The Baker Chick

Baking up a delicious life.

{Milk Bar Monday} Bagel Bombs

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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.

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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.

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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.)

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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.)

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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?

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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)

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Print
Bagel Bombs
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Yield: 16 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":
  • 3½ cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1⅛ teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1¾ cups water, at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
For the Egg Wash Topping:
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • ½ 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:
  1. 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.)
  2. 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.
  3. 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:
  1. Stir together 3½ cups flour, 1 tablespoon salt, 1⅛ 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 1¾ cup water, mixing for 1 minute, until the mixture has come together in a shaggy mess.
  2. 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.
  3. 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:
  1. Preheat the oven to 325 (F).
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Whisk 1 egg together with ½ 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Serve warm. Leftovers can be kept air-tight and warmed in a toaster oven before serving.
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Comments

  4. 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!

    Reply

  6. 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 :)

    Reply

  7. 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!

    Reply

  8. 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!

    Reply

  10. 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 :-)

    Reply

  11. 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!

    Reply

  15. 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!

    Reply

  20. 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! :)

    Reply

    • 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! :)

      Reply

  22. 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

    Reply

  23. 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!

    Reply

  24. 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.

    Reply

  25. 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”…

    Reply

  27. 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.

    Reply

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