About This Recipe

Some prefer savory, while others prefer sweet, so I’ve made it a priority to accommodate both in this bialy series. First came the original bialy recipe, along with the video, details, history, and inspiration for the recipe. Then, I became inspired to bring this under-known bread to life. Next came the jalapeño popper bialy, which exchanges the traditional onion filling for jalapeños, bacon, and cream cheese. Now, it is time for a sweet version.

In this recipe, blueberries mesh with lemon and sweet cream cheese to create this heavenly take on bialy. Because bialy is unenriched, crispy, and chewy, this recipe is unlike other sweet bread recipes, which tend to be tender, rich, and fluffy (due to the addition of butter and eggs). Here, you’ll find an artisan-style bread with a pop of sweet blueberry filling, enhanced with a lemon glaze.

How to make bialy

Original Bialy Recipe and Video

This blueberry cream cheese bialy recipe is the second of a series on adventurous and fun bialy fillings. This post focuses on the change in filling, so I will not be going over the full recipe step-by-step as I usually do. You can find my complete, original bialy recipe post here. My original post includes all the “why’s” behind the recipe, as well as suggested baking timelines and, of course, the full recipe video. I have also linked the video below, so that you can see how to make the dough.

Modifications for This recipe

Rice Flour over Cornmeal

The purpose of cornmeal during bialy’s initial shape is to make handling easier during the final steps of the process. I chose to replace cornmeal with rice flour simply because I did not feel gritty cornmeal was the right pair for a sweet bialy. Rice flour is finer, very neutral in flavor, and gluten-free: making it the perfect alternative coating to cornmeal. Coating in rice flour has the same effects: the flour does not absorb into the bread, which eases bread handling and prevents sticky bialy during the final shape. A little bit of rice flour goes a long way; you do not need a heavy dusting to thoroughly coat the bialy.

Blueberry Cream cheese filling

Sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla enhance the cream cheese in this sweet bialy recipe. Originally, I hoped to include an egg yolk in the mixture as well, but (because bialy is baked at such a high oven temperature) the custard just did not cook right.

Rather than mixing blueberries into the cream cheese, I choose to add a few to the top of each bialy. While either method works, bialy does not need a ton of filling, and since I’m not dicing the blueberries into chunks, doing it this way helps ensure I get just the amount of blueberries I want.

Lemon Glaze

Because of the way bialy is made, the pop of flavor is solely in the middle. Since this is a sweet take on bialy, I wanted there to be a sweet flavor profile throughout – hence, a lemon glaze. This glaze is meant to add a final touch to the appearance and overall flavor profile of the bialy. Lemon perfectly compliments the filling, while the glaze itself adds sweetness to an otherwise plain artisan bread.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Bialy

Recipe by Caitlin VincentCourse: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack, Side, DessertDifficulty: Intermediate

Prep time

minutes

Resting Time

6-12

hours

Baking Time

minutes

Yield

bialy

Ingredients

For the dough
250 g water
75 g active starter
360 g bread flour (I use King Arthur Bread Flour)
7 g salt
For the filling
4 ounces (115 g) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2-3 tablespoons (35 g) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Fresh blueberries (25-30 blueberries)
For the glaze
½ cup powdered sugar (80 g)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (30 g)
Other ingredients
White rice flour, for dusting

Directions

Mix and knead all ingredients for the dough (water, starter, flour, and salt) for 5 minutes. The flour should be completely incorporated and gluten development should be initiated. Cover the dough and rest for 30 minutes.
Strengthen the dough.
- Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes. Set a timer and stop kneading when the timer is up. It is not essential to develop the dough completely, as this recipe uses a hybrid method (kneading/folds) to develop the gluten, meaning we will finish developing the gluten through folds. You can use any method of kneading here that you feel comfortable with - bowl folds, bench kneading, slap-and-folds, or Rubaud mixing. Cover and let the dough rest for 30 minutes before beginning stretch-and-folds. The dough should have formed a windowpane after this rest period, before stretch-and-folds begin.
- Stretch-and-fold the dough (3-4 sets). Using two hands, stretch the dough up as far as it will go without tearing, then fold it all the way over to the other side. Repeat at least once in each cardinal direction, or until the dough will not stretch anymore (4-8 folds). Cover and let the dough rest for 30 minutes before doing another set of stretch and folds. Perform three to four sets of folds in total, until the dough does not stretch anymore.
Bulk ferment the dough. Let the dough rest until it has doubled in size, 10-11 hours at 70 F.
Dust a half-size sheet pan with rice flour. You need just enough rice flour to coat each bialy lightly on all sides.
Shape the dough. Divide the dough into eight pieces, 80-85g each. Shape each piece into a round. To do this, pull the dough toward you, using your pinkies to tuck the dough under itself and tighten the surface. Repeat until a nice, tight round is formed
Transfer each round onto the rice flour laden sheet pan, coating the entire outside (top, bottom, and sides) of the dough with rice flour.
Final proof. Let the dough proof again until noticeably puffy and almost doubled once more, about 2 more hours at 70 F.
Preheat an oven to 500 F for at least one hour before baking the bialy.
Make the cream cheese filling. In a medium bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the softened cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Final shape. When the oven is finished preheating, the bialy are finished proofing, and the cream cheese filling has been made: prepare the bialy for the oven. Take each round and, working from the middle, rotate and stretch the dough to expand the round, allowing gravity to pull the dough downward. We want the outer edges to be like a bagel, but we want to keep a thin sheet of dough in the center (no hole). Transfer to parchment paper (to be transferred to a baking stone, or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper if you do not have a baking stone). Use your fingers to make an indentation defining the center of the bialy, then firmly press down in the center to remove any extra air. If the center is not thin enough or wide enough, the filling will spill out of the center during baking.
Fill the center of each bialy with about a tablespoon of cream cheese. Top with 3-4 blueberries.
Optionally, spray the tops of the bialy with water (this helps them expand properly in my gas oven).
Bake at 500 F for 15-18 minutes, with steam for the first 10 minutes (as the dough is expanding). You can use any preferred method of steam that works for your home oven (boiling water, ice, lava rocks, etc.). Be sure to remove the steam after 10 minutes so the bialy can brown properly.
Make the glaze. Whisk together all ingredients for the glaze until smooth.
Brush the glaze all over the hot bialy as soon as they come out of the oven.
Cool the bialy for 15-20 minutes before enjoying. Enjoy fresh.

Notes

If you want to use the refrigerator to expand the baking timeline, you can do so at the end of bulk fermentation (before the final proof). You will need to make the final proof longer if you choose to do this (about 6 hours at 70 F) to accommodate the cold dough.