People are always very impressed that I regularly make fresh, homemade bagels for Sunday brunch. They are not as difficult to make as you'd think and yet they are so incredibly delicious. Imagine, hot bagels straight out of the oven still steaming as you slice through them. These never feel redundant no matter how often I make them and they are always received with much excitement and glee.
I use THIS recipe which I find to be easy to follow and has yielded consistently delicious bagels.
Below are some additional tips:
I prepare the dough the night before and place it in a bowl, covered, in the fridge. This frees up the morning with less preparation and rising time.
In the morning I remove the dough from the fridge, punch it to release air, and let it sit on the counter for 30-45 minutes before continuing with dividing the dough into eight pieces as noted in the recipe.
When I do not have everything bagel seasoning on hand, I make my own by mixing minced garlic, poppy seeds, sesame seeds (white and black if possible), salt and pepper. Feel free to create your own mix of seasonings!
Don't worry if your bagels don't roll into perfectly smooth balls. Mine often have cracks on the bottom. It's OK! Seriously, once in a while the dough does not cooperate and looks kinda funky but once they bake they work themselves out and no one ever cares if they are not perfect.
I opt to boil them two minutes on each side, Siri helps me keep track of time.
Half way through baking, I flip them over to make sure both sides get nice and crispy.
Once they are golden (about 25 minutes of baking time), remove and let sit at least 10 minutes before cutting through. They are still baking. In our eagerness to dive right in we have found unbaked dough in the center. Patience, although difficult, is key. Exercise your will power!
Be creative, you can add chocolate chips to the dough when you prepare it in step one. You can add more savory flavors like cumin seeds or keep them sweeter with raisins, cinnamon and honey. Really, just use the dough as a base and add any seasoning or ingredients to it as you mix it.
I'd love to hear from you. Let me know how yours turned out. Did you make up your own seasoning combination? Did you try a new dough flavor?
Enjoy. And you're welcome!
