1 January 2024

How To Make 1989 Sourdough Discard Bagels

Sourdough bagels but make it 1989 (Taylor’s Version) – these ‘Welcome To New York’ bagels are a fun and delicious way to use up sourdough discard!

There are two Taylor Swift songs I have long associated with New Year’s. One is New Year’s Day – for obvious reasons.

The other is Welcome To New York. I think it’s because I have such vivid memories of watching Taylor Swift opening her New Year’s Rockin’ Eve performance in 2015 with that song. I remember thinking how meaningful it must have been for her to perform it in the heart of New York City as we all waited for the ball to drop and begin the new year.

New York City is famous for their bagels. So I decided to make 1989-themed bagels! My family is obsessed with homemade sourdough bagels – I make them almost weekly, just in normal spherical shapes. But I can confirm that when they’re shaped like 1989, and you’re eating them listening to Welcome To New York (Taylor’s Version), the experience is even better.

Here’s the recipe for these sourdough Welcome to New York bagels. Plus, I put together a YouTube video showing you the process of how I made them too! Let me know if you want more content about sourdough. (Like how I make a weekly regular batch of these bagels, for example). I’d be happy to share!

1989 Sourdough Discard Bagels

Ingredients

681 g warm water
180 g discard
13.5 g yeast I use SAF Red
60 g honey
24 g salt
540 g bread flour I use King Arthur
540 g all-purpose flour I use King Arthur

Instructions

Add warm water (between 90-95F), sourdough discard, instant yeast, honey and salt into a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
Add the flour. Mix with your hands or use a stand mixer, until all ingredients are well incorporated into a ball. The dough will be rough and dry at first, but work with it and knead it and it’ll come together and smooth out.
Leave to rise until the dough has at least doubled in size. I usually leave it for an hour.
Once the dough has risen, turn out the dough on a cutting board, and use a bench scraper to divide the dough into equal portions. For this recipe I cut it into 12 portions, and shaped 8 of them into 2 sets of 1989 numbers.
Once they're shaped, leave them to sit and rise a bit more – cover with a tea towel.
Boil water in a big pot on the stove (with some added honey), and pre-heat the oven to 350F.
Once the water is boiling, boil your bagels for about 30-60 seconds on each side. Then bake for ~25mins or until golden brown on top.
Once they're baked, allow them to cool, cut them open, spread with your preferred topping(s), and enjoy!