Rosie Makes Bagels.

Why make your own bagels
when there are a dozen bagel shops around?
Because there's nothing like homemade bagels.
And you can make all sorts of toppings for them.
And there's nothing like a fresh bagel right out of the oven.

These are super simple to make.

Follow along with Rosie

and she'll show you how to make bagels.

Rosie's Bagels

Makes 16.

1 package yeast

1 TB sugar

1 1/4 cups warm water

3 1/2 cups King Arthur bread flour

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
 

First, proof the yeast:

Sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup warm water.

Sprinkle the sugar on top of the yeast.

Don't bother to stir it.

Just leave it and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

The yeast must "prove" it's alive.

It does this by eating the sugar

and emitting carbon dioxide and alcohol,

meaning it gets all poofy and bubbly.

It's ready now.

Simply sprinkle the sugar over the yeast.

I don't bother to stir it.

Just let the yeast do its magic.

It's getting there...

Now the yeast is ready.

It's poofy ...

...and it's bubbly.

Make the dough:

I use a mixer fitted with the dough hook.

Mix the flour and salt.

Then add the proofed yeast mixture

and the remaining 3/4 cup of water.

Process until you get a shaggy dough

Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface

and knead the dough until it comes together in a smooth ball.

Set the dough in a lightly oiled bowl,

cover with plastic wrap,

and set in a warm place.

Let it rise, 1 1/2 - 2 hours or so,

until doubled in bulk.

Gently, deflate the dough ...

... and form into a ball shape.

Place dough ball on lightly floured surface

and cut into 16 even pieces.

I just eyeball it,

although you could use a kitchen scale

 if you want to be anal about it.

Roll each piece into a ball,

set on a lightly oiled baking sheet,

cover with plastic wrap,

and let rest for about 10-15 minutes.

Form the balls into bagel shapes.

Make a hole in the center and work the dough out evenly.

Cover and let rest for about 15 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Drop the bagels in 4 at a time.

Boil 1 - 1 1/2 minutes on one side,

then turn the bagels over and boil another minute.

See how they puff up?

Remove bagels from boiling water and 

let sit on oiled baking sheets

until you've boiled all 16 and you're ready to bake.

Heat oven to 425°.

Now comes the hard part -

deciding on the toppings.

I'm going with poppy seed, sesame seed,

and onion/caraway seed.

Make an egg wash.

Beat one egg with a teaspoon of water.

Brush bagels to be topped with the egg wash.

For the onion/caraway topping,

I melted a little butter in my skillet,

added some chopped onion and caraway seeds,

and just sautéed for a couple of minutes

until the onions were translucent and the mixture fragrant.

I sprinkled poppy seeds on some of the bagels.

Brushed the onion/caraway/butter mixture on others.

Sesame seeds on some more.

And the rest I left plain.

Bake at 425° for about 20 minutes,

or until the bagels are lightly browned.

Remove from baking pans and place on racks.

Nothing better than a bagel straight out of the oven

with a schmear of butter and cream cheese.

Yes.  I put both butter and cream cheese on my bagels.

Try them sliced, buttered, and toasted for breakfast.

With orange marmalade.

Most excellent!

These were so good,

I ended up making two batches.