#186: Homemade Bagels

Our bagels were dipped in cinnamon sugar before baking

When I came across this recipe, I knew I really wanted to try it for my family and for the girls to take to school with them.   I am not a baker...not by any means!  As you notice I don't like measuring or taking great care with my recipes.  I'll do anything to make it faster and taste just as good.  Baking requires too much patience and precision.  That's not me!!  But when I watched the video of the guy rolling out and cutting/preparing the bagels, it didn't look difficult at all, so I figured I'd give it a try.  Of course we ate these as a post-breakfast snack since it took a while to make these. 

I think my yeast was either bad (expired in April but I've had it for a while) or I have the wrong kind.  These got larger but didn't rise at all.  They are a little dense and Brian thinks they taste more like a pretzel than they do a bagel.  Regardless, these are definitely better than the store bought kind and taste more like ones you would get from a bagel shop.  I don't think I would take the time to make these on a regular basis, but I will definitely try these again, and if they turn out will freeze and see what we think of them.  If you try this recipe, let me know if it turns out better for you and what you think of them!


4 cups bread flour
1 Tbls sugar
1 1/2 tsps salt
1 Tbls vegetable oil
2 tsps instant yeast
1-1/4- 1-1/2 cups of warm water.


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.  Cut the dough into 8 equal sized balls (I got 16 smaller bagels--all weighing 2 oz pre-baked and they are quite a good size), and let rest for 10-20 minutes.  Pre heat your oven to 425.  (You don't bake for a while, so I'd wait to turn your oven on!)


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!


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.  (Definitely grease w/vegetable oil and not non-stick cooking spray.  These need the oil so it doesn't stick to the cookie sheet!)
After the 20 minute wait, your bagels will start to look puffy, 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 and then place them on your oiled baking tray. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled.  (For adding toppings, see below)


Add the tray to the oven, and after 10 minutes, flip the bagels over, bake for another ten minutes; and they're done!  Let them cool for at least 20 minutes, get the cream cheese ready, and feast on what's got to be one of the best weekend brunch treats possible!


You can add any toppings you like to these. To make sesame, onions, poppy seed, caraway etc. etc. bagels just have a dry plate ready with the seed or spice topping spread out on it. After the bagels have come out of the boiling water, place them face down onto the seeds, and then place the seed side up onto the baking tray. Bake and flip as for plain bagels.