Weekend Bagels

On a Saturday morning, what is better than a fresh, hot toasted bagel and cream cheese?

Nothing, except for a fresh, hot toasted bagel that you mixed, boiled and baked yourself!

Last weekend I made a batch of 10 homemade wheat bagels and I'll tell you right now, this recipe is a keeper.  It's easy, fairly quick (total time of about 3 hours) and the finished product is so, so good.

I adapted a recipe from Serious Eats to make a somewhat healthier version with a mix of wheat and white flour.  You can check out the original here or follow my version here.

Happy weekend, sweets!

Need:

• 2 cups white bread flour
• 1 1/2 cup wheat flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. instant dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cup hot water 

Do:

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients (only 2 tablespoons of the white sugar) in a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment to combine.
2. Switch to the dough hook, and slowly add hot water with the mixer on low.  
3. Continue mixing with the mixer on a medium setting until dough becomes shiny and stretchy without breaking, about 1 - 2 min. 
4. Spray large bowl with cooking spray (or grease however you choose) and transfer the dough to this bowl.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and put a kitchen towel over that, then let the dough sit for 1 hour to rise. 
5. After 1 hour, fill the biggest pot you have with water, add the other 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar and bring to a boil.
6. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
7. Lightly flour a large working space, put the dough on it and punch out all of the air.  Split the dough into 10 even portions. 
8. Roll one portion into a rope shape, about 7-8" long, wrap it around your hand and pinch the ends together to make a bagel shape.  
9. Put your first bagel back on the table and cover with a large portion of plastic wrap.  Make the rest of the portions into bagel shapes, keeping them all under the plastic wrap to rise for another 10 minutes.
10. The pot of water should be boiling now, if so, use a slotted spoot to transfer 1 or 2 bagels into the water.  Let them boil for 30 sec - 1 minute on each side, then transfer to a clean kitchen towel.  If you want a fluffier bagel, boil it less.  If you want a chewier bagel, boil it more.
11. After all of the bagels are boiled, dry them off with your towel, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Flip the bagels, and bake for 10 minutes more, and enjoy your fresh-baked breakfast!

Bagels risin'

Bagels boilin'

Bagels dryin'

Bagels baked and ready for eatin'!