Bagels

Heather says:

Bagel purists avert your eyes. I believe I’ll refer to this recipe as Quick and Dirty Bagels.” They get the job done, are much better than frozen, and do not require a whole lot of work, but I would never put them up against a genuine NY bagel. This recipe was originally designed for a bread machine. However, if anyone has been observing my recent run of luck, it should come as no surprise that my machine decided to call it quits about 3 minutes into the job.

Do not fret, I pulled out my stand mixer and completed the recipe.

Quick and Dirty Bagels

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
3 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 quarts boiling water
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 egg white

Place the water, 2 TBSP sugar, yeast, flour, and salt in your bread machine according to the manufacturer’s directions. Set on the dough setting.

If using a stand mixer, combine the above ingredients and knead with the dough hook for five minutes. Add a few drops of water if the dough won’t come together. The dough was fairly stiff. Cover with a slightly damp cloth and allow to rise for an hour.

Turn the dough out onto floured surface and divide into six equal portions.

There are a few ways to shape bagels, here are two.

• Roll into a cylinder about ten inches long, hold one end between your thumb and the base of your pinky finger. (Like signing the number four) wrap the rope around your fingers and join end to end, creating a loop around your hand. Use a little water to seal the seam if you’d like. Hold the joined edges together and roll the dough off your hand.

or

• Roll the dough into a ball, flatten gently, and poke your finger through the center. Gently twirl the dough to enlarge the opening.

Place on a lightly floured surface. Form the other five bagels, cover with a towel, and allow to rise for at least 15 minutes.

While the dough is rising heat 3qts of water and 3 TBSP sugar to a roiling boil.

Preheat the oven to 375F

Carefully place the bagel into the boiling water and turn after thirty seconds. Allow it too boil for an 30 additional seconds and then drain on a rack or clean towel. Place the bagels on a parchment lined baking sheet*, brush with the egg white (if you’d like garlic, onions, poppyseeds etc, now is the time to sprinkle them on), and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

*I originally tried the cornmeal sprinkled sheet and spent ten minutes prying them off.

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