52/52: Homemade Bagels

Do you notice anything special about this post title?! That’s right! 52/52! I have completed my goal. If you can’t remember, my very first blog post talked about my personal goal to post the equivalent of one post a week for the entire year. I have been blogging and creating cheesy little websites since I was really young {I was an 11 year old geek who taught herself the basics of html}. And well, believe it or not, I made it! Some weeks I posted twice, and sometimes I posted extra, quick, fun things… but regardless, I have completed my goal! I am so excited and proud of myself.

Oh yeah! 🙂

So, to celebrate my goal completion I thought it was only proper to also accomplish a baking goal, and check another item off my kitchen bucketlist! I have been wanting to make bagels for so long. I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love these little carb keepers! The thought of fresh, homemade bagels has always danced in my head. Over the years I have seen many recipes but this recipe seemed to easy, and too good to be true. And, well, I think it was! It was oober simple, took less than 2 hours and the result is pretty darn yummy. My bagels are a little funny shaped due to some silly mistakes on my part when boiling {I had a very difficult time getting them out of the water}, but they still taste yum!

Here are a few pics…

During…

After… {Plain, cinnamon & sugar and cheese!}

YUM!

Here’s how ya get the job done…

Homemade Bagels

Ingredients:

4 cups bread flour
1 T sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 T vegetable oil
2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cups of warm water

Directions:

1. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. The dough should feel stiff, but if you can’t get all the flour incorporated add the extra bit of water.

2. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, or until uniform and smooth.

3. Cut the dough into 8 equal sized balls and rest for 10-20 minutes {A pizza cutter works great here}.

4. Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
5. Now, we roll the dough into bagel shape, and there are several ways to do this. My favorite is to roll the dough back into a ball and poke through the center. This opens the dough and you can tug the round of dough into the shape of a bagel {This is how I did it, it was fun!}. OR Roll the dough into a little snake on the counter that is longer than the width of your two hands, then wrap it around your dominant rolling hand. Wrap the dough rope around your hand and squish the overlapping ends together.
6. Let the bagels-to-be rest on the counter for 20 minutes, grease a large baking tray {Or line with parchment}, and bring a pot of water to boil.

7. After the bagels have rested they will begin to look puffy and are ready to be boiled. Boil the bagels for a minute on each side, then let them dry out for a minute or two before placing them on the baking tray. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled.

8. Bake the bagels for 10 minutes, flip the bagels over, and bake for another 10 minutes… and Wah-LAH! Perfection. {Note: I baked bagels on the first side, flipped and then topped with the goodies! Think cheeses, cinnamon & sugar, sesame seeds, everything bagel seasons… endless possibilities. To add cinnamon & sugar, spray top with water first!}
9. Let the bagels cool for at least 20 minutes before eating them.

Source & Recipe: Life According to… Talia Christine

So simple. Love. In retrospect I should have rolled and smoothed out my little dough balls before letting them rest. I think that is why they’re so bumpy. But hey, it gives them character, right?! I have also read elsewhere if you boil for a little longer than 1 minute on each side that they will become chewier. I might try that next time. Although, the recipe I am DYING to try is this cinnamon raisin one from Annie’s Eats!

Well folks, thanks to everyone who has managed to stick with me and read my blog this year. I am feeling good about keeping this blog going, although posts might become much more sporadic with my taking over the classroom very soon! Hope you all have a fun and safe New Years. Speaking of, off to finish up hubby’s birthday dessert – Sour Cream Lemon Pie! He is a New Year’s Eve baby, so we’ll be celebrating tomorrow.

Until next time… Ciao!