Bagel Tutorial

Note: Fresh and hot out of the oven these had a yeasty, buttery taste that was pretty wonderful. That said, as they cooled I found that they tasted more like dinner rolls than bagels. This recipe that I found when researching the soured flavor of "real" bagels uses water instead of milk and malt syrup instead of sugar. My next project? Make AUTHENTIC bagels. In the mean time, these are pretty darn yummy. 

I don't typically do food tutorials for a few reasons: 

1. I have ugly countertops.

2. I tend to think food tutorials are gross.

3. I had a lousy camera that took yellowed pictures of everything making my food tutorials even grosser. 

More gross. 

Whatever. 

BUT, this week Quinn and I went through 2 bags of bagels in 8 days. That gets expensive really fast. I mean, I buy the fresh bagels from Wal-Mart's refrigerated section and they're only $1.50 a bag, but that's $12 a month on bagels that could be used elsewhere... 

...and if you splurge on Sara Lee then you're talking $20-30 a month... 

SO I decided to make my own. We pretty much only buy the plain ones because we love to use them for sandwhiches, so that's what I went for.   I dug around on Taste Of Home looking through their bagel recipes but most of them were full of fruit and spices. Then I found a basic bagel recipe with really good reviews, except a few people said it was kinda bland. 

So I altered it a bit. I added extra salt and sugar and used unbleached bread flour instead of all-purpose flour for the sake of a tiny bit of healthyness. I didn't use egg white to brush on when they were finished because I didn't want them to be sticky.  And lastly, I boiled them a full minute on each side because the first few I boiled just didn't seem quite right. Next time I want to boil them even longer... 

So here's the recipe as it was when I finished: 

• 1 and 1/4 cup warm milk 
• 1 tsp active yeast
• 1/2 cup butter (REAL butter, this is where the flavor lies) softened
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 and 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 cups of unbleached bread flour

I used my bread machine on the dough setting and pulled the dough out after about 35 minutes of its first rise. (The recipe at Taste Of Home calls for 6-8 minutes of hand kneading. My machine does about 15 minutes of slow, gentle kneading before rising. I'm sure that would work with a stand mixer as well) 

Don't over-flour your work surface or they won't shape well, but punch the dough down on a floured surface and cut into 12 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball then use your thumb to punch a hole into it. 

Stretch the dough into a wide ring. Seriously. I could fit my hand through the center of each. They'll spring back into the right shape. Cover them with a towel and let them sit for 10 minutes. 

Drop two or three at a time into boiling water and cook for 45-75 seconds on each side. Remove with a slotted spoon and let them drain on a clean towel (or paper towels) before placing them on a greased cookie sheet. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. 

Feast and enjoy.

My favorite bagel sandwich:

1 bagel, split in half
Spread generously with cream cheese
Add fresh avocado slices
Salt and pepper
Add thin slivers of onion
A thick slice of tomato

YUMMO.

If you want bagels and lox then try this without the salt and pepper and with a layer of smoked salmon. Heaven on earth, that.