Home Baked Bagels

The perfect thing to go with your homemade cream cheese? Home baked bagels, of course!

I have a bit of a confession - until very recently, I could never understand what all the fuss was about with bagels. My thoughts were along the lines of - Why does it have a hole in it? Why do you have to boil them before baking - isn't that a bit poncy and fiddly? What's wrong with a nice crusty bread roll? Then we ate bagels at a cafe on a day trip last year, because we got there late and they didn't have much else, and we really enjoyed them.

Recently I stumbled across a recipe for bagels whilst browsing through Baking Bread with Children (great book - I really recommend it) and decided to give it a go. I made the dough the night before, so as to cut down on the amount of faff (I ought to repeat that Elizabeth David quote a bit more often!) and did the rest the next morning.

I am having to eat my own words, because I am not exaggerating when I say that these bagels are so amazingly delicious and the texture is fantastic! If you enjoy bought bagels then wait until you've tried extremely freshly baked ones - lunchtime will never be the same again!

I've taken to making these often - I'm going to see how they fare in the freezer next time as they are a little bit of a faff to make - worth it - but a bit of a faff.

Here's the recipe I used, from Baking Bread with Children

Bagels (makes 12)

500g strong white bread flour

15ml natural sugar or honey

10ml sea salt

10ml dried yeast (not 'quick acting')

300ml warm water

1 egg white

30ml sesame or poppy seeds to sprinkle on top

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water with sugar/honey. Let the liquid rest in a warm place for 10 minutes, until it is bubbly and smells yeasty.

2. Mix in salt and slowly add the flour until the dough comes together in a blob. It should still be soft and slightly sticky to the touch.

3. Sprinkle some flour onto a clean work surface and knead with vigour for 10 minutes.

4. Grease a large bowl with vegetable oil. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a damp tea towel.

5. Let it rise until double in volume, about 1 and a half to 2 hours.

6. After the first rising, cut into 12 pieces and shape dough into 12 small balls.

7. Poke your thumb through the centre of the balls and stretch them to create rings. Let rise on a greased sheet for 20 minutes in a warm place.

8. In a 2 litre saucepan, bring water to a gentle boil. Add 30g sugar to water. Boiling gives bagels their characteristic chewy crust.

9. Boil bagels 2 or 3 at a time for 30 seconds on each side and then drain them on a towel. If bagels do not float on the surface of the water, then they need to rise for a bit longer before boiling.

10. Place bagels on baking sheet with corn meal or semolina flour to keep them from sticking. Brush bagels with egg white diluted with 15ml water to make the tops shiny. You can sprinkle bagels with sesame seeds, poppy seeds or coarse salt if desired.

11. Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

12. Let cool, slice in half and serve.

Typing this out, I've just realised I didn't omit the egg yolk which made mine a bit crunchier on the outside - if you like crunchy, give it a go!

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Just another gentle reminder that the deadline for the February Home Baked Challenge is this Sunday at midnight. There are some gorgeous entries in the flickr group already - don't forget to add yours!