#111 We made Bagels!

We made Bagels! We boiled it before baking, which explains the shape. :) This delicious bread originated in Poland, and has many variations. Read more. Chewy on the outside, somewhat soft and dense on the inside, it was just perfect for us and even better than the ones we buy.  This is our first home made bread from scratch, and I am glad it that it tasted very good. Finally, after telling myself for months that I should learn how to make bread, I did it! I purposely refused to buy a bag of bagels from the grocery store, so I can push myself to make it. It is one of our  favorite breads, and on that day it was requested for snacks to pack for school, so I had no choice but to make it. I woke up very early in the morning and when I was looking at the recipe, I thought it was really easy. Well, it wasn't complicated, but, making breads are best for us to do on weekends, not weekday mornings! LOL. Dough needs to rise,  my selective vision only communicated "15 minutes" to my busy brain whilst I was browsing the recipe and   gathering the ingredients at the same time.. 1 hour and 40 minutes later, I wasn't done. Thankfully, I woke up at 6:00 am. And this one was a hard dough to knead, so if you use pure muscle power like me in kneading doughs, I warn you, this made me sweat. I do not exercise every day, so I guess it was a blessing in disguise, it was a good arm workout early in the morning. Fun! :)

Yield: 8 bagels

BOILED BAGELS


Ingredients:

4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 pouches (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast 

1 1/2 cups water, 110 degrees F

3 tablespoons white sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

1. In large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour and yeast. Mix water, 3 tablespoons sugar and salt together, and add to the dry ingredients. Beat with a mixer for half a minute at a low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl clean. Beat at a higher speed for 3 minutes. Then, by hand, mix in enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough.
2. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). Cover, let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Cut into 12 portions, shape into smooth balls. Poke a hole in the center with your finger, and gently enlarge the hole while working the bagel into a uniform shape. Cover, let rise 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, start a gallon of water boiling. Put 1 tablespoon of sugar in it, mix it around a bit. Reduce to simmering.
5. When the bagels are ready, put 4 or 5 bagels into the water, and cook 7 minutes, turning once. Drain them. Place on a greased baking sheet, and bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven, eat hot or cold.
6. Broiling option: For a glossier surface, place raised bagels on an ungreased baking sheet prior to boiling them. Broil them five inches from heat for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes on each side. Then put them into the hot water to be boiled as above. Note: do not bake broiled bagels as long as non-broiled ones, 25 minutes should be long enough.

Recipe adapted from here

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