Bagels

Years ago I was kicking around some recipe site (I don't even remember which one) and found a recipe for dinner rolls.   I was seriously nervous about working with yeast, but the rolls looked really good and fairly simple, so  I gathered my courage and gave it a shot.

In the years since then, I've made hundreds of rolls and countless loaves of bread.  And then there are the pita breads and bagels...  I even went so far as to stop buying bread products of any kind for a short while, I just made my own.  There is nothing, and I mean nothing on earth, like taking a bite out of  fresh, hot bread from your own oven. 

Today I'm sharing my go-to bagel recipe.  I have others, but this is the recipe I come back to time and again.  If you're like I was, a little nervous about working with yeast, this is a great place to start.  These are almost impossible to mess up and the end product is guaranteed to make you popular with whoever you choose to share them with.

Bagels
4 C bread flour (do not substitute all-purpose flour)
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil
2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 C warm water

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, using only the 1 1/4 C water to start.  Don't worry about soaking the yeast, instant yeast doesn't need it and you'd be hard pressed to find regular yeast in most grocery stores.  The dough should feel stiff, but add the extra water if the dough is crazy stiff or there's flour in the bottom of the bowl that you can't mix in.  Plop the dough out onto the counter and knead it for about 10 minutes or until it's uniform and smooth.  Cut the dough into 8 equal size pieces and let them rest for no less than 10 minutes, preferably 20 minutes.

Working one piece of dough at a time, roll it out onto the counter and make a snake just longer than both of your hands side by side (or long enough to wrap around one of your hands).  Overlap the ends and roll/squish them together to form a circular bagel-to-be.  Don't worry if they're not perfectly round, one bite and you won't care what shape they are!

Let the bagels rest again for about 20 minutes.  While they're napping, go ahead and get a large pot of water onto the stove.  Salt it and bring it to a good, rolling boil.  A rolling boil means that even when you're stirring the water, it's constantly moving and bubbling.  It's important that the water be fully boiling to get the maximum rise and deliciousness out of your bagels. 

After that 20 minutes, your bagels are starting to look a little puffy, so it's time to get the oven heated up and bagels into the water.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Working just one or two at a time, gently drop the bagels into the water.  They might sink at first, but fear not, they'll pop back up to the top in just a few seconds.  If they sink, your water probably wasn't hot enough.  Let them boil for one minute, flip them over and let them boil for another minute.  Pull them out and put them on a greased baking sheet while the next set of bagels boil.  You want them fairly dry when they go into the oven, so don't skip the drying time.  When the next set of bagels is done, take the ones you already did and put them on a greased baking sheet (the one you're actually going to cook them on).  Repeat this process until all of your bagels have been boiled. 

Put the tray of bagels into the oven and leave them be for 10 minutes.  Flip them over with a spatula or tongs (be gentle) and let them bake another 10 minutes. 

Now just let them cool for no less than 10 minutes, grab the cream cheese and prepare to feast on a delicious treat.

You can add whatever toppings you like (sesame seeds, poppy seeds, onion, etc...) - just have a dry plate handy with whatever you like spread out on it.  When the bagels come out of the water, lay them down in the plate, picking up some of the good stuff.  Start them in the oven topping side up, then flip and finish them topping side down.  When they come out of the oven, flip them back over.  If you want cinnamon sugar bagels, bake them plain, brush melted butter on top and then dip them into a plate of cinnamon sugar.  Allow to cool as above. 

This recipe makes 8 bagels and fills a standard size cookie sheet.  I often make a double batch, so when I flip the bagels, I also take the tray from the bottom rack and switch it with the tray on the top rack.  Or, you can do just one tray at a time, if you're more comfortable with it.