Make It From Scratch: Bagels

One day not too long ago, I thought to myself, "I'd' like to make bagels."

What? What?

Don't tell me you've never thought, "I'd like to make bagels."

Have you had a bag of those store bought bagels?

There not very good. OK, most of them are actually pretty bad.

And I don't know about you, but taking my 3 kids out for bagels is expensive. By the time we get bagels for everyone and coffee for Aaron and I, a juice for the kids to split and even after we cheap out on the cream cheese and share it, we're still paying like $15 dollars for bagels.

And, we aren't hanging out enjoying a leisurely bagel breakfast. When they're done, they're done. It's not really worth the $ for a quick trip in and out of Noah's Bagels.

Clearly making my own bagels was the answer.

So when I saw this post, I knew I had to try it.

By the way, if you have never read Angry Chicken, I suggest you do. Often. She always has great posts on things like staplers and pencil sharpeners. If you a seamstress, you'll love her because she makes amazing things out of cloth. I especially adore her for her recipes. She is a fellow, "make it from scratcher" and I am always inspired by her recipes.

She did not post the recipe, she linked to it and so will I. But before I do, let me give you a little pictorial tutorial on the bagels so you will see how easy it is and be inspired to whip up some of these babies.

The dough is a breeze. I used my Kitchen Aid mixer. let it rise a few times and voila--here it is rising after I divided it up into 10 balls.

Rolling it out was easy. The kids would love to help with this. Mine didn't get to this time because I had just made them play dough and their hands were covered in food coloring. I didn't feel like having blue, red or yellow bagels, so I did it solo this time.

One thing I need to work on is the seam where the two ends come together. The seam held up, but looked a little funky.
Boiling the bagels is no problem. 30 seconds on each side and they are done. I did 3 at a time so I could flip them all at almost the same time.
After they boil, you can sprinkle on the toppings. We didn't have any and my kids like their bagels plain, so I didn't really do this. Except for a couple I sprinkled with coarse kosher salt (I'm fanatical about this salt as opposed to regular table salt. It makes all the difference I tell you) Turns out those were a big hit. That little bit of salt added a really nice flavor to the bagels.
Baking in a really hot oven is the last easy step. You bake them hot, lower the temp and bake a bit more, then flip and bake a bit longer and then...piping hot bagels to enjoy.
They tasted amazing by themselves and of course, even better with cream cheese.
The only complaint, I wouldn't let them eat 3 in one sitting.
Aaron told me they were the best bagels he had ever had.

The kids kept saying how good they smelled.

The next morning they asked for bagels for breakfast. "But we want your homemade bagels, OK Mommy?" Oh swoon.

The good news, you don't have to get up at 3 am to make these for breakfast. I think they actually taste better toasted the next day.

So really, you can't go wrong. Just go make some for breakfast tomorrow. You'll save money, get to enjoy a leisurely breakfast at home in your jammies and when the kids are done you can send them outside to play while you finish your coffee.

It's a win-win. Win. (for all you Office fans out there.

Get the recipe here.

I changed a few things, so here are my notes:

I did not have molasses and used honey instead.

I did not use bread flour. I used half regular white flour and half whole wheat pastry flour. The bagels were still moist, tender and chewy. Next time I will use 3/4 whole wheat flour and 1/4 white flour.

The recipe makes 10 bagels or 12 if you make them a bit smaller. They lasted us 2 days. I will double the recipe from now on.

I urge you to try these yourself. The boys and I are going to make a double batch this afternoon because tomorrow is Saturday and Saturday just sings bagels. We'll be enjoying them on the patio in our pajamas.

Happy weekend everyone!

Love from,

Greta