Bagels

Since we’ve been on lock-down, during the Safer at Home order, I have been gathering ideas of what to try my hand at baking. This morning I finally decided to make some bagels and to try three different flavors:

• Rosemary Sea Salt
• Garlic Parmesan
• Cinnamon Sugar

I went back and forth on whether to make yeast or non-yeast bagels. Lately it has been difficult to find yeast at our nearest grocery store. Thankfully, yesterday, I finally found some fast acting instant yeast!

So let the baking begin! After gathering my ingredients, I put the sugar, salt, yeast and water into a bowl and waited the five minutes for the yeast to activate. It never activated. The water was not warm enough. Ok, try number two! I put the same ingredients into a bowl. Everything was going splendidly. I opened a cabinet door to get out the vegetable oil to oil the proofing bowl. As the cabinet door opened, out dropped a dish cloth and in almost slow motion it fell straight into the bowl where my yeast was activating! SERIOUSLY? No, seriously? So, onto to try number three. Knowing this is my last chance, as I only had one more packet of yeast, I made sure nothing could fall in or knock the bowl. I mixed the ingredients and waited the five minutes…success!

Now, I think I’m on my way. I added the flour and melted butter, and mixed the dough. I moved through the rest of the recipe smoothly. Until…I got to the boiling portion. Unfortunately, two were lost in the removal from the boiling pot. But I remained hopeful that I would come out of this with tasty bagels. Once all of the bagels had been boiled, I added the toppings and baked them off. I ended up making two cinnamon sugar, three garlic parmesan and three rosemary sea salt.

They were delicious! Hopefully you give these a try and enjoy them as well!

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Bagels

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups Warm Water
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Teaspoons Sea Salt
2 1/4 Teaspoons Instant Yeast
4 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, melted
8 Cups Water

1/2 Cup Baking Soda
1 Egg, lightly beaten

Garlic Parmesan:
3 Cloves Garlic, crushed and minced
3 Tablespoons Butter, melted
3 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese, grated

Cinnamon Sugar:
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
4 Tablespoons Sugar

Rosemary Sea Salt:
3 Tablespoons Fresh Rosemary
3 Tablespoons Sea Salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

To make the dough, in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook or a large mixing bowl, mix together the sugar, sea salt, yeast and warm water; let sit for 5 minutes until frothy.

Add the flour and melted butter and mix on low speed if using the stand mixer, or with a wooden spoon if doing it by hand. Mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, approximately 5 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with aluminum foil, and place in the oven. Turn off the oven. Let the dough rise in the warm oven for an hour or until it has doubled in size.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 10 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 16-inch rope. Fold the rope in half and twist end over end, and then shape into a circle, pinching the ends together to seal.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.

Bring 8 cups of water and the baking soda to a boil in a large pot.

Using a flat spatula, drop the bagels into the boiling water and boil for 45 seconds. Depending on the size of you pot you may need to boil one at a time.Remove the bagels from the water and place on the baking sheets. Lightly brush the beaten egg onto each bagel. Add you desired toppings.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until lightly golden and puffed. Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Port and Fin blog