Homemade Bagels

As I've mentioned before, bagels are a favorite treat around this house!  The kids and I all love them, though I prefer a hefty spread of cream cheese while the kids favor plain butter.  No matter how we top them, they are delicious!

I realized I hadn't yet shared our method for making them, so I wanted to get that done.

Our go-to recipe for making bagels was found here.  We didn't really change much, just added a bit more water since we increased the flour to more whole wheat, and changed the order in which some ingredients get added to help achieve a better rise.

Cinnamon raisin bagels make a deliciously simple snack!

Ready?  It's not a complicated process at all.

And the best part?  If you make a large amount, you can just freeze the rest and then pull them out when life gets too complicated for baking.

What you need (this is for a double batch--about 24-26 bagels):

5 cups warm water
4 T honey (or 1/2 cup brown sugar if your honey supply is low!)
5 tsp. sea salt
6 cups whole wheat flour (we use white whole wheat)
4 cups all purpose flour
2 T. gluten powder
4 tsp. yeast

For the water bath step:
1 gallon of water
1/3 cup sugar

What you do:

1.  Put 1 cup of water, honey (or sugar), and yeast in a large bowl then mix
2. Wait five minutes or so while yeast gets bubbly
3. Add the remaining water (4 cups), the salt and the gluten and stir
4.  Add the whole wheat flour and mix well
5.  Slowly add the all purpose flour (about a cup at a time) until your dough is only slightly sticky (remember your mileage on flour may vary so don't feel like you have to use it all)
6.  Knead the dough for about 10 minutes
7.  Put the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap until doubled (about an hour)
8.  Add in any extras--dehydrated onions for onion bagels, garlic for garlic bagels, raisins and cinnamon--whatever you like!  Feel free to divide the dough into smaller chunks and flavor each differently, especially if you're making a large batch.
9.  Divide the dough into baseball sized balls (approximately 24-26 from this double batch)
10.  Take each ball and use your thumbs to create a hole in the middle as you work the dough into a bagel shape.  Stretch it out to about 2 inches since the hole will shrink.
11. Place each shaped bagel on a greased cookie sheet and allow to rest for 20 minutes.

These bagels are resting...shh!

12.  While bagels are resting, prepare a water bath for them by bringing a gallon of water and 1/3 cup of sugar to a boil.  You can also start your oven preheating to 350 at this time.
13.  When your bagels are done resting and your water is boiling, drop a couple of bagels (however many will fit without touching in your pot) into the boiling water.  Set the timer for 30 seconds.
14.  Using a large slotted spoon (or something similar) flip each bagel over.
15.  Boil for another 30 seconds.
16.  Place boiled bagel back on greased cookie sheet.
17.  Repeat until all bagels are boiled. Careful--boiling water is hot!
18. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
19.  Remove from oven and pan and let cool on a rack.
20.  Spread with topping of choice and enjoy!

 What's your favorite bagel flavor and topping?