Home-made Bagels

Happiness is a bagel in the morning.  If it weren't so true, companies like Thomas's, Lender's and Panera Bread would be out of business.  But what's in one of those bagels, really?  Have you ever thought about it?  Look on the ingredients label and I'm sure you'll see a whole lot of stuff that in no way resembles flour, water, sugar, salt, and yeast.

I'm a big fan of bread-making.  I can make artisan confectionery goodness for a fraction of what I would pay for it at a farmer's market, bakery, or the store.  It has the side benefit of making my house smell fabulous, which is almost worth the effort right there.  And the stuff I make is fresh, which is more than I can say for those bagels that have been sitting in that refrigerated chest in the grocery store.  How long does that stuff sit there, anyway?  How long did it take to travel from who-knows-where bakery/factory to the store?  How long did it sit in the back store-room waiting for the previous batch of inventory to expire?  And what happens to all the bagels that never get sold?

I know the answer to that last question; I worked for a zoo once.  Our bears fell all over themselves to grab a bite of cinnamon-raisin bagel.  So did the camels, sheep, goats, llamas, and primates.  Wrestling each gooey raisin from its bready cocoon was a favorite pastime there.  But whatever didn't find its way into a hungry mouth got thrown away.  Such waste...

The bread I bake is good, or at least I like to think so.  I  haven't bought a bread product in nearly 4 years.  Buns, rolls, tortillas, pizza crusts, sandwich loaves, soup bowls, muffins, cookies, cakes, stuffing, desserts...I make them all.  I figure that if I can't make it, then I must not need it that badly.  And it's all cheaper and tastes better than the store-bought stuff.  The dog certainly thinks so, anyway.  He makes a beeline to the kitchen whenever he hears the sound of the serrated knife clearing its holster on the kitchen counter.  Then I get eyes that look something like this:

I ask you:  how can someone refuse a face like that?

My most recent foray into baking is the cinnamon raisin bagel.  They turned out gloriously!!  I thought they put Panera to shame, anyway.  And cheap!!  They used only the things I had in my pantry, nothing more.  This recipe made enough for 2 weeks, so I froze whatever we couldn't eat right away.  Here's the recipe and technique I used.  Enjoy!

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

Ingredients:

Sponge 1 tsp yeast 4 cups bread flour 2 ½ cups water (room temp)

Dough 1 tsp yeast 3 ¾ cups bread flour 1 TBS cinnamon 5 TBS sugar 2 ¾ tsp salt 1 TBS honey 2 cups raisins, rinsed

Finishing 1 TBS baking soda Soup pot

Directions:

1. DAY ONE: Make sponge by stirring yeast and flour in a mixing bowl. Whisk in water and stir until it forms a thick, sticky batter. Cover with plastic wrap and proof at room temperature for 2 hours until doubled and foamy.
   
   
2. Make dough by adding yeast and mixing well. Add 3 cups flour, cinnamon, sugar, salt, and sweetener. Add raisins after dough has come together, just before transferring to the dough hook. Knead with dough hook for 6 – 10 minutes, adding additional flour as necessary.
   
   
3. Divide into 12 – 16 pieces and shape into boules. Cover with a damp cheesecloth and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
   
   
4. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper and mist with spray oil to prevent sticking. Poke a hole in the center of each boule, gently rotating thumb around the inside to widen it to 2 inches. Try to keep outside edge as even as possible. Place on baking sheets about 2 inches apart, mist with spray oil, and cover gently in plastic wrap. Allow to rest for 20 minutes more.
   
   
   
5. Use “float test” to check if bagels are ready to transfer to the refrigerator. Fill bowl with room temperature water, and test by tossing one in. If it floats in 10 seconds, remove the tester, pat it dry, and transfer bagels to the fridge for overnight. If not, remove it and re-test every 20 minutes so so until it does float. (Resting time may vary due to ambient conditions and dough stiffness)
   
   
6. 
   DAY TWO: Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees F. Bring a large soup pot of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil. Gently drop 3 – 4 cold bagels into the water, wait for them to float, then boil for 1 minute per side (flipping with skimmer). For chewier bagels, boil for 2 minutes per side.
   
   
7. Place finished bagels on a greased baking sheet (same as the one used earlier, just replenish the grease). Bake on the center rack for 10 minutes, rotating pan halfway through the baking time.