Simple Savory & Satisfying: Basic Homemade Bagels

Friday, September 26, 2014

Basic Homemade Bagels

Good bagels are soft and yeasty and basically heavenly. Bad bagels are small and tough and bland. There really is no in between. After finally giving up on the bad bagels from the frozen section of the grocery store and spending too much on the good bagels from the bakery, I finally decided to make my own. I'm not going to lie, these took a little practice. You have to get the dough really stiff, and I'm still working on making them look pretty, but the taste is spot on. I go to bed every night looking forward to having one of these bagels for breakfast the next morning.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4-ounce package, active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
Cooking spray

Toppings such as sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or cheeses, optional

Directions:
In the bowl of a standing mixer, add 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Slowly add water and mix with your paddle attachment for 2 minutes at medium speed, scrapping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Switch to your hook attachment. Add 1/2 cup flour, mixing on high for two minutes. Add 2 1/2 cups flour. Dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be stiff. Add remaining 1/2 cup of flour if needed.

On medium speed, let the hook attachment knead the dough for about 8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Place dough in an ungreased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough sit in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Punch down the dough and divide into 12 small balls. Poke a hole through the center of each ball with your finger. Hole should be about 1/2 inch in diameter.

Lightly grease a baking sheet with cooking spray, arrange bagel on it, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest in a warm place for another 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large, shallow pan, boil at least 2-inches of water. Turn heat to low and add a couple of bagels to the water at a time. Simmer bagels for 2 to 3 minutes, turning once.

Remove bagels from water and place back on greased baking sheet. Spray the tops of the bagels with cooking spray. If desired, sprinkle with toppings.

Bake for 30 minutes