Bagels

Who doesn't love a good bagel on a Sunday morning with a little lox and schmear of cream cheese?  Just me...oh ok, well maybe plain bagels are more up your alley Boring Bob!

This is a very cool recipe that makes basically any kind of bagels you want.  Start with the basic dough and you can add mix-ins or dip in seeds/salt to create one of a kind bagels for your family.  

This recipe makes 8 bagels, a little smaller than the kind I'm used to from the best bagel place around here, but the taste is worth it--they taste like NYC bagels!

• 4 cups flour
• 1 Tbls sugar
• 1 1/2 tsps salt
• 1 Tbls vegetable oil
• 2 tsps instant yeast
• 1-1/4 cups of warm water (1/4 cup standing by if needed)

1. Mix all the ingredients in a stand mixer (You COULD do this by hand, but you need a bit of muscle) on low speed for about 2-4 minutes-just until ball of dough comes away from the sides
2. Push the dough with your finger, it should feel stiff, but add the extra water if it's really stiff, or you can't get all the dry flour incorporated
3. Plop the dough down onto the counter, and knead a few times until the dough is uniform and smooth

4. Cut the dough into 8 equal sized balls, and let rest for 10-20 minutes
5. Pre heat your oven to 425
6. Roll each dough ball into a snake with you hands (It helps if your hands are a teeny tiny bit wet) 
7. When the snake is longer than the width of your two hands, wrap it around your dominant rolling hand. The dough rope should be wrapped so the overlapping ends are together at your palm, near the start of your fingers




tomato basil bagels resting


8. Now take the two overlapping ends, and use your palm to squish/roll these two ends together. Once the dough is fused, you should have a perfectly circular bagel-to-be! (This is a little tricky, don't worry, the first few bagels will have giant holes but those are the baker's treat, right?)
9. Let your bagels rest on the counter for about 20 minutes, and meanwhile, bring a pot of water with 1 Tbls baking soda added to boil, and grease a large baking tray lightly (VERY lightly, just a little splash of veggie oil on a paper towel rubbed around is perfect)
10. After the 20 minute wait, your bagels should be puffed up, add about 4 at a time to the boiling water (or as many as you can without crowding)
11. Boil for a minute, turn them over, and boil for another minute

12. Take them out, and pat them dry before putting on the oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled
13. Add the tray to the oven, and after 10 minutes, flip the bagels over, bake for another ten minutes; and they're done!
14. Let them cool on racks for at least 20 minutes, before you dig in!

*You can make a 1/2 batch of just 4 bagels if you want



**Some tried and true flavors:
Cinnamon Raisin: Substitute 1 Tbl of flour for cinnamon, add 3/4 cup raisins
Whole Wheat: Substitute 1/2 the amount of flour for whole wheat flour
Rye: Substitute 1/2 the amount of flour for rye flour and add 2 tsp caraway seeds
Sundried Tomato: Substitute 1/4 cup water for tomato sauce, add minced Parmesan cheese, chiffonaded basil, and sundried tomatoes  (If you don't have the last one, call them Tomato Basil or Pizza Bagels instead)
Harvest: Substitute 1/2 cup water for cranberry juice, substitute 1 Tbl flour for cinnamon, and add 1/4 cup each: craisins, chopped walnuts, dried blueberries
Honey Cherry: Add 1 heaping Tbl honey and 3/4 cup dried cherries
Salt or Poppy Seed: Right after boiling, dip tops of bagels in a plate of either seed/topping and bake as normal