavor!

Don’t skip the process of stuffing the dough with scallions and rolling into spirals. The scallions and sesame oil add a lot of amazing flavor to the dough and the spiral form helps the buns proof and get really nice and puffy. It’s important to use good quality bread flour here to achieve the best airy and chewy texture. My go to bread flour is always Bob’s Red Mill. Their flour makes a huge difference in my milk bread and Reuben’s pizza dough. We love it so much!

The cool thing about this bread is that it’s not baked in an oven. Much like english muffins, these are cooked on the stove top in a skillet. The buns cook on each side for a few minutes until crusty and golden brown. Only takes a few minutes! Stick some cream cheese and lox inside of these guys and for a minute you’ll think you’re in the parking lot of Hightstown Hot Bagels!

Everything Bagel Da Bing

Makes 10 buns

Dough:

275g (1 ¼ cup) warm water, about 105-degrees F

1 tsp Bob’s Red Mill Dry Active Yeast 

450g (3 1/2 cups) Bob’s Red Mill Bread Flour

½ tsp salt

30g canola oil (3 tbsp)

3 tbsp sesame oil, for brushing

1/2 cup chopped scallions, chives, or a combo of both

Everything bagel seasoning blend:

1 tbsp white Sesame seeds

1 tbsp black sesame seeds

1 tbsp Dried onion

1 tsp Poppy

1 tsp Salt

Steps:

1. In a small bowl, whisk to combine water and yeast. Allow the yeast to activate, until the surface is foamy, 10 minutes.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, whisk to combine flour and salt. Add oil and yeasty water. Mix on low speed to form a shaggy dough, 1 minute. Increase speed to medium high heat and knead into a smooth and tacky dough, 7 to 8 minutes. Alternatively, knead by hand until very smooth, 12 to 15 minutes.

3. Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pinch and pull the edges of the dough into a smooth ball. Spray a large mixing bowl with nonstick spray and transfer the dough to the bowl. Cover the dough with a damp, clean kitchen towel and allow to proof in a warm spot until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

4. Punch down the dough to deflate and form back into a smooth ball. On a light floured surface, divide the dough into 10 equal portions, for accuracy use a digital scale if you have one. Form all pieces of dough into tight, smooth balls. Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough into an 8” long oval. Dust with flour when needed. Brush the dough with sesame oil and sprinkle 2 teaspoons of scallions over the dough. Roll the dough in half lengthwise, pressing out any air, and then roll the dough into a tight coil. Place the coil on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining portions of dough.

5. Fill a shallow dish with everything bagel seasoning.

6. Flatten each coil with the palm of your hand, into a 3-inch round. Brush one side with water and then dip the wet side into the seasoning. Place the bun, seasoning-side up, back on the rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining buns. Cover the buns with a kitchen towel and let them proof a final time, 20 to 30 minutes.

7. Heat a 12-inch frying pan with a fitted lid over medium to medium low heat. Working in batches, place the buns, seasoning-side down, into the pan. *Cover with a lid and cook until the bottom is golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the lids and flip the buns. Cover again and cook until golden brown 3 to 4 minutes. Set the buns on a wire rack to cool and repeat with remaining buns. Serve warm or store in an airtight container until ready to serve.

*Everyone’s stove top is different, so you can then for the best heat setting with one bun first and then adjust if needed.

Thanks, Bob’s Red Mill, for sponsoring this post!