Homemade Bagels! YUM!

I love bagels. A bagel with lox and cream cheese is probably my all time favorite breakfast/brunch item. I am fortunate to live close to not one, but two very good bagel places. However, I've always wanted to try to make them myself. I figured,
"How hard could it be? Make some dough, shape it, boil it, bake it." 
I wasn't that far off, but there are a few more steps and a lot of waiting for dough to rise and rest. Luckily, I had my trusty Kitchen-Aid stand mixer to help me along the way.
I used a recipe I found on a baking blog here  http://bakingbites.com/2007/06/homemade-bagels/ .  It takes you step by step through the process with great photos. I sprinkled sesame seeds over the top of mine before baking them, but you could make them plain or top with your favorite bagel toppings. You can click on the link above or you can follow my directions. The only ingredients I had to buy were bread flour and yeast, which was a total of $4.00. Though more labor intensive,  that makes this a lot cheaper then going to buy a dozen bagels.


Homemade Bagels
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 3/4 cups water, warm (100-110F)
4 cups bread flour (not all purpose)*
1 tbsp salt
1 egg, for egg wash

1. Combine yeast, sugar and warm water in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Let stand 5 minutes.

2. Add salt and flour and mix to combine. Dough should start to form a ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl.

3. Using the dough hook on the stand mixer, kneed dough on a low speed for 8 minutes. You can also kneed by hand if you prefer. If kneading by hand, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until very smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

4. Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size.

5. When dough has risen, turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces (first quarters, then thirds). Shape each piece into a tight ball. When all the balls are shaped, let the dough rest for 30 minutes covered with a clean dish towel.

6. Once dough balls have rested, the bagel shape can be formed. Using your fingers, poke a hole through the center of each dough ball. Stretch out the dough into a ring with your fingers and be sure to make the hole a little larger than you want the finished bagel to have, as it will shrink slightly while the bagel is expanding during the baking process. Let bagels rest for about 10 minutes.

7.Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil. Working four at a time, drop the bagels carefully into the boiling water. Boil for 2 minutes on the first side, then flip and boil for an additional minute. Using a slotted spoon or strainer, transfer bagels to a clean towel to drain for a moment, then place on a parchment-lined or non-stick baking sheet. Repeat process with remaining bagels.

8.Brush boiled bagels with lightly beaten egg (a pastry or bbq brush is a good tool for this). You can sprinkle bagels with sesame seeds or what ever topping you like here.

9. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Missing 1 bagel.  I ended up making 11 not 12. One bagel was a lot larger then the rest :-)
*You must use bread flour NOT all purpose flour for this recipe to work correctly.  Bread flour has a higher gluten content, which is needed for the chewy, stretchy dough.