Bagels!

I've been thinking of baking bagels for a while now, and today-- my day of rest and the day I also happen to finally be feeling human again after a wicked cold-- was the day.

I used this recipe for my bagels, and as far as I can tell, it worked beautifully.

I thought baking bagels would be hard, but it was actually easier than making pretzels (the last baking endeavor). Again, I was most worried about killing the yeast, but I didn't! I also forgot to take any photos until I was boiling and baking the 2nd batch. Overall, though-- easy.

Step one: Combine yeast, warm water, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Mix gently with dough hook until combined.

Step 2: Add the flour. It takes quite a bit, but this recipe makes a dozen bagels. Knead with the dough hook for about 3 minutes, then let rise.

Step 3: Beat down the dough, roll into bagel shapes (I used the "hole-in-the-middle" technique), and let rise again for about 20 minutes.

(Bagels have risen and are ready to boil.)

Step 4: Now it's time to boil! This, as with pretzels, is what gives bagels their wonderful, unique texture.

Let them boil for about 30 seconds, and make sure to turn them once so the whole bagel gets nice and boiled.

Step 5: Bake the bagels at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. Take them out and let them cool. Admire.

I have yet to taste them, as I'm still waiting for the 2nd batch to come out of the oven, and I want them to cool. Also, I want to be hungry when I finally break into one. They smell heavenly, and I know I'll want to eat the whole thing once I crack them.

EDIT:

The bagels are delicious. Perfect texture and great flavor. They even look like real bagels when you cut them in half.

I will say that I'm pretty sure I'm never buying bagels again. This whole process only took about an hour, and it made an easy dozen. If I wanted slightly smaller bagels, I could probably eke 16 out of this amount of dough.

To add to my shopping list: cream cheese. Mm, bagels.

Any ideas for my next baking adventure?

Pretzels!

After watching a pretzel throwdown on Throwdown with Bobby Flay this past week, I was struck by the sudden desire to make pretzels. A quick google search led me to Bobby Flay's recipe on Food Network's site. I'm happy to say it worked like a charm.

I thought making pretzels would be complicated, but the only "hard" part was worrying over whether or not I killed the yeast. (I didn't!) I also didn't have any eggs (hard to believe, I know... but I used the last ones baking zucchini-chocolate-chip muffins last weekend), so I used butter and milk as a "wash." It worked fine.

Boiling the pretzels in the baking soda and water mixture gives them the unique texture and flavor I love about pretzels. Rolling them out was fun, although I think it will take some practice to get them looking uniform.

Once they came out of the oven, I brushed butter over them and on half, I "sprinkled" (I put it in quotation marks because it may have been more like dumping...) cinnamon sugar on top. The others I just left plain, as I didn't have any kosher salt to put on them.

Then, I ate one. Oh my. The result was plush but slightly chewy, slightly salty and sweet (I sampled a cinnamon sugar one). I was reminded of Auntie Anne's pretzels-- but better and fresher.

So, should you be wondering what to bake next, I highly recommend trying pretzels. Next up for me? Bagels.