{Milk Bar Monday} Bagel Bombs
You guys there is a reason I primarily post desserts on here. Though I love my sweets, I am such a sucker for something delicious and savory. SO much so, that I find it nearly impossible to show any patience after finishing baking/cooking a savory dish. Where with sweets, I usually don’t have a problem waiting to sample until my photos are done and nice looking, I have zero self control with salty deliciousness. Like these bagel bombs. I just had to try one- right away…and then another. Then I thought, “I can still take pictures of only 6 bombs,” only to turn around to a hungry husband who wanted to try one too. Before we knew it, 4 of these were gone and I just figured the pictures I had snapped would have to do.
So even though I wasn’t able to take much time with these photos, I hope they do the trick in showing you how delicious these babies were. I mean addictively good. Imagine a crisp and also chewy everything bagel with warm, bacon-jalapeno cream cheese oozing out. I mean come on.
And would you all beleive that considering this is a Christina Tosi recipe, it’s actually very easy? I mean as simple as making the filling, making a simple yeast dough, filling- and baking. Compared to the multi-faceted cake and dessert recipes we’ve made before- this one was a piece of cake. (Though much easier than the actual cakes.)
The flavor-options are limitless, and some of the other MBM girls actually put their own spin on the filling based on what they had on hand. I followed the recipe almost exactly, subbing jalapenos for scallions and using a little less of the bacon grease that Tosi suggested. (I just couldn’t bear to use it all.)
I’m already scheming other ideas- like a sweet bagel bomb with cinnamon sugar and a sweet cream cheese filling. I love the idea of a basket of these on my brunch table don’t you?
Note: Not pictures- the bombs exploding cream cheese filling after baking. No worries- just stuff the filling back in after it’s cooled bit.
Please check out the beautiful “bombs” made by the other Milk Bar Monday Girls:
Cassie | Bake Your Day
Krissy | Krissy’s Creations
Erin | Big Fat Baker (with the original recipe as Tosi wrote it)
Bagel Bombs
Adapted slightly from the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook, by Christina Tosi
Ingredients
Bacon, Jalapeno, and Cream Cheese Stuffing:
- 8 slices bacon, the smokier the better
- 14 oz cream cheese
- 1 medium jalapeno pepper- minced
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
For the "Mother Dough":
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 1/8 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 3/4 cups water, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
For the Egg Wash Topping:
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon water, at room temperature
- 4 tsp each of dried garlic, dried onion, poppy seeds and sesame seeds
- 2 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
For the Cream Cheese Stuffing:
- Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until it's auburn brown and crunchy. Remove it from the pan and chop it into small pieces; set aside. (Reserve the bacon grease.)
- Put cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream it on medium speed. Pour in 1-2 tablespoons of reserved bacon fat and continue creaming at a lower speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the chopped bacon, jalapenos, 2 teaspoons sugar, and 1 teaspoons salt. Continue mixing until everything is incorporated and creamy.
- Scoop the cream cheese mixture onto a sheet pan in 16 even lumps. Freeze until rock hard (about 1 to 3 hours).
For the Mother Dough:
- Stir together 3 1/2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 1/8 teaspoons active dry yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer -- do it by hand, using the dough hook like a spoon. Continue stirring by hand as you add 1 3/4 cup water, mixing for 1 minute, until the mixture has come together in a shaggy mess.
- Engage the bowl and hook and have the machine mix the dough on the lowest speed for 3 minutes, or until the ball of dough is smoother and more cohesive. Then knead for 4 more minutes on the lowest speed. The dough should look like a wet ball and should bounce back softly when prodded.
- Brush a large bowl with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and transfer the dough ball into it. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough proof at room temperature for 45 minutes.
For the Topping and Assembling:
- Preheat the oven to 325 (F).
- Punch down and flatten the dough on a smooth, dry countertop. Use a dough cutter to divide the dough into 16 equal pieces. Use your fingers to gently stretch each piece of dough out into a mini pizza between 2 and 3 inches wide.
- Put a frozen cream cheese portion in the center of each dough circle. Bring up the edges of each round and pinch to seal so that the cream cheese plug is completely contained, then gently roll the ball between the palms of your hands to ensure that the bomb has a nice, round, dinner roll-y shape. Arrange the bombs 4 inches apart on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet.
- Whisk 1 egg together with 1/2 teaspoon of water to create the egg wash. Brush a generous coat of this wash on the buns. In a small, separate bowl, stir together the salt, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic and onion. Sprinkle a heavy, even coating of this mixture all over the bagel bombs.
- Bake the bagel bombs for 20 - 30 minutes. While in the oven, the bombs will turn golden and a few may have cream cheese explosions. (Once they have cooled just a little, you can use your fingers to tuck the cream cheese inside, or leave them as is.) Continue baking until you see this happen.
- Serve warm. Leftovers can be kept air-tight and warmed in a toaster oven before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
Wow! Those look so gooooood. And I bet the filling could be almost anything too! YUM!
Holy bagel these look soo good! i don’t think I could have waited to take pictures either!
Yours look incredible…definitely better-shaped than mine. I love that you still used the bacon for the filling. I loved these!
I’m pretty much equally bad when it comes to sweet and savory baked goods…though I have no doubt that I would probably devour all of these in one sitting. They really are the perfect brunch treat!
They look so so good! I want to try them as well :) May I ask what milk bar mondays are? :) Sorry if I am new around here!
Take care!
I should have shared that in the post :) Milk Bar Mondays is a group of bloggers that are baking our way through the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook,
Here is the link to all the previous posts: https://www.thebakerchick.com/category/milk-bar-mondays/
oh wow, that sound like a lot of fun :D haha! cool idea :) curious what will come up next week then ;)
thanks for the fast reply :D
As much as I love this savory version, your idea for a sweet cinnamon-sugar version is beyond amazing! I’d kill for a basket of those on my table right now :)
Audra,
Are you sure you don’t want to move back to Milwaukee and open a bakery?? :) You have me drooling!! Once my kitchen is finished being remodeled, I’m going to go baking crazy with all of your recipes!
I had never heard of a bagel bomb before today, but now that I’ve seen them on a couple blogs, I’m pretty sure I need to make them NOW!
I’ve tried Christina’s cinnamon bun pie and it is AMAZEBALLS! I’m sure everything she makes is just naturally fabulous
I totally blogged these last month some time. I’ve been making them steadily since I first bought the cookbook a year ago. I love it! I’ve made a few different fillings and they turn out great! Have fun experimenting with the fillings :-)
These bagel bombs look to die! I am definitely going to pull out my Milk Bar cook book. I think it is such a fun idea to go through a cook book. Too often I buy tons of cook books and just look at them. I actually made a goal for myself last night to make at least one recipe from a different cook book each week! And this recipe looks like it will be climbing up to the top!
That’s a great goal Elizabeth! :)
Ohhh man those look amazing!!
These look out-of-control good! My husband would be obsessed with them… I need to make them!
Yum, I am a sucker for bagels. Love this idea of a yummy gooey center!
Wow, these look really good. After seeing this I’m in the mood for lots and lots of carbs, which is odd because not more than 5 minutes ago I was craving fudge after looking at someone’s gluten free peanut butter brownie thing. Now my mind is all confused.. :P
But these do look really really delicious!
These look awesome! you and I have the exact opposite problem! I don’t make sweets because they will never make it to a photo shoot :)
I’m coming to live with you.
This is one of the best ideas. Why didn’t someone think of this a long time ago? I cannot wait for you to post some of your other variations. I think they all sound marvelous.
I LOVE that these are called “bagel bombs,” seriously, with a name like that, i doubt you can go wrong. especially when it’s stuffed with cream cheese. oh dear!!
I haven’t tried anything from the mother dough chapter yet, these make me want to get the book out and make these. Especially since you said the recipe was easy, most of the things I’ve made from Milk have taken quite a long time! :)
I swear it’s much much easier than the others. And while the sweets often leave me with a tooth ache from sugar- it’s amazing to finally have something salty and delicious! :)
What an awesome idea! These sound delicious Audra…love the name too!!
I can’t believe I didn’t know your blog! I’ve just discovered it and I have to say it’s amazing! I love all the recipes you’ve posted so far and I can’t wait to try them all! I’ll be following you from now on for sure. Great job!
xo, Elisa
I don’t know if these could be anymore fabulous!?! I’m 26 weeks pregnant and bagels have been my go-to favorite. I can’t wait to give these a try. Thank you for sharing another lovely recipe, my dear!
You gotta eat, right? I keep telling people it’s rough being a food blogger; however, they don’t believe me. I get responses like, “Yeah, must be real tough taste testing!” or “Sure, Jennie, eating anything you want must be a hard life.” They don’t understand the patience it takes to fight the urge to eat what you’re about to photograph, or fight off hungry husbands.
These bombs look amazing. I wouldn’t have been able to resist their lure, either.
I always think baking bagles is not easy, because you have to pass it into boiling water and honestly, the first (and unique) time I tried, the bagels were terrible. But I like this option,it’s like make “munchkins”…
Um, I’d be hopeless around a tray of these bombs!
Hi Audra, I tried these yesterday and they turned were absolutely delicious (as expected). I used salami instead of bacon as we can’t buy bacon where I live and then added red chilli flakes and a bit of mustard to the filling (didn’t use jalapenos as I didn’t have ’em on hand). They were just amazing, thanks for this wonderful recipe.
You’re so cool! I do not think I have read anything like this before. So nice to discover someone with unique thoughts on this subject. Seriously.. thank you for starting this up. This website is something that is needed on the internet, someone with a bit of originality!
Is there a way to do this without a hand mixer? Can I knead it by hand/how long would you suggest?
oh god you put 2 tsp salt in the ingredients list for the filling but I think it should be 1 tsp instead because this is way way too salty
Ok thanks for the feedback