Homemade Bagels

 These are so delicious-- especially fresh, with some cream cheese!  I got the recipe from Youtube user mahalodotcom .  There are plenty of steps involved in making homemade bagels, but it is well worth the effort for the delicious, soft, chewy bagels that come out of your home oven!  There are lots of pictures here to help walk you through the process.  Also, knowing how to make them is quite a bragging right, because most people don't know how.  Its not complicated at all though, really. The secret to that classic bagel texture and taste is to both broil AND boil them before baking. 

Homemade Bagels

 Ingredients:

4 ¼ cups bread flour

1 ½ cups warm water

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tsp salt

¼ cup cornmeal or semolina

Directions:

1.        In a large mixing bowl, add 2 cups of the flour.  Add in the yeast.  Toss yeast and flour together with a spoon.  Add in the sugar and salt.  Mix until blended. 

2.       Using a hand mixer on low to medium, gradually mix in the water, for about 30 seconds.  Then put the mixer on high, and beat for 3 minutes.

3.       Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you need to make the dough come together, but you should probably have about ¾ cup to 1 cup of flour left over.  Keep this for kneading.  

4.       On a lightly floured surface, knead in the rest of the flour for about 6 to 8 minutes, until you have a firm and dense but elastic ball of dough.

5.        Divide dough into 12 equal portions.   Roll each portion into a round ball with your hands.  Cover with a very *slightly* dampened cloth and let dough rise for about 10 minutes.

6.       Using your fingers, gently stretch a 2-inch diameter hole in the center of each dough ball.  Place on a lightly greased baking sheet.  

7.       Cover dough rings with a cloth and let them rise for 20 minutes. 

8.       In a large skillet, bring 6 cups of water to a boil.  You won’t be using this right now, but you want the boiling water to be ready the moment your bagels come out of the broiler.

9.       While the water boils, pre-heat your broiler, with the rack about 5 inched from the heated coils.  Place dough rings (on baking sheet) in the broiler for about 3 to 4 minutes.  Try not to let the tops get brown. 

10.    Remove bagel rings from broiler and immediately begin lowering them into the boiling water, one at a time, with a slotted spatula.  They should have plenty of space, so don’t boil more than 4 to 6 at a time.  Reduce water to a simmer, and let bagels simmer for 7 minutes total, flipping them over once at 3 1/3 minutes.  Remove bagels from the water and let them drain on double-layered paper towels.  

11.   Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

12.   Sprinkle 2 large baking sheets with the cornmeal (or semolina), spread out evenly.  Its best to use 2 baking sheets so that the bagels will have plenty of room to get a bit bigger.   

   

13.    Place bagels on baking sheets, leaving about 1 ½ inches between them.  Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden.  Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.  Serve bagels, or store them in a tightly-sealed container.   

TIP:  If you are making them ahead of time for an even, you can also seal them tightly and freeze them for up to 2 weeks, then thaw them at room temperature for 2 hours before serving.