These NYC-style rainbow bagels are definitely more fun to eat than your average bagel! They were all the rage in Brooklyn several years ago. They can still be found in a few bagel shops today, but they’re not a common sight. Impress your friends and family with rainbow bagels and glitter cream cheese for a colorful breakfast!
The recipe to creating the next hype food is simple.
- Get a classic food item
- Add a lot of colors and sparkles to it
- ???
- Profit
… or something like that haha. I never got the chance to try the original rainbow bagels in Brooklyn back when I was living in New York, so I was determined to recreate it someday. I adapted this recipe from my favorite bagel recipe that I’ve been using regularly from Sophisticated Gourmet. He proved that it truly is possible to recreate a NYC-style bagel from anywhere in the world (even California, which is notorious for having not-so-great bagels)!
To learn the technique, I watched this video from the OGs of the Rainbow Bagel – The Bagel Store. It’s a short clip, but essentially, just stack the flattened colors on top of each other, then cut strips through the layers of the dough to form a circular shape that is the bagel. The more twists you do on the strip, the cooler the effect will be. I didn’t use quite as many layers as they did, but I still liked the result of how my bagels turned out!
Tips:
- There are two ways to combine the food coloring. One way is to divide the measurements of the dough in this recipe into 5 parts (one for each color), and create 5 different doughs by mixing the food coloring in early on for an even distribution.
- The second way is after creating the dough, divide into 5 separate parts and add the food coloring then. The first way will be a little annoying to measure everything out but easier on your hands, and the second way will be more difficult to knead in the colors after the dough has been formed. This recipe will feature the second way but I have tried both ways and the result is the same.
Rainbow Bagels
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 tsp active dry yeast 6g
- 4 1/2 tsp granulated sugar 19g
- 1 1/2 cups warm water 360ml
- 1 1/2 tsp salt 6g
- food coloring ie: red, green, blue, orange, purple
Cream Cheese
- 1 block cream cheese 250g
- edible glitter, sprinkles, Funfetti optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine 120 ml warm water, sugar, and active dry yeast. Do not let it mix and let it sit undisturbed for about 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture.
- Pour 80ml of warm water into the well. If your dough is too dry, continue adding the remainder of the water (60ml).
- Knead each dough for about 5 minutes until it is smooth and elastic to form a stiff and firm dough. When the dough is combined somewhat evenly, split into 5 equal parts and add 2 drops of each food coloring to each dough. Continue kneading for another 5-10 minutes or until the color is evenly distributed.
- Cover each dough and let it proof in a warm place for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size. Punch the dough down and let proof for another 10 minutes.
- With a rolling pin, roll each dough into a thin rectangular sheet, about 1" (2.5cm) thick. Stack the colors on top of each other and flatten slightly. Cut lengthwise into strips, and roll each piece into a evenly thick long rope about 8"-10" (20cm – 25cm)
- Twist the ends of the rope together, overlapping slightly. Put your hand in the center of the hole and use your palm to roll the rope back and forth to seal the overlapped ends. Repeat for the rest of the dough. Cover and rest for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF / 220ºC. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and reduce the heat. Carefully lower the bagels in with a slotted spoon and boil for 2 minutes on each side. For a softer bagel, lower the boiling time to 1 minute per side. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes. To preserve the color, gently cover the bagels with aluminum foil. Check frequently to ensure that the bagels are not browning too much. If it is, lower the temperature or cook for a shorter amount of time. Let cool on a wire rack.
- Create the rainbow cream cheese by combining cream cheese of your choice and edible glitter, sprinkles, or Funfetti. Slice bagels, spread the cream cheese mixture, and enjoy!