This past fall, while teaching cooking classes, I met a man named Len, who loved to bake and who always showed up to class a few minutes early, ready to help with any remaining prep work, always with some sort of baking adventure to recount. Before the last class, Len asked me if I had ever made bialys, which he had learned to make at a “bagels and bialys” cooking class held at the local community college. When I told Len I hadn’t, he assured me bialys were very simple to make — much simpler than bagels as they don’t require boiling. He sent me the recipe later that night.
What is a bialy?
A bialy is a type of bread, similar in size and shape to a bagel, containing a depressed center, which is filled with sautéed onions, poppyseeds, and fresh bread crumbs. Bialys originate from Bialystok, Poland and are a traditional dish of the Polish Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. While they are often likened to bagels, they taste more like a roll. They’re not as chewy and are much lighter in texture than a bagel.
Overnight, No-Knead Bialy Method
This bialy recipe is very similar to the Jim Lahey no-knead pizza dough recipe. As you know, I love the Lahey no-knead, slow-rise technique, which creates beautiful air pockets in the final product, whether it’s a boule, a pizza, or something else. The overnight method works beautifully for bialys and, as it turns out, so does the no-knead method.
How to Make Bialys
How to eat a bialy?
Bialys can be eaten on their own, without a smear of butter or cream cheese. That said, here are a few more ideas:
Halve and toast day-old bialys; then spread with softened butter or cream cheese. Bialy egg sandwich: Broil one half covered with a slice of cheddar; broil the other half naked. Slide a fried egg onto the toasty, naked half, and hit it with a healthy squirt of Sriracha. Top with the cheesed half. Enjoy.Halve it, spread it with cream cheese, and top it with gravlax, capers, onions, chives and lemons. So good.
5 More No-Knead Bread Recipes to Try
All the bread recipes right here: Bread Recipes Here’s the play-by-play: Mix the dough and let it rise at room temperature for 12 hours. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Portion the dough into 18 (roughly) equal pieces. Ball each piece up. While the balls rest for another 45 minutes, get on with the filling: Sauté an onion. Then add poppy seeds and bread crumbs. Make a well into the center of each bialy. Fill each will with the poppyseed filling mixture. Transfer to preheated Baking Steel or pizza stone and bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until lightly golden. Eat as you wish. Here are a few ideas … … topped with cream cheese, gravlax, capers, onions, chives, lemon. … or melted cheddar, fried egg, and sriracha: Note: The first batch I made puffed way up, which is totally fine and delicious, but maybe not as traditional. Be sure to really press down and stretch out that center area while you are shaping if you want that more traditional bialy shape. 4.9 from 18 reviews Krebs recommends using a high-protein flour. For the Lahey dough and for these bialys, I am partial to Tipo 00 flour. As always, SAF instant yeast is my preference. Notes: You don’t have to make these bialys using the no-knead, long, slow rise method. If you want to make them in the same day, increase the yeast to 2 teaspoons, and decrease the water to 2¾ cups. Knead the dough by hand or in a mixer until smooth and elastic. Let it rise for two hours, then proceed with the recipe.
