Homemade Bagels

Homemade Bagels

These days, every supermarket, country store and corner deli seems to have a ready supply of top-flight bagels, as do shops that are devoted exclusively to bagels, their accompanying spreads, and bagel sandwiches with all sorts of interesting fillings. So, with all kinds of good bagels available just about wherever you turn, why make your own? First, so you know what’s in ’em; who wants azodicarbonmide in their pumpernickel bagel? Second, so you can customize them to your taste, as in pesto bagels with sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts; and third, it’s easy and fun! If you can make bread dough, you can easily make bagels. These are a great treat to make with the young baker in your life.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1/2 teaspoon instant dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 1 tsp sugar
• large pot of water (to boil)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, lightly mix together flour, sugar, and salt.
2. Add yeast and water, then knead together ingredients with hands to create a sticky but manageable dough.
3. Take dough out onto flat floured surface.
4. Knead dough firmly with your hands until the dough is no longer lumpy and powdery, approximately 15min.
5. Add sprinkles of water or flour as necessary to keep the dough manageable — it will get elastic but pretty stiff.
6. Roll out dough into long tube and cut 1 inch sections as seen in picture.
7. Use your finger to poke a hole into the center of each piece.
8. Cover the bagels with plastic wrap and let rest for about 15 minutes (30-40 min during winter time).
9. In the meantime, fill a large pot with water and a teaspoon of sugar and bring to a simmer.
10. Preheat oven to 375F.
11. When the dough is ready, carefully drop them into the water (doing batches of 2 at a time) and let them
12. simmer for about 15 seconds on each side, flipping them only once.
13. The bagels should float when ready.
14. Use a slotted spoon to remove bagels and place onto a baking sheet.
15. When all bagels are boiled and no baking sheet, bake for approx. 15 minutes, or until golden brown.