Bagels for #BreadBakers

This is my second post for Bread Bakers.  This month was not as challenging as last month's Rye Bread with no processed sugars or grains but, for a novice bread baker as I, it was still pretty challenging.  But no worries because when you are reading this post about my trials and tribulations I will be lying on a beach in the Caribbean with a book in my hands and this experience will be but a dim memory!

Our challenge this month, from Heather of Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks, was bagels and I am positive that you are going to see some kick butt recipes for all sorts of wonderful, artisinal bagels.  But right now.....you are stuck with my post.  So read it through (no fair skipping) to the bottom where you will find links to all those great posts I am promising you.

I have never made bagels before but I have made soft pretzels and they are kind of the same.  I searched around and found a recipe submitted by Plawhon that sounded easy enough and got great reviews on Allrecipes.com so I decided to give it a go.

I made the recipe as written but there are several things I will do differently in the future.  First and foremost, I will mix the water, sugar and yeast first and allow it to get frothy before adding the flour. Second, I will only use 4 c. of flour instead of the 4 1/2 c. called for in the recipe.  I think these 2 minor changes will help to make the dough more flexible and easier to work with and allow the dough to stay adhered to itself during the boil. I only baked mine at 450* instead of the 475* that was called for and it took only 12 minutes for my bagels to be perfectly done.  I have written the recipe below to reflect these changes.

All of this being said....my bagels were not a fail.  They were not beautiful, by any means, but they were perfect in taste and texture!!  I topped some with poppyseeds, some with onion powder and left some plain.  I sprinkled kosher salt over all of them.  They were delicious and I will be making bagels again with the changes I stated above so that hopefully they are as pretty as they are tasty. We did not even need butter, cream cheese or any other schmear on these bagels!  Thank you Heather for choosing  bagels this month.  I would never have tried making them otherwise and I am very happy that I did.

I made 12 bagels, these are the 4 that held their shape the best.

The recipe said it made 6 bagels....they would have been ginormous!!!

Hence the shorter cooking time even at a lower temp.

The others were even uglier but they tasted the same.

You shouldn't  judge a bagel by it's shape evidently.

Bagels

adapted from Real Homemade Bagels at Allrecipes, submitted by Plawhon.

1 1/4 c. warm water (105-110*)

3 T. sugar

1 T. active dry yeast

2 T. canola oil

1 t. salt

4 c. bread flour

1 c. honey

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the water, sugar and yeast.  Let stand until frothy, 10 minutes or so.  Turn the mixer on to low speed and add the salt and oil to the yeast mixture.  Add the flour, 1 c. at a time until all incorporated.  Leaving the mixer on low speed allow the dough to knead for 8-10 minutes, until well developed.  You want to be able to stretch the dough without it breaking.  Remove the dough from the bowl and form into a ball.  Spray the bowl with cooking spray and return the dough, turning in the bowl to cover with the oil.  Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise for 2 hrs.

Punch down the dough and turn onto a lightly floured surface.  Cut into 12 equal portions with a dough scraper.  Roll each portion into a 6" log and join the ends to make a circle.  Allow bagels to rest for 15 minutes while you bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot and preheat the oven to 450*.  Add the honey to the water. 

Boil the bagels, a few at a time for a minute or two on each side.  Remove from the boiling water and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  While the bagels are still wet dip them into your desired toppings and/or sprinkle them generously with kosher salt.  Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Print Recipe

And here are all the great recipes I promised you at the beginning of this post:

• Asiago Cheese Bagels by Jenni at Pastry Chef Online
• Basic Bagels by Caro at En la Cocina de Caro
• Basic Bagels with Blueberries from Holly at A Baker's House
• Blueberry Bagels by Sophie at Sweet Cinnamon Honey
• Chocolate Chip Bagels by Cindy at Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Classic New York Water Bagels by Karen at Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cornmeal Bagels by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Easy Homemade Bagels by Wendy at A Day in the Life on a Farm
• Everything Bagels by Nicole at The 2nd 35 Years
• Homemade Truffle Salt Bagels by Tara at Noshing With The Nolands
• Honey Multigrain Bagels by Laura at  Baking in Pyjamas
• Jalapeño and Cheddar Bagels by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Montreal Bagels by Robin at A Shaggy Dough Story
• Orange Ginger Bagels by Rocio at Kids & Chic
• Parmesan Garlic Bagels by Heather at Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Simit (Turkish Bagels) by Adam at Bakers and Best
• Sour Dough Bagels from Veronica at My Catholic Kitchen
• Whole Wheat & Oats by Kelly at Passion Kneaded

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