Bagels!

I am immensely proud of having made bagels, and good bagels too! These take more time than the bread, but if you like bagels, I say it's worth it! Both of our girls are big bagel fans, so this recipe is a great discovery for us. Bagels are good on the go, and they are extra-handy for a baby who wants to feed herself (and wants to eat constantly). In fact, we read once in a bagel place that bagels were created as bread for babies, because the ring shape is easy for them to grasp. Who knew?

Again, I followed a recipe from Feed Me I'm Yours by Vicki Lansky, and again I added wheat germ and dry milk. My biggest tip is add the flour carefully! I mixed the dry ingredients in a bowl (4 cups of flour plus the add-ins) and planned to add them gradually to the wet, only to have the whole contents shift half-way through my "gradual adding" and slide right into my other bowl...creating a very hard, very lumpy wad-o'-dough that went in the bin. Sigh. Lesson learned! You'll also see in the photo that some of the bagels got quite brown. The ovens here are TINY, and the baking sheet you see goes from wall to wall. One dozen bagels is all I can make in one go, but lemme tell ya...they're almost already gone!

Bagels

1.5 cups warm water (105-110F)
1 package dry yeast
1 Tbsp salt
3 Tbsp sugar or honey (I used super-fine raw sugar)
4-6 cups flour (white, whole-wheat or a combo)(I used all whole-wheat)
1 egg
poppy or sesame seeds (optional)(I omitted)

In a large bowl, mix warm water with yeast. Add salt and sugar (or honey). Cover bowl with a damp cloth and let stand 5 minutes. Gradually add flour until a soft-to-medium (but not stiff) dough is obtained. Knead on a lightly floured board (5-10 minutes) until shiny and smooth, adding a little more flour as necessary for kneading. Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until dough is doubled (about 30 minutes). Punch down and knead lightly.

To form into bagels, roll out approximately 1/4 cup of dough into a strand about 7 inches long and pinch the ends together firmly. Place bagels fairly close together on a floured board or baking sheet. Cover and let rise again (about 30 minutes) in a warm, draft-free place.

Bring about 5 inches of water to boil in a fairly large, open pot/kettle. Turn the heat down to simmer. When bagels have risen, gently lift one at a time and drop into simmering water. Turn them immediately and simmer for about 2 minutes until puffy but not disintegrating. Several bagels may be put into the water at one time, but do not crowd the pan. Remove the bagels to a towel-covered rack to drain and cool while you boil the next batch.

Place the cooled bagels on a greased baking sheet. They can be close together. Beat the egg briefly with 1 Tablespoon of water and brush the mixture over the tops of the bagels. Sprinkle with seeds if using. Bake for 30-40 minutes.