Make Homemade Bialys With Packaged Pizza Dough

Store-bought pizza dough is one of my favorite bread hacking tools, maybe even my all-time favorite. We’ve made lazy zeppoles, pretzels, and cinnamon rolls from this versatile sack o’ dough, it was only a matter of time before we started slinging bialys, too. Go ahead and speed-thaw that frozen dough you’ve been meaning to use, this snack is about to bialy you’ve dreamed of.

The bialy is a popular Jewish yeasted roll, originally from Białystock, Poland. The bread has a similar crumb to the bagel, but is made without all that boiling fuss. Instead, the bialy is shaped, filled with a savory onion and poppy seed mixture, and baked. The quintessential bialy shape is the only tricky part (and I’ve got tips for you, no worries). It’s like a bagel that doesn’t have the hole punched through, like a River Run inner tube, or this cat bed. The center is flattened to hold the flavorful onion mixture, and the edges puff up into the soft and chewy inner tube ring. It’s delicious summer fun.

While you could make your own bialy dough from scratch, packaged pizza dough is a near perfect stand-in. It’s a lean dough, the gluten structure is chewy, the flavor is neutral, and best of all, it’s done. No mixing, no kneading, no initial proofing. Thaw your pizza dough if it’s frozen; if it’s been refrigerated, take it out to come up to room temperature on the countertop for 20 minutes.

Lightly flour your work surface, and dump out the dough. Stretch it into a rough rectangular shape. A pound of dough makes eight bialys, so cut it in half and cut the two halves into four pieces each. Shape each piece of dough into a bread ball. In case you’re not familiar with shaping bread, you can check out my video above for detailed instructions and technique for all your bread ball shaping occasions. (Aside from witnessing my obsession with bread, you’ll see step-by-step shaping.)

Flour the front and back of each ball and stretch them into discs using the pointer finger and thumb of both hands, pinching from the center. This is only the first stretch, and the dough will feel resistant. That’s okay, you’re really just trying to flatten them a bit. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover the baby bialys with a damp tea towel and let the gluten rest and relax for 20-30 minutes.

Pre-shaping the balls into discs.Photo: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

The dough will proof a little during this time, but most importantly, you’ll now be able to stretch and shape the bialys without the gluten shrinking back. I did a batch and skipped this step, pricking the center instead to discourage puffing. The dough basically died laughing in my face. It completely bounced back and the pricking seemed to make it puff more. Waiting 20 minutes is very worth it, and a good time to prepare your filling and heat your oven to 450°F.

Stretching after the rest time when the dough is more elastic.Photo: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

The filling is fantastically simple. Sautéed onions with a little poppy seed and salt. Cut a medium-sized onion into a small dice, about 1/4-inch pieces. I used a sweet onion but any onion will be lovely. Drop a tablespoon of oil and a smidge of butter into a frying pan to melt over medium-low heat. Add the onion pieces and stir to coat. Add salt and continue moving the onions around as they cook. Take them off the heat when they’re soft, translucent, and just taking on a hint of color, this takes around 10 minutes. Scoop them into a bowl to cool and stir in the poppy seeds.

Photo: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

The pizza dough should be very pliable after resting. Pick up a ball of dough, dip the front and back in a bit of flour, and stretch it with your thumbs and pointer fingers from the center, rotating it to keep the circular shape. The center should be very thin—you’ll almost be able to see your fingertips through the dough. Lay it back down on the baking sheet and repeat this with every bialy.

I found this tip for bialy shaping in this post, and whether or not it actually helped, it made me feel like it helped keep the shape. Once they’re stretched, use a small flat-bottomed measuring cup to press the center, in an effort to seal the depression and keep it from puffing. Spread about a tablespoon of the onion mixture into the center of each bialy. Press the mixture flat so it sits in the dough “inner tube.” Bake at 450°F for 10-15 minutes, or until the dough lightly browns.

Photo: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

These bialys are delicious anytime, fresh from the oven or after they’ve been sitting at room temperature for a few hours. If you have a lot leftover, you can freeze them and revive them in the toaster oven or air fryer for a few minutes at 350°F.

Pizza Dough Bialys

Ingredients:

Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper. Use two sheet pans if they’re small.

Flour a work surface and place the dough on top. Cut it into eight even pieces. Round off into balls and pinch them into disks. Flour their bottoms and place them on the sheet pan. Cover them with a damp tea towel and let them rest for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450°F. Add the oil and butter to a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and salt, and stir the mixture. Cook until the onions become soft, translucent and a few of the edges begin to brown. Turn off the heat and scrape the onions into a bowl. Stir in the poppy seeds.

After resting, the dough balls should be compliant. Dip each one in some flour and pinch the dough between your thumbs and pointer fingers, pressing and stretching from the center. Make the center thin but keep the edges doughy. The bialys will be 4 to 5-inches wide. Stretch each one and place it back on the sheet pan. Use a flat-bottomed glass or measuring cup to press the center depression flat for good measure. Spoon about a tablespoon of onion filling onto each bialy and spread it flat. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 450°F, or until puffed and browning on the edges.