Bagels

Who loves Bagels! Ooo, ooo, ooo! Pick me!

Who hasn’t tried to home bake bagels because they seem too complicated to make?

This bagel recipe is easy, practically fool proof and has ruined me forever for storebought!

Note – they turn out best if you make the dough the night before and refrigerate it.

Also Note – I don’t give you an exact flour measurement, you’re looking for a tacky texture that doesn’t stick to you but tries to.

This recipe makes about 8 bagels, depending on the size.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C. Warm to the touch Water

1 TBSP Sugar

2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

3-5 C. Bread Flour (Important! It’s higher in gluten and gives you that chewy texture that makes a bagel a bagel!

2 tsp Salt

Instructions:

Pour the water, sugar and yeast into the bowl of a stand mixer. Do not stir. Let it sit for five minutes or until it all dissolves and increases volume.

Turn on the mixture and add the salt. Gradually add flour until you get the texture you want. Tacky, not sticky or shiny.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes on a well floured surface until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and place in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, place the bowl on the counter and let rise until it comes to room temperature.

Remove dough and divide into 8 pieces. Form a round ball with each piece. Press your finger through the center of the ball to make a hole, forming a ring, this gives you the bagel shape. Mold and stretch the dough until the hole is the size you want, keep in mind that it will shrink up as the dough rises.

Put each shaped bagel on a greased cookie sheet to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. DON’T ADD ANYTHING TO THE WATER! Some recipes want you to add baking soda, salt or honey to the water. Don’t do it! It’s not necessary and sometimes does funky things to the dough.

Reduce the heat to simmer. Depending on the size of your pot, place 2-4 bagels in the water. Boil for 1-2 minutes on each side. The longer boil will make a chewier bagel.

If you want to top your bagels with stuff like sesame seeds or poppy seeds or whatever, do it when you take them out of the water. Brush with egg white to get the toppings to stick to the dough.

Place boiled bagels on a greased baking sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Cool on racks for 5 minutes.

Best warm with whipped cream cheese.

Drool with me, will ya?