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.

Sourdough Bialys Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

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

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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.

Author: Natasha Krajnc
Prep Time: 18 hrs 5 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Category: bread
Cuisine: Polish, Jewish