No Knead Bialys
Bialy, where you have you been all my life 😋???
Well I’m here to tell you where it’s been and how to put it in your belly 😉!!! According to Wiki, bialy is a Yiddish word short for biały or bialystoker kuchen, from the city of Bialystok in Poland. It is a small roll that is a traditional dish in the Polish Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. The bialy was brought to the United States by Polish Jewish refugees in the late 1800s, and became a staple of Jewish bakeries in the Northeastern United States. Bialys became a popular bread and also breakfast for people in New York City and the surrounding area.
I don’t know about you, but I had never heard of a bialy and I was delighted to discover the bialy at a new cafe in town, Sunrise Pointe Cafe. Since then, I couldn’t stop thinking about it because it was so flavorful and so much lighter than a bagel, which it’s often compared to.
As soon as I got home, I started my research because I needed to recreate the bialy deliciousness. A bialy is a roll similar to a bagel, but unlike a bagel, which is boiled before baking, a bialy is simply baked. Also instead of a hole in the middle it has a depression which is filled with onions and other ingredients like poppy seeds, bread crumbs, garlic or cheese. I mean doesn’t that sound delicious 😋!!! I didn’t have any poppy seeds in my pantry and I thought Everything but the Bagel seasoning would work great since it includes poppy seeds and garlic, two, it has incredible flavor! I also included cheese because that was part of what I loved about the Sunrise Pointe Cafe bialyl!! The filling makes these rolls incredibly tasty!!!
As I continued my research, I found a few recipes similar to Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Bread and I thought, that’s right up my alley because I love his no-knead recipe and that is even the base of my Cheddar Jalapeno No Knead Bread.
The No Knead version is rather effortless and created a light and fluffy roll that was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!! I hope you give these a try because you have no idea how delicious they are and if you’re a baker, you have no excuse, PLEASE make it happen and share your feedback 🙏!
Baker Notes
- No-Knead Version – It is best to let it rise overnight, aiming for 18hrs! When forming the rolls in the second rise, I would let those rise 1-2hrs.
- Baking to Perfection – I used a pizza and it worked perfectly. If you go this route, I wouldn’t overcrowd the pizza stone and you’ll likely have two batches to bake.
- Recipe is Perfect for 8-12 Bialys – In the recipe, I suggest 8 equal size cuts of dough (which you can see above). Once I started creating the depressions (which is after the second rise), the dough spread out pretty large, so I further divided the remaining four rolls and created 8 smaller rolls. I thought it worked perfect and gave us four large rolls and 8 smaller rolls, which was perfect for breakfast, sandwiches and snacking.
Serving Suggestions – The options are endless and I would suggest warming before serving!
- Breakfast Sandwich
- Lunchtime Sandwich
- Burger Bun
- With Butter
- Lox Sandwich
No Knead Bialys
Ingredients
- EVOO, for finishing the bialys
For the Bialys
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 2½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp instant yeast
- 1½ cup water, plus extra likely
For the Filling
- EVOO
- 1 medium white onion
- salt & pepper, for seasoning
- 1 TBSP everything but the bagel seasoning, plus extra for sprinkling on the bialy
- ¼ cup asiago cheese, grated
Instructions
Making and Portioning the Bialys
- In a large mixing bowl, add all the dry bialy ingredients (i.e. flour, salt & yeast) and whisk together. Using your hands, make a well in the flour mixture for the water. Slowly add the water and with a wooden spoon combine together. Using your hands gently knead until the flour and water is well incorporated. The dough should stick to your hands, if it is not sticky, add another TBSP or two of water.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a cotton kitchen towel and set on your countertop overnight.
- You know your dough is ready if it has doubled in size and has air pockets.
- Add the dough to a floured surface and form into a circle. Using a floured serrated knife portion the dough into 8 equal slices.
- Using floured hands roll each section into a ball. Cover again with plastic wrap or a floured cotton kitchen towel. Keep covered for 1-2 hours.
Making the Filling
- Meanwhile, let's make the filling and preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Saute the onions in some EVOO and season with salt and just a bit of ground pepper. Allow the onions to sweat and become translucent.
- Turn off the heat and add the Everything but the Bagel seasoning and set aside.
Finishing the Bialys for Baking
- At the 1-2 hour point the dough should've raised again.
- Using floured hands, transfer the dough balls to parchment paper. Using your hands, create a depression in the center of each ball for the filling.
- Add a TBSP of the mixture to each roll/depression and top with asiago cheese. Brush each roll lightly with olive oil and dust with Everything but the Bagel seasoning.
- Using a pizza peel, transfer the parchment paper and rolls to a pizza stone and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Once golden brown, remove from the oven and cool on a baking rack.
- Enjoy warm with your favorite fixings!
