Bagel Baker - First Attempt

Bagels... Nice round plump tasty bagels. I have been wanting to try and make them for a while and since it is Lizzie's birthday this week and she wants bagels for breakfast, I decided to try.

So I went online and tried to find a good recipe on allrecipes.com. But I didn't find one I liked. I did a Google search and found this recipe by a man named John Lee who has been making bagels for years. The above picture is what came from this adventure and I do say... I think it was a success. Half are sesame seed and the other half plain. Lizzie likes plain. I really enjoyed making them and my whole family loved them. So I guess I have a new job in the family. Bagel Baker... and you know... I think I will take it.

And yeah, yeah it is an old yucky looking cookie sheet but it works well! Maybe it is time to buy some new ones though.

Below is the recipe I followed and how I made them. Thanks John!

Bagels

4 cups flour

1 Tbls sugar

1 1/2 tsps salt

1 Tbls vegetable oil

2 tsps instant yeast

1-1/4- 1-1/2 cups of warm water.

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. You don't have to worry about soaking the yeast when you use instant yeast. The dough should feel stiff, but add the extra water if it's really stiff, or you can't get all the dry flour incorporated.

2. Plop the dough down onto the counter, and knead for about ten minutes, or until the dough is uniform and smooth.

3. Cut the dough into 8 equal sized balls, and let rest for 10-20 minutes.

4. Pre heat your oven to 425.

5. Now, take each of the dough balls and using two hands, roll it into a little snake on the counter. When the snake is longer than the width of your two hands, wrap it around your dominant roiling hand. The dough rope should be wrapped so the overlapping ends are together at your palm, near the start of your fingers. 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 the only part of the process that can take a little practice before your bagels will look really professional. Don't get discouraged if they don't look perfect, it just takes practice!

6. Let your bagels rest on the counter for about 20 minutes, and meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, and grease a large baking tray lightly. You can just rub a splash of vegetable oil and rub it around.

7. After the 20 minute wait, your bagels will start to look puffy, and it's time to get them boiling. Add them as many at a time as you can to your boiling water without crowding them. Boil for about a minute, turn them over, and boil for another minute. Take them out a let dry for a minute and then place them on your oiled baking tray. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled.

8. Brush the top of the bagels with egg whites and sprinkle with sesame seeds or whatever you like.

9. Add the tray to the oven, and bake for 20 minutes and they're done!

10. Let them cool and feast on what's got to be one of the best weekend brunch treats possible!