Bagels
These are quick and delicious though they take a little effort to prepare. I usually make two or three double batches at a time but if I had more freezer space I would make more. Amanda has told me they taste just as good as the store bought ones but she may be worried I will stop making them. I think I like them better than my english muffins and if there were a nuclear war and I knew the bombs were in the air I would probably be discovered as a vaporized silhouette crouched in front of the freezer cramming bagels into my mouth with both hands.
This recipe makes 16 bagels and is baked on two cookie sheets. You can halve the recipe by halving the water, flour, sugar, and salt.
Total Preparation Time
Total preparation time is 90min (per-batch - and multiple batches can overlap)
- Waking up the yeast - 10min
- First rist - 20min
- Forming - 5min
- Rise in a warm oven - 25min
- Boil - 5min
- Bake - 25min
Ingredients
- Yeast - 1 tablespoon (15ml)
- Brown sugar - 2 heaping tablespoons (40ml) (and two tablespoons for each pot of water)
- Warm Water - 606g
- Flour - 964g
- Salt - 2 teaspoons (10ml)
- Bagel seasoning or cinnamon and raisins (optional)
- One or two large pots
- Corn meal or coarse semolina flour
Method
- Stir the yeast and brown sugar in warm water and set aside until frothy.
- In another bowl measure out the flour, salt, and any other additions
- Combine and mix for several minutes until the glutin is stretchy
- Cover the bowl and put it in a warm place for 15-20min to rise
- Sprinkle corn flour or seminola flour on two baking sheets
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and cut it into 16 pieces
- Roll each ball between your hands to make a snake that will hang down from your hands a few inches (15cm) then loop the hanging dough over the back of your fingers and join the ends together in your palm, rub them together, then roll the looped snake off your fingers and onto your baking sheet.
- Put the baking sheets in a warm location to rise for 30min
- Start prepping the ingredients if you're going to make another batch
- Prepare your boiling vessels. Put about two knuckles of hot water into your largest pot or skillet and add two tablespoons of brown sugar. You just need enough water that the dough can float without touching the bottom. Try to bring them to a boil by the time the donuts are finished rising.
- Put the bagels into the boiling sugar water with the floured side down. Do as many as you can fit in your pot but understand they will inflate another 50% in the hot water. I do 4 in each of my two pots.
- Boil them 2min then flip them over and boil for one more minute.
- Fish them out of the water with a slotted spoon and drop them onto the baking sheet with the floured side down.
- Sprinkle with bagel seasoning and put them in the oven.
- Put the first tray in the oven and set the oven to 425F (220C)
- Boil the next 8 bagels in the same way
- Fill and put the second tray in the oven (5 minutes later the oven should be pre-heated by now)
- Bake for 15min, swap racks, and bake for another 10min.
