foodie friday

i made the bagels and oh my goodness are they amazing!!
so amazing, in fact, that i ate two of them yesterday ... and that was back to back!
i really hate that i just admitted that.
they're that good.

my recommendation is that you make some this weekend!
you may have to pick up the bread flour and yeast, but the rest of the ingredients i'm sure you have in your pantry.

casey told me this morning, and i quote, "these are the most impressive things you've ever made!"
wow! big statement there.

the bagels have the most perfect texture.
just the right "tough" on the outside and inside ... doughy and soft.
the smell when you're cooking them ... oh my!
you'll truly be proud of yourself when you take that first bite.

the texture and flavor of this recipe reminds me of the bagels i ate ALL the time in high school.
you know when the bagel craze was at its height.
there was a bagel shop in chattanooga that would top their bagels with cinnamon and sugar and then serve with this cream cheese that was basically like icing. it was like a bagel cinnamon roll!!
to die for.

okay, so here's the recipe.
be prepared, this is a two baking process, but there's no reason to be nervous about it.
it was actually kind of fun.
i've included some of my pics with it which i'm still working on to perfect.
i think i need to get into editing ... add it to the list!

Homemade Bagels
(recipe from John D. Lee)

4 cups bread flour
1 T sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 T vegetable oil
2 tsp instant yeast
1-1/4 to 1-1/2 cups of warm water (I used 1 1/2)

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. You don't have to worry about soaking the yeast when you use instant yeast (most yeast sold these days is instant yeast). The dough should feel stiff, but add the extra water if it's really stiff, or you can't get all the dry flour incorporated.

Plop the dough down onto the counter, and knead for about ten minutes, or until the dough is uniform and smooth. (I used my Kitchenaid Mixer to knead the dough. Just put in your dough hook and put on level 2 speed. Set a timer for 10 minutes. So so easy!)

Cut dough into 8 equal sized balls, and let rest for 10-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425.

Now, take each of the dough balls and using two hands, roll it into a little snake on the counter. When the snake is longer than the width of your two hands, wrap it around your dominant roiling hand. The dough rope should be wrapped so the overlapping ends are together at your palm, near the start of your fingers. Now take the two overlapping ends, and use your palm to squish/roll these two ends together. Once the dough is fused, you should have a perfectly circular bagel-to-be! This is the only part of the process that can take a little practice before your bagels will look really professional. Don't get discouraged if they don't look perfect, it just takes practice!

not to bad for a first timer!

Let your bagels rest on the counter for about 20 minutes, and meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, and grease a large baking tray lightly. You can just rub a splash of vegetable oil and rub it around.

After the 20 minute wait, your bagels will start to look puffy, (mine didn't really look puffy at this point, but once I boiled them they started looking the way I had imagined they were supposed to) and it's time to get them boiling!

Add them as many at a time as you can to your boiling water without crowding them. Boil for about a minute, turn them over, and boil for another minute.


Take them out a let dry for a minute (I just put them on a plate) and then place them on your oiled baking tray. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled.

lookin' good!

Add the tray to the oven, and after 10 minutes, flip the bagels over, bake for another 10 minutes; and they're done!

they didn't turn out to be that beautiful golden color.
but, i like how the one on the right turned out best.
it's the bottom of the bagel.
next time i'm going to bake them top down first and then flip.

Let them cool for at least 20 minutes, get the cream cheese ready!