Bagels

I am a bagel fanatic. Given the opportunity, I will sit and eat a whole package of bagels, and don't even get me started on the Bread Company! But, I can't allow myself to pay that much for something when 1 package isn't even enough to feed us all breakfast. So here's my bagel recipe. It will cost you about $0.50-0.60 to make a dozen... That's a savings of about $5.50 (When compared to supermarket prices). And when you see how easy it is and how yummy they taste, you'll never go store bought again!


Bagels

2 cups WARM water
1/2 package OR 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 cups all purpose flour OR half all purpose, half whole wheat
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar

So, start off by dissolving your yeast in your warm water in a very large mixing bowl. If your water's too cool it won't activate your yeast, too hot and it will kill it. If you want to be precise, you're water should be about 110 degrees, but I just wing it. Once your yeast is dissolved and your water is looking very murky, add the sugar, oil, flour, and salt. Now start stirring. You're hands will get very tired. This is when I wash mine and dig in, mixing the dough with my hands until I have a cohesive ball. If it's too sticky, slowing add more flour throughout the kneading process. To knead, you will take the palm of your hand and smash it into your dough as deep as you can. Then fold it over and do it again. Repeat this until you get a smooth and elastic ball. It should be moist to the touch, but also be able to peel away from the counter fairly easily. It's usually done in about 10 minutes, but could take about 15. When you're finished, let your dough rest for a minute while you wash out your big mixing bowl. Dry the bowl, then add a teaspoon or two of oil. Smear it around to grease your bowl, then drop in your dough and turn it over once to coat it. Dampen a dishcloth and lay it over the top. This is when it will rise. Ideally, your dough should double in size. This will take about an hour to an hour in a half depending on how warm your house is. I like to turn on the oven light and put my bowl in there. This seems to be just the right temperature for the dough to rise quickly, but not so hot that it kills my yeast. Once your dough has risen all it can rise, punch it down by taking your fist and cramming it in the center of your dough. Knead it a few time to get rid of any extra air and put the dough on your counter. Here's the fun part! Roll your dough into one long, fairly even log. Cut this into thirds. Roll each piece into another log in the same fashion and divide that into 4 equal pieces. This will give you 12 pieces total. Take each piece roll it into a log that's about 3 inches longer than the width of your hand. Connect each piece to itself to form a "bagelish" circle shape by pinching and then reshaping the ends. Then put each bagel on a lightly greased baking sheet. These need to rise again, but this time it should only take about 20 minutes. While these are rising, pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees and start a large pot of boiling water. Your pot should be wide enough to hold at least two or more bagels comfortably. Add one tablespoon of sugar to your water to give your bagels a glossy look. Once your bagels have risen, slowly add as many as you can without them touching to the boiling water. Boil for a total of 1 minute, flipping them over half way through. Gently lift the bagels out with a slotted spoon or spatula and place them back on your baking sheets. When you have a sheet full place it on the middle rack in the oven. These should cook for about 15-20 minutes and if you can remember, flip them somewhere in the middle to keep the top from burning. Keep in mind that these bagels are not going to be uniform and perfect because they were not pumped out of some machine. But that's okay! They're still absolutely beautiful!
I also have a recipe for cream cheese that I've not yet been brave enough to try. But after I do I'll be sure post it.