Bialy Recipe: A Step by Step Guide
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This post shows you step-by-step with lots of guidance, how to make a simple, foolproof, and delicious bialy recipe at home using a no-knead, overnight method. Let’s do this!
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
- Whisk together flour, salt, and instant yeast. Add water. Stir to combine. Let rise at room temperature.
- Twelve hours later the dough will have doubled in volume, and its surface will be dimpled with bubbles.
- Portion the dough and ball up each portion.
- Make the onion, poppyseed, bread crumb filling.
- Make a well in the center of each portioned dough ball; then fill with the onion mixture.
- Bake on a preheated Baking Steel for best results.
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
- My Mother’s Peasant Bread
- Foolproof Homemade Bagels
- Easy, Homemade Pita Bread
- The Best, No-Knead Brioche Buns
- Overnight Refrigerator Focaccia = The Best Focaccia
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.
Bialy Recipe: A Step by Step Guide
- Total Time: 13 hours 22 minutes
- Yield: 18 bialys
Description
Recipe slightly adapted from Paul Krebs of Schenectady County Community College. Method adapted from Jim Lahey.
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.
Ingredients
for the bialys:
- 1000 g (7.5 cups) bread, all-purpose or tipo 00 flour
- 20 g (5 teaspoons) kosher salt
- 4 g (1 teaspoon) instant yeast* (see notes above)
- 3 cups (680 g) water** (see notes above)
for the filling:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or neutral oil (grapeseed, canola, etc.)
- 2 small onions, diced
- kosher salt
- ¼ cup fresh bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds plus more for sprinkling
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, salt and yeast together. Add the water. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined, then knead gently with your hands to make sure all of the flour is incorporated. The dough should stick to your hands.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for at least 12 hours. When dough has risen, remove plastic wrap, and turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Portion dough into 90 g pieces.
- Using lightly floured hands or enough flour to keep dough from sticking to you and your work surface, shape each portion into a ball. Cover balls with plastic wrap, then let rest for 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place a baking stone or Baking Steel in your oven. It’s OK if you don’t have one. Preheat oven to 450ºF if you’re using a stone or Steel, otherwise, preheat to 500ºF.
- Make the filling: Heat the oil over medium or low heat. Add onion and sauté slowly until translucent. Add a pinch of salt. Continue to cook until onion is only slightly brown — I always overdo it…better to err on the side of underdone because the onions burn quickly once they are in the oven. Add breadcrumbs and poppy seeds to the pan. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- Shape your bialys into 5-inch rounds with a raised rim and thin center: I do this by first punching down in the center of each dough ball when it is resting on my work surface. Then I lift up the round and with my thumbs in the center of the dough, I gently stretch the dough out so that the center begins looking paper thin, while the rim stays ballooned. It will take a little practice getting your shaping technique/method down, but the truth is that it doesn’t really matter unless you are looking for that really traditional bialy shape — they will taste delicious regardless of the shape.
- After shaping each one, place it on a parchment-lined baking peel. When you have five or six on your peel, brush each ball lightly with water. Sprinkle sides with extra poppy seeds. Spoon filling into center or scatter it over the top of each. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes depending on oven, baking vessel, etc.
- When lightly golden, remove bialys from oven, let cool on wire rack and repeat baking process with remaining dough balls.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
115 Comments on “Bialy Recipe: A Step by Step Guide”
When sliced, the texture resembles A English muffin. I wonder, are they similar?
It does actually! More in look than in taste, but I read somewhere online that the bialy is sort of a cross between a bagel and an English muffin. I love a good english muffin, which is maybe why I love these bialys so much. I just looked at the English muffin recipe on my blog, which I haven’t made in ages, and it has milk and is a little fussier. Honestly, I would be inclined to try this recipe in english muffin rings stovetop before making that other recipe again…I think I’ve gotten lazy: https://alexandracooks.com/2013/05/23/english-muffins-with-simple-strawberry-jam-%E2%80%A2-wren-%E2%80%A2-when-my-mother-comes-to-visit/
What a great recipe! I can think of so many ways to enjoy them and love that they aren’t “tough” like a bagel.
Exactly — I love a good bagel, but there is something so nice about the bialy texture — crisp crust, light and airy center.
Wow, I’ve never heard of bialys, but they sound wonderful. Last Sunday evening I watch the Great British Bakeoff, I think it was called, and they did all sort of breads, including rye rolls, ciabatta, and also a filled bread. It was inspiring and there is so much to learn! I am putting these bialys on the list.
So fun! I wonder if I can find that Bakeoff show through my roku…sounds so fun! I just bought two bags of rye flour, too. I am craving that sort of bread right now. Also, hieee!
It was on PBS right before Downton Abbey.
Perfect! Then I should be able to find it. Haven’t started the latest season of Downton yet. We’re making our way through the Honorable Woman, but Downton/Bakeoff will be next 🙂
These look amazing!! I love Bialys and it’s so hard to find “real” ones. I will try these!
It is SO hard. I’ve had one bialy in NYC prior to making these at home. I think we will see more stores selling them in the near future…I hope at least.
You need to go to Kossars on the lower east side…home of authentic old world bialy’s
I do need to go to Kossars! I have been reading about them.
Wow, these look amazing….I’m a sucker for bread and when you add something savory! I bet they would be amazing with some curd or jam after you toasted them too! I watched that British baking show too, I was struck by how nice and polite everyone was to each other! It wasn’t cutthroat which made it all the more fun to watch! lol!
Yes! I mean, they are good with just butter, but I’ve been making this curried apple chutney, and they are so good with just a smear of that along with cream cheese or on its own. I need to watch that show! xoxo
I love bialys and have never made them. Combining your friend’s recipe with the Lahey is just brilliant. Cannot wait. Like the Lahey bread, can you use the dough over a few days, or do you recommend baking them all at once?
That’s a good question, Liz! There is proportionally more yeast in this recipe than in lahey’s, which makes me feel it wouldn’t last as long in the fridge as Lahey’s. Also, because the balls are smaller, I think they might grow a little too quickly. If you want to store the dough, I would suggest punching it down after the 12-hr rise and storing it in larger portions — maybe divide the whole batch into quarters? Just be sure to store each portion in a large enough container because the dough will grow in the fridge. Hope that helps!
I just yesterday saw a spread on Bialys (Saveur? BA? Not sure.) and decided that I needed to try them immediately. So yeah, you’re kind of a mind reader. And I have a double batch of Lahey’s no-knead bread bubbling up on my counter as we speak… Great minds, and all that. 🙂
Amazing! How fun to have a double batch of Lahey dough on hand…endless possibilities. And I’ll have to look for that spread — I get both BA and Saveur. How could I have missed it?! I do have a stack of magazines I need to catch up on.
These look superb, I love Lahey’s slow rise technique which is so adaptable to different rise times. I’ll have to make these as soon as the humidity eases off.
Yes, definitely! They are so fun to have on hand and really pretty easy.
These sounds fabulous! I have made Jim Lahey’s bread before, at altitude. It worked really well, so I hope this is just as successful.
Alexandra – these look so soft and fresh! I grew up on fresh baked bread and can only imagine how good they taste! Your little helper is the cutest btw 🙂
Wow! I’m drooling right now! Nothing beat fresh baked yeast doughs. Yum!
I just bought some Caputo OO flour and your recipe came at the perfect time. Many years ago there was a bagel shop in San Carlos, San Diego called Baltimore Bagels (I think) and they made the best deli sandwiches on bialys. I haven’t seen a bialy in years and yours look just as I remember them, thank you for the memory – and the clear directions. My granddaughters are in for a treat!
Fun! The Caputo 00 flour really is something special. I can feel the difference in the way the dough handles. I hope your granddaughters like them! There is silence at the table when I serve these to my kiddos.
I just made these for lunch! They are delicious. We cant stop eating them. Will make this again for sure.
Yay! Makes me so happy! We are still on our bialy bender — bringing the dough to VT this weekend. Can’t wait!
OMG! They look so yummy!
Just pulled the last of the Bialys out of the oven and I am sitting here in amazement. Why haven’t I made these before? Probably because I didn’t know what a Bialy was. I am a convert now! They are delicious.
Two comments – the part about making the thin thingie in the middle without deflating the bubbles in the dough is harder than it sounds. But even though you think you have deflated the dough totally, it is worth the effort. The bubbles are there and they spring up magnificently in the oven. And strangely, the Bialys come out way rounder than when they go into the oven. Magic.
Hooray for dough that rises on the counter while I sleep. And thank you Alexandra for the recipe and photos.
Kate, I felt the same exact way! I don’t know that I’ll ever attempt making bagels again — these are so easy and tasty.
Thank you for your comments re shaping — the first ones I made did not have that thin center, so I had to be much more forceful with the remaining batches, but you are right, the dough is forgiving and they spring right up in the oven.
Have you used the lahey dough for pizza? I love the way that dough puffs in the oven, too. Thank you for your kind comment 🙂
Great recipe – stunning photography!
Rxx
http://www.peppermintdolly.com
These look really interesting! And I am really pleased to see you using metric weights too. Which brings me to my question: You specify 1000g flour and 20g salt. That’s the typical baker’s 2%. But elsewhere you note that the salt is doubled (which would be needed for a bagely like product. You also note 3 cups of water – 750g or a 75% hydration -quite wet!- yet the pics look like its more in the 65% range – not super loose but not spilling out either. So could you please clarify about the salt and the water ratios?
I’m also thinking that a sourdough version of this could be achieved using 70g starter, 980g flour and a 12 hour rise.
Hi! OK, love that you brought up percentages. I just reread my post — do I mention that the salt is doubled? I note that the salt is 4 teaspoons for the Lahey recipe and 5 teaspoons for the bialy recipe. I don’t think I mentioned the salt is doubled anywhere? But I do double the yeast compared to Lahey: Lahey uses 1/2 teaspoon yeast for his 18-hr rise pizza dough, and I use 1 teaspoon of yeast for the bialy dough because I worry that the higher amount of salt (1 teaspoon more) might inhibit the rising.
As for the water, I do use 3 cups of water. This creates a dough ball (before rising) that is wet and sticky but not soupy. And when the dough rises, it’s light and airy, and when it is punched down, it definitely is still a little sticky, but extra flour takes care of any sticking. I am guessing that because I am using tipo 00 flour, the dough handles a little differently. From what I’ve read, tipo 00 flour hydrates better/faster (? — you probably know the proper term) than other flours, which might be why it isn’t too loose/wet.
Does that make sense? Let me know if it doesn’t. Would love to discuss this further 🙂
This is indeed interesting stuff. Definitely worth digging into.
I got my ‘extra salt’ info from your introductory remark: “Each recipe, too, calls for 1000 grams of flour, and each goes big on the salt: 4 teaspoons of sea salt for Lahey’s, 5 teaspoons of kosher salt for the bialys”. A teaspoon of kosher salt (that I have anyway) weighs 7g. So 3 tsp salt would be close to the baker’s bread %, 4 (28g) would be 2.8% and 5 would be 3.5%. Since these are in the salt spectrum of bagels, this makes a lot of sense. I was though wondering about the possibility of going with 2% salt for the first rise and then adding this extra 8-15g of salt when it is punched down and shaped into the individual bialys. What do you think?
So for the water – 3 cups is 760g therefore its a 76% hydration – or “wet but manageable” would that be right?
I wanted to explore this because with just flour, water and salt (at 2%) I would end up making something that I already do and I’m always looking into new things – and this looks cool. So the increased salt – given its 7g/tsp – I can see this making a difference. On the other hand you may be using chunky salt so the weight would be less per tsp. Could you weigh your tsp of salt? That might clarify things.
Hi! Sorry for the delay here. Very interesting to hear your remarks re percentages — it would do me well to study this a bit more. OK, I do use 20 g of kosher salt in this recipe, and I just double checked, but my teaspons of kosher salt weigh 4 g each. I don’t know how to advise re adding more salt, because I find the ratio to be spot on here, and I love salt — like, I butter toast in the morning and sprinkle it with salt. This salt-to-flour ratio is probaly the highest I’ve ever gone, but I wouldn’t be opposed to adding more, and I would love to hear how it works out for you.
As for the water, I just weighed my 3 cups and it came out to 686 g.
Hope that helps! Let me know what you discover.
My bagel store has bialys, but I’ve never ordered on because I didn’t know what they are, but now that I know, I’m all over it. This looks like a great recipe!
This is making me so hungry! These look WONDERFUL! Are they really that simple?? So fantastic. Look at the air bubbles you pulled off, that texture! Did you bake them on your Steel? Can’t wait to find some baking time this weekend. I’m definitely taking any day-olds down the egg-and-cheese path…. but maybe just toasted with butter… but maybe with goat’s cheese… yum! Thanks for sharing
Yes, they are!! I promise, though the shaping does take a bit of practice. And yes, baked on the Steel. I was worried that the Steel was too powerful for these little guys, but as long as you take care to stretch out that center so that it is nearly paper thin, the Steel works beautifully. Goat cheese sounds so good.
I’ve never heard of these before, but I’m definitely tempted to make them! Gorgeous photos. I adore salt and I adore a savory breakfast. I make bagels regularly (maybe mine are a cheater version, but they’re SO easy). I also mess around with Lahey dough and usually add whole wheat. I’ve had great success with Smitten Kitchen’s version of his pizza dough with whole wheat – so I’m going to try that here and see what happens.
Thank you, Margo! I adore salt, too, and I think this recipe has the highest ratio of flour-to-salt I’ve used. The Lahey dough is amazingly adaptable, right? Let me know how they turn out!
Do you really bake them for 8 minutes at 500 degrees? I don’t have a baking stone, but I fell like in my oven they would burn at that heat in 2 minutes… but I’ve also never made them before, so just asking.
Hi Rachel,
I use my baking steel, so I bake them at 450 for 8-10 min directly on the steel (or actually with a layer of parchment paper in between steel and bialys for easy transfer in and out of the oven). I did do one batch at 500 on a baking sheet to see what it would be like for people who don’t have a stone or steel, and that temperature and time was about right for the one batch I tried. If you know your oven, however, and know that it runs hot, I would try a batch at 450 to start or start one batch at 500, then decrease temperature as needed. You could start with baking just 4 bialys on a sheetpan until you figure out the timing/temperature, or just keep a close eye on them — start checking after 5 minutes. Hope that helps!
Hey Alexandra!
I tried the recipe as is (but a much smaller batch) and you were right! The temperature was perfect! I am only a novice baker and have never baked anything and such a high temperature before, so I was nervous. But they turned out great! I’ve never baked anything so soft! 🙂 They are currently cooling on my counter. I can’t wait to eat them!! Thanks for the awesome recipe! I’m totally sharing this with my friends on Facebook and Pintrest! 🙂
Yay! I’m so happy to hear this, Rachel! And nice call on making a smaller batch — good to know that it can be scaled back successfully. And I know, aren’t they so soft and delicious?! So glad you had success!
Talk about naive. I didn’t even know what bialys were. They do look so good though.
Would you believe I was switching back and forth between your site and google reading about bialys. I even had to look up the proper pronunciation. LOL!
Tried making these today and had the same concerns you did…no sugar/no heat to activate the yeast (not even the oven light)…right now 2.5 hours in and no discernible rise. Maybe I’m an impatient baker, but I want to eat those bialy’s now!!!!! Patience, patience.
Patience is right! Did you do the long, slow overnight rise? Or did you up the yeast, knead the dough, and let it rise for just a couple of hours?
For those of you who are smitten by this amazing treat ( I have been eating them for over 40 years), Mimi Sheraton wrote a wonderful book about Bialy’s and their history called :The Bialy Eaters: The Story of a Bread and a Lost World. It’s a great read.
I have been meaning to update this post with that book information, and I have been meaning to read that book as well. I saw it reviewed in Saveur and Serious Eats, and I am dying to get my hands on it.
What if I only have active dry yeast? Will the recipe work if I go through the normal yeast proofing process?
These look great! My friend is in the hospital, with no dietary restrictions. I am thinking I might make this tonight, in order to bring some to her tomorrow.
Hi Sara!
You actually can use active dry yeast here. I know theoretically you are supposed to proof active dry yeast with water, but I have used active dry yeast and instant yeast interchangeably with no problem in these doughs that call for long slow rises, so you should be good to go! Mix the dough tonight, and it should look like the third photo by morning. If your dough is not looking like it has made as much progress as it needs to, try to stick it in a warm spot for an hour or so. I like to preheat the oven for just a minute — it won’t even get above 100º and you should be able to touch the grates with no problem — and then stick the bowl of dough in there to help it along. Hope that helps. Let me know if there is anything else!
New baker – second recipe of my new years reso to make a bread each month….
These were GREAT! Everyone loved them tonight and the recipe is pretty easy. I used the dry active yeast instead and no problems.
Wonderful to hear this, Suzanne! Glad the active dry yeast worked out well for you.
I’m making my second batch of these today. I’m now a Jim Lahey follower…made 2 loaves of his no knead bread yesterday (on plain, one whole wheat). Patience is the only ingredient missing in the recipe. Other than that it’s very easy, although a bit intimidating to look at on first read.
The results are amazing, and my family and friends were impressed beyond words. Me, I’m just happy to be able to have a source for these amazing treats, being I’m 1500 miles away from the Lower East Side of NY!. Plain, buttered, smeared with cream cheese, topped with lox, or a nice sunny side egg…even as a sandwich bread…bialy’s rule!!!
So happy to hear this! I know, the Jim Lahey method changed my life. Have you made his pizza dough? SO good. But these bialys are one of my favorites. I am in the Albany area, and as far as I know, there isn’t a place to get a bialy nearby. Thanks for writing in!
I just ate my bialys yummy! Love them. Made half batch in bread machine. Use quick two hour tips bur just left dough in bread machine for over night and day at work. (Covered in plastic Wrap.) Came out lovely!
I’m making these for my dad’s birthday brunch tomorrow! Will report back… I’m sure they’ll be a hit. I’m so excited that it seems easy enough for me to pull of 🙂 🙂 Happy weekend, Ali!
Yay! I hope they turn out well, Sophie! They will be a snap for you. Happy weekend to you, and happy Birthday to your dad! Wren turns 2 on Sunday. xoxo
So easy! I had fun making these little rolls! Thanks, Ali 🙂 How was your weekend — did you have a celebration for little Wren? Two already! I can hardly believe it!
can I order biayl’s from you.