Homemade Bagels Recipe

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by Ashley @HowtoHaveitAll on November 24, 2014

Homemade Bagels 2

Bagels for breakfast—smothered in cream cheese, oozing with peanut butter, dripping with jam or housing a fried egg & cheese they are delicious in every way & surprisingly pretty simple & much less expensive to make at home! My favorite breakfast is an egg bagel sandwich with provolone cheese—we started making our own bagels a few months back and we’ve never looked back! They are Amazing!

The first step in making bagels is to activate the yeast. Once the yeast is dissolved in the warm water and sugar, it’s time to start adding in the flour. Use a stand mixer to aid in the mixing and kneading process. It will save your arms a lot of work! After the dough is kneaded, it needs to rise for about an hour in a draft free zone.

Bagel Dough

Once the dough has risen, you will need to form it into bagel shapes. This recipe makes 8 bagels. The bagel shaped dough will then need to rest for another ten minutes before the next step.

Boil Bagels

Before bagels are baked, they need to boil in water. Just boil for 1 minute on each side and then remove to a greased baking sheet. The bagels need to cook in the oven for 20 minutes now.

Bagels

For flavored bagels, add a topping to the bagel dough after boiling and before baking! Add cheese, seeds, buts, spices, herbs, etc.

Homemade Bagels Recipe
 
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Recipe type: Bread
Ingredients
  • 2 tsp. active dry yeast
  • 1 ½ tbsp. granulated sugar
  • 2-3 tbsp. honey (optional---add if you enjoy bagels with a little extra sweetness, great if you like peanut butter or jam on top)
  • 1 ¼ cups warm water, divided (+ additional ¼ cup if dough appears too dry as it is kneaded)
  • 3 ½ cups (500g) BREAD FLOUR (bread flour has more gluten & will yield soft chewy bagels)
  • 1 tbsp. butter flavored Crisco
  • 1 ½ tsp. salt
Instructions
  1. Proof yeast by adding sugar, honey (if using) and yeast to ½ cup warm water; do not stir, let sit for 5 minutes before stirring to completely dissolve the mixture.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer whisk flour and salt together then create a well in the center and pour in the dissolved yeast mixture and half the remaining warm water.
  3. Mix on speed 2, while mixing add Crisco and additional water as needed (start with 1-2 tbsp. at a time---you may or may not need all the water). Knead on setting 2 for 10-15 minutes. Work in a little extra flour as needed until the dough is smooth & elastic yet firm.
  4. Remove & shape dough into a large ball and roll it around inside a lightly greased bowl to rise, cover with a moist towel and set in a warm place free from draft for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
  5. Punch down dough and let rise again for 10 minutes.
  6. Divide dough into 8 equal portions (use a kitchen scale to be precise) and shape into tight balls by pulling the dough from the top to the bottom and pinching bottom seams closed before giving them a quick roll across your palm or the counter into a perfect ball.
  7. Poke a hole through the center with a floured finger and twirl the ball around to stretch out the hole to approximately 1-2 inches in diameter. Set on a lightly greased baking sheet. Continue with remaining dough portions until all 8 are completed.
  8. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
  9. Meanwhile preheat oven to 425 degrees F and bring a large pot of water to a boil (you may add brown sugar, honey or molasses to the water if desired).
  10. Once the bagels have rested and water is boiling, reduce heat so you have a gentle boil and add as many bagels to the pot as you can or are comfortable with. Put the bagels in the water with the top down first (the part that was facing up when resting on the baking sheet) and boil for 1 minute then flip using a slotted spoon and boil opposite side for 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon back to lightly greased baking sheet. Continue with remaining bagels.
  11. Mix 1 egg white and 1 tbsp. of water & brush tops of bagels and sprinkle with toppings if using as you remove from boiling water. The toppings need to be in place before baking but are completely optional.
  12. Place bagels in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until a rich golden brown.
  13. Cool on wire racks.
  14. Serve & enjoy!
Notes
For toppings consider cheese (sliced or shredded), poppy seeds, sesame seeds, minced dried onion, dried herbs, chopped nuts or seeds, chia seeds etc.

 

Make sure you check out my other easy recipes in my recipe index!

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Ashley @HowtoHaveitAll

Ashley is a happily married stay at home mom to a beautiful little girl and a little boy. Ashley and her husband come from a small town and enjoy the simple pleasures in life, like GREAT FOOD. They love to try out new recipes and experiment in the kitchen together, but also enjoy reading, painting and photography.

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