Easy Bagel Recipe!
In the process of food creation, your starting point is of utmost importance. I use the small amount of free time I have away from college testing out new recipes and putting a spin on ones already in existence. I used a recipe by Sally's Baking Addiction to spur my creativity, using it as a baseline to figure out the recipe and process, then having fun putting my own twist on it. Learning how to create something new, while still figuring out a way to make it into something of my own is a process I enjoy dearly.
I’m somewhat of a picky eater, and with the little knowledge I stored and memorized in my brain of how to bake, I struggle finding the specific things that I like. That is, until I realized the obvious missing factor: You don’t have to stick to the recipe exactly and treat each word like it’s written in stone.
These bagels were surprisingly easy to make. For some reason to my knowledge, forming the dough and cooking the bagels is an excruciating and long process. However, I could not have been more wrong. My mom and I did indeed make a day out of baking, but the bagels themselves were not laborious, nor took too much time away from the day. I had the most fun with putting the recipe away after the dough was made and trying out an immense amount of bagel varieties.
If you crave sweet, fluffy, doughy bagels that toast to perfection, this is most assuredly the recipe for you!
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RECIPE - By Sally’s Baking Addiction
Ingredients:
Bagel
1 + 1/2 cups warm water
2 + 3/4 teaspoons instant/active dry yeast
4 cups bread flour (making sure to have more left for surface of kneading)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar (I used coconut brown sugar)
2 teaspoons salt
Bowl Coating
nonstick spray
Boiling Water
2 quarts water
1/4 cup honey
Egg Wash
1 egg white beaten with 1 tablespoon water
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Directions:
Preparing the dough
Whisk the warm water and yeast together in a standard mixture (using the dough attachment). Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Add in the flour, brown sugar. and salt. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead the dough for 4-5 minutes.
(If using a bagel variety, follow the steps in bagel variety section after this step)
Lightly grease a large bowl with nonstick spray. Placing the dough in the bowl, turn it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes (or until it doubles in size).
Shaping the bagels
When the dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces (this makes for quite large bagels, if you’d like an increased amount, divide them up into smaller pieces). Shape each piece into a ball. Place index finger through the center of each ball to make a hole about 1.5-2 inches in diameter.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
Water bath
Fill a large, wide pot with 2 quarts of water. Whisk in the honey. Bring water to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-high. Drop in the bagels 2-4 at a time, making sure they have enough room to float around. Cook the bagels for 1 minute on each side.
Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash on top and around the sides of the bagel. (See below for bagel varieties) Place 4 bagels onto each lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. (You want the bagels to be a dark golden brown). Remove from oven and allow bagels to cool on baking sheet for 20 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
ENJOY!
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Preparing the dough
Boiling the bagels
Baking the bagels
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Bagel Varieties!!
After the egg wash + prior to placing them in the oven
EVERYTHING BAGEL - Sprinkle everything bagel seasoning onto top of bagel.
CINNAMON RAISON - Sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar onto top of bagel. Add raisons into the dough by inserting them halfway through.
CHOCOLATE BAGEL - Add chocolate chips into bagel. I use Lily’s dark chocolate chips for a healthier alternative.
BLUEBERRY BAGEL - Add blueberries into the bagel
PUMPKIN BAGEL - Add cinnamon and pumpkin protein powder or pumpkin puree into dough (protein powder step is required before boiling bagel)
PEPPERMINT CHIP BAGEL - Add peppermint protein powder into dough (protein powder step is required before boiling bagel) and add chocolate chips after the bagel has been boiled
SESAME SEED BAGEL - Add sesame seeds onto top of bagel
POPPY SEED BAGEL - Add poppy seeds onto top of bagel
The final product!
To make these bagels a little more appealing to my specific food pallet, I added salt into the finished dough, regardless of the bagel variety, sweet or savory. I use Kirkland Himalayan Pink Salt from Costco. Some ideas I’d like to try next time, is adding minced garlic to the dough, adding chopped raw onions and peppers, and adding peanut butter to the dough.