Homemade Bagles

Fresh Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

I was snowed in the house sometime last year and was extremely bored.  I cracked open a cook book and found a recipe for bagels. To me, bagels were always something that you picked up at the store.  They were usually chewy, and you needed copious amounts of butter and cream cheese to mask the bland taste of the bagels.

These bagels are awesome!  Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.  You can get as creative as you want with these bagels.  I've made blueberry, chocolate chip and strawberry, onion, cinnamon-raisin and several other variates of bagels with this base recipe.  This is based off a recipe I found in Mark Bittman's book, How to Cook Everything. The only special equipment you will need for this recipe is a spray bottle, a food processor and a baking stone (optional). 

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of instant yeast
2 tablespoons of sugar or maple syrup
1/4 cups water

Place the flour, salt, yeast and sugar in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process for 5 seconds.  With the food processor running, pour the water into the feed tube.  Let the food processor run for about 30 seconds or until a dough ball has formed.  At this point, there should be a nice slightly sticky, easy to handle dough ball in the food processor.  If the dough is too dry, add a little bit of water.  If it's too wet, add some more flour.  Now remove the dough from the food processor and place it on a floured surface.  Knead the dough by hand for a minute or so. 

If you are going to add extra ingredients to your bagels, now is the time to add them.  While kneading the dough, work your favorite flavorings into the dough.  If you are adding fresh fruit, you may need to add some additional flour to the dough due the the release of the juice in the fruit.  My personal favorite are fresh blueberries!

Place the dough in a large non-reactive bowl and cover with a towel.  Allow the dough to rise for about 2 hours.  If you are not going to cook the bagels right away, you can place the dough in the refrigerator overnight, letting the dough come back up to room temperature before proceeding the next day.  What I usually do is set my alarm extra early, take the dough out of the fridge and then go back to bed!

Now it's time to practice your karate skills.  Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface.  Punch the dough ball gently so that it deflates.  Cover with a towel and let sit for 10 minutes.  Now it's time to make the bagels!  Break the dough in 8 to 12 equal pieces.  Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke a hole in each dough ball and then working from the outside, in, shape the dough into a bagel like shape.  Once your bagels are formed, lightly flour them, let them rest, covered with a towel, on your work surface, for 30 minutes.

Bagels in the hot tub

In a large pot, boil water.  Place your baking stone in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.  Drop the bagels one at a time into the boiling water but don't overcrowd them.  The bagels will drop to the bottom of the pot but they will surface in about 20 seconds or so.  Boil the bagels for about 1 minute per side then take them out and place them on a greased wire rack.

Post soak on the wire rack

If you don't have a baking stone, grease a baking sheet.  Fill your spray bottle with water and spray water into the oven.  Place the bagels on the hot baking stone or baking sheet and place on the middle rack in the oven.  After 5 minutes, spray some more water in the oven to create steam.  This is what will give the bagels a nice crispy crust.  Continue baking the bagels for 20 to 25 minutes or until they are browned.  Remove from the oven and place the bagels on a wire rack.  Spray them with water and allow to cool on the wire rack.  Now your ready to top them with copious amounts of butter and cream cheese and enjoy!

Some bagel flavor ideas:
Blueberry
Strawberry and chocolate chip 
Rosemary and Olive Oil
Cheese
Cinnamon Raisin
Sauteed Onion
Be creative, the options are endless!