The Sweet Road

The softest and tastiest Jerusalem bagel recipe you will want to make over and over again.

This recipe is broken up into easy to follow stages. I look forward to seeing everyone try and make this recipe themselves.

Ingredients & Steps
Step One:
– 1 cup warm water
– 1 tablespoon instant yeast
– 2 tablespoons sugar

1. Mix the above ingredients in the same bowl that you will continue making your bread in and set aside for 10-15 minutes, or until the yeast has become foamy.

Step Two:
– 3 1/2 – 4 cups of bread flour
– 1/4 cup whole milk
– 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (full fat)
– 1-2 tablespoons of mahlab spice (optional – can be found at any Arabic supermarket)
– 1 teaspoon of salt

2. Mix in the above ingredients once the yeast has become foamy and keep kneeding in a stand mixer for about 5-7 minutes or by hand for about 10-12 minutes, or until dough does not stick to the bowl anymore and the dough has become soft to touch.

3. Cover the dough with some olive oil and cover the bowl.

4. Put the dough in a warm area and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour or until the dough doubles in size.

5. After an hour separate the dough into 2 balls and roll the dough into balls.

6. Make a hole into the center of the dough ball and form the ka’ak, oval shape.

Step Three:
– Sesame Seeds
– 1 tablespoon Molasses
– 6 tablespoons warm water
– Baking tray lined with parchment paper or no lining

7. Take 2 separate plates and in one plate add sesame seeds that will be used to coat the ka’ak and in the other plate mix warm water and molasses until the molasses completely dissolves into the water.

8. Take one of the oval ka’aks and put it into the water and molasses mixture until fully coated.

9. Take the ka’ak and put it into the sesame mixture plate and completely coat the the ka’ak with sesame seeds.

10. Place the ka’ak onto the baking tray with about 1-2 inches in the center of the ka’ak to leave room for expansion in the oven when baking.

11. Bake in the oven at 400 until golden brown (15-20 minutes typically, but may vary).