Bialy (also bialystoker kuchen or cebularz in Poland) is a type of yeasted roll, being a traditional dish in Polish and Jewish cuisine. It is named after a polish city Bialystok. Bialys can be filled with anything, but traditionally you’ll find them filled with onions, garlic, poppy seeds and breadcrumbs. Bialys are (just like bagels, their boiled cousins) very popular over the Atlantic ocean, in New York City. They were brought to America by Jewish immigrants in the early 1900’s. And today we’re making sourdough bialys!
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Sourdough Bialys
- Total Time: 18 hrs 25 mins
- Yield: 9 bialys 1x
Ingredients
Starter
- 75 g whole grain wheat flour
- 75 g water
- 1 teaspoon of your mother starter
Dough
- all of the above starter (appr. 150 g)
- 400 g white wheat flour (or bread flour)
- 270 g water*
- 8 g salt
Filling
- 2 big onions or 4 smaller ones
- fat for sautéed onions
Instructions
Starter
- In the evening, prepare the starter. Mix 1 teaspoon of your (active) mother sourdough starter, 75 g of whole grain wheat flour and 75 g of water. Cover and leave to ferment overnight until doubled in volume and bubbly.
Dough
- In the morning, prepare the dough. Mix 270 g of water and all of the above starter. Add flour and mix until all the flour is incorporated and then knead the dough for 5 minutes. Next, leave the dough to rest for 1 hour.
- Once one hour has passed, add salt and incorporate it well into the dough. Also, check if the dough is stiff and it needs more water. Now leave the dough to rise until almost doubled in volume, puffed and airy. If you want, you can perform several stretch and folds during the rise – it will help the dough to get more strength. My dough needed 5 hours to rise, your might take less or more, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
- Once the dough is risen, use your plastic dough spatula to gently take it out to the unfloured working surface. Dust the upper surface of the dough with flour and using your bench knife or dough spatula divide it into 9 pieces, each weighting approximately 85 g. Shape a roll from each piece of the dough – see the left photo below. Dust the rolls with flour, cover them with a kitchen cloth and leave to rest for an hour.
- In the meantime, sauté the onions and preheat the baking stone to the maximum temperature of you oven. Sauté the onions until nicely colored and softened. Feel free to add some herbs, spices or poppy seeds as well.
- When the dough has rested and your stone has been preheated, start shaping the bialys. Dust the working surface first. Work with one piece of the dough at the time. First, dust the top surface of the roll and then flip it on dusted side down. Next, make a rim at about 1.5-2 cm away from the edge and use your fingers to flatten the middle of the dough. Make sure the middle part is very thin, you don’t want the dough to puff up in the middle and get the onions out all over the place. Place each shaped bialy on the parchment paper and fill the indentation with roasted onions.
- Transfer the parchment paper with a pizza peel onto the hot baking stone and lower the temperature to 240°C (465°F). Bake for 20 minutes or until nicely colored.
Notes
- Starter for the dough was prepared in the evening and left to rise overnight. The dough was mixed in the morning, left to double in volume, preshaped into rolls, left to rest, shaped and baked immediately on a baking stone.
- Adjust the water qauntities to the absorption needs of your flour. My flour doesn’t absorb much, the dough was quite dynamic and soft at 65%. You should aim for the dough that is neither soft nor stiff.
- Prep Time: 18 hrs 5 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: bread
- Cuisine: Polish, Jewish
Looking at my semolina sourdough bread post, it looks I’ve never returned from Sicily 🙂 Well, I didn’t in a way. The memories of beautiful Sicily and its gorgeous landscape and spending time and creating new projects with Clear Sicily team are still so alive. More of the Sicily is coming in the next months and I invite you to follow me on the social media (Facebook, Instagram), where I post the glimpses of my bread adventures. There is one new adventure just around the corner as I’m soon off to the French countryside to bake some bread in a food wired oven – so stay tuned!
I’m a big fan of pizzas (even more than of a loaf of bread, but don’t tell anyone, OK?) and I’m always happy to find new shapes and flavors. Bialy is one of those shapes (look at those mini pizzas!) and there is just something magical about the roasted onion in the bread. Who says you can’t make bialy pizza dough?
And now for the recipe of today’s post.
Sourdough Bialys
Baking Schedule
Starter for the dough was prepared in the evening and left to rise overnight. The dough was mixed in the morning, left to double in volume, preshaped into rolls, left to rest, shaped and baked immediately on a baking stone.
Ingredients
Yields: 9 bialys
Starter
- 75 g whole grain wheat flour
- 75 g water
- 1 teaspoon of your mother starter
Dough
- all of the above starter (appr. 150 g)
- 400 g white wheat flour (or bread flour)
- 270 g water*
- 8 g salt
*Adjust the water quantities to the absorption needs of your flour. My flour doesn’t absorb much, the dough was quite dynamic and soft at 65%. You should aim for the dough that is neither soft nor stiff.
Filling
- 2 big onions or 4 smaller ones
- fat for sautéed onions
Instructions
Starter
- In the evening, prepare the sourdough starter. Mix 1 teaspoon of your mother active sourdough starter, 75 g of whole grain wheat flour and 75 g of water. Cover and leave to ferment overnight until doubled in volume and bubbly.
Dough
- In the morning, prepare the dough. Mix 270 g of water and all of the above starter. Add flour and mix until all the flour is incorporated and then knead the dough for 5 minutes. Next, leave the dough to rest for 1 hour.
- Once one hour has passed, add salt and incorporate it well into the dough. Also, check if the dough is stiff and it needs more water. Now leave the dough to rise until almost doubled in volume, puffed and airy. If you want, you can perform several stretch and folds during the rise – it will help the dough to get more strength. My dough needed 5 hours to rise, your might take less or more, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
- Once the dough is risen, use your plastic dough spatula to gently take it out to the unfloured working surface. Dust the upper surface of the dough with flour and using your bench knife or dough spatula divide it into 9 pieces, each weighting approximately 85 g. Shape a roll from each piece of the dough – see the left photo below. Dust the rolls with flour, cover them with a kitchen cloth and let dough rest for an hour.
- In the meantime, sauté the onions and preheat the baking stone to the maximum temperature of you oven. Sauté the onions until nicely colored and softened. Feel free to add some herbs, spices or poppy seeds as well.
- When the dough has rested and your stone has been preheated, start shaping the bialys. Dust the working surface first. Work with one piece of the dough at the time. First, dust the top surface of the roll and then flip it on dusted side down.
- Next, make a rim at about 1.5-2 cm away from the edge and use your fingers to flatten the middle of the shaped dough balls. Make sure the middle part is very thin, you don’t want the dough to puff up in the middle and get the onions out all over the place.
- Place each shaped bialy on the parchment paper and fill the indentation with roasted onion filling.
- Transfer the parchment paper with a pizza peel onto the hot baking stone and lower the temperature to 240°C (465°F). Bake for 20 minutes or until nicely colored.
Eat bialys asap for best results!
I have a recipe for a sourdough discard pizza crust, by the way, if you love pizza like I do!
Tips for Eating Your Sourdough Bialy
To make an even more delicious recipe:
- Use butter or cream cheese like you would on a bagel
- Eat with your favorite jam
- Like a bagel, you can put smoked salmon and capers on top
- You can also use caramelized onions if you want more flavor compared to roasted onions. Caramelized onions can provide texture, too
- Sauteed onions also work if you don’t want the depth of caramelized onions
- Add onion powder if you want that extra taste
Happy baking and bon appetit!
Have you ever tried a sourdough bialy?
Sourdough Bialy FAQs
What is the difference between a bagel and a bialy?
A bagel and a bialy are both traditional baked goods with Jewish origins, but they have distinct differences in their shape, texture, and filling.
A bagel is a ring-shaped bread with a chewy texture, a dense interior, and a shiny crust. Bagels are usually boiled before they are baked, which gives them their characteristic chewiness. They can be plain or flavored with toppings such as sesame seeds, poppy seeds, onion, garlic, or everything seasoning. Bagels are often sliced and toasted before serving and are commonly eaten with cream cheese or as the base for a sandwich.
A bialy, on the other hand, is a round, flat bread with a depressed center and a chewy texture. Unlike bagels, bialys are not boiled before they are baked, so they have a softer crust. The center of a bialy is filled with a mixture of onions and sometimes poppy seeds. Bialys are usually eaten fresh and plain or with a spread like cream cheese or butter.
Are bialys better for you than bagels?
When it comes to nutrition, bialys and bagels are both relatively high in carbohydrates and calories, so neither one is considered a particularly healthy food. Neither bialys nor bagels are particularly healthy foods, but if you are trying to choose between the two, bialys may be a slightly better choice due to their lower calorie and carbohydrate content. However, it’s important to be mindful of the filling in bialys and the toppings added to bagels, as these can significantly impact their nutritional value.
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