Bagel bagel bagel, nom nom nom I go!

Last night, after a few glasses of wine, I jumped in and made a batch of bagels.  I’ve made them before, but I couldn’t find the recipe, so I simply grabbed the first one I saw on Google groups and ran with it.  They’re a bit amateurish, but my God, they are awesome.

These were unbelievably easy, for how delicious they are.  I feel like I’ve cheated or the bagel fairy has blessed me undeservedly.  (Of course there’s a bagel fairy!  I’ve seen her – she has lacey wings and flour all over her hands!  And she really hates the Atkins fairy.)  In fact, these were so easy I shall share my recipe with you:

3 cups bread flour
1 packet of dried yeast
1/4 cup of white sugar
about 1 1/2 cups of hottish water – the water shouldn’t be so hot that you can’t put your hands in it, but should be a little hotter than warm.

Mix all these ingredients together using your trusty breadmaker (or, if we’re doing this the old-fashioned way, your robust arms).  Allow the dough to rise until it has more than doubled in size (that only takes about an hour to an hour and a half).  Take the risen dough and chop it into ten same-size pieces (or fewer, if you want bigger bagels).  On a floured board, work them into fat snakes and then curl around into a doughnut shape.  Sit them on a tray and allow them to rise while you bring a big pot of water to a rolling boil (preheat the oven to about 200 degrees C, too).

When the water is boiling, slip the bagels in and boil them for about 30 seconds each.  Sit the boiled bagels on a tray and top as per your whim: you may want to brush them with eggwash, then sprinkle them with onion powder, sesame seeds or poppyseeds.  I dusted mine with Murray River salt. Bake at 200 degrees C for around fifteen minutes, or until golden brown, textured like sun.

Boiling gives the bagels that distinctive chewy texture that makes them so good.  This recipe produced bagels with a light, crispy crust (shell?), and they are delicious.  They are truly awesome.

I wonder if I could make, say, pumpkin and date bagels? Or chocolate chip bagels? Or garlic and cheese bagels?  That would be even more awesome, if that’s possible.