I didn't realize how easy it could be to make homemade bagels.  We prefer to eat them untoasted, with a good schmear of cream cheese (smoked salmon too!).  Here's a small batch recipe that will make six, but you can easily double the recipe.  Warning:  these bagels are amazing, but they're best eaten on the day they're made.  If you must store them, be sure to do so in an airtight container and then pop that into the fridge or freezer.

Here's the bagel dough in an oiled bowl - ready to rest for an hour, covered.

This is what the dough will look like after resting for 1 hour.  Your kitchen will smell divine!!

Gently press dough to deflate it a bit and divide into 6 equal portions.

Roll each portion into a rope about 1/2-inch in diameter.

Wrap the dough around your hand like this.

Seal the ends together by rolling back and forth on the counter a few times.

Place bagels on a silicone or parchment lined sheet pan to rise a second time.  You may want to dust the silicone or parchment with a bit of flour (more on this later).  Allow to rise a second time (30-60 minutes), uncovered.

Now they're ready for the next step.

Remove the risen bagels from the silicone or parchment lined sheet pan.  The first batch I made didn't stick to the liner, but this batch did (hence the suggestion to dust with a bit of flour).  If your bagels stick, simply flip them into your hand and carefully peel the liner away.

Shew!

Place 3 bagels into the barely simmering brown sugar water, top side down.

Turn them after 1 minute.

Wait another minute before removing from the water bath.

Remove bagels from water solution and drain on a rack until dry (you might need to blot excess moisture from the bottoms).

Transfer dry bagels to silicone or parchment lined sheet pan and prepare an egg wash.

Brush the egg wash over the top of each bagel and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds if you like.  We like a light sprinkling of Kosher salt too.

Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until gold golden brown.

Viola!  

If you can stand it, allow the bagels to cool before you slice them.  Now the only thing left to do is pass the cream cheese.  Enjoy!  

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• heavy duty stand mixer http://amzn.to/2yMpx5I

• bench scraper http://amzn.to/2yuXrQc

• half sheet pans http://amzn.to/2yuoknd

• cooking rack http://amzn.to/2xZjTOb

• silicone pan liners http://amzn.to/2ytt24F

• 6-quart stockpot http://amzn.to/2kwr25R

• kitchen spider http://amzn.to/2xZek2r

• silicone pastry brush http://amzn.to/2xlsvlv

Homemade Bagels

makes 6 (recipe can be doubled)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

For the bagels:

• 3/4 cup warm water, 105-115F

• 1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast

• pinch of sugar

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon barley malt syrup (or honey, molasses, agave nectar, etc)

• 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

• 1 tablespoon canola oil (or other neutral flavored oil)

• 12 cups water

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• optional: Kosher salt, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, etc.

For the egg wash:

• 1 egg while

• 1 tablespoon water

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and pinch of sugar; mix well and set aside for 10 minutes so yeast can activate.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, barley malt syrup, granulated sugar, and kosher salt; mix with the dough hook until combined.

3. Add yeast mixture and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed.

4. Increase speed to med-high and mix for 6-7 minutes or until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl.

5. Coat a medium bowl with canola oil and place the dough in it, turning so it gets coated with the oil.

6. Cover bowl with a clean towel and set aside to rise for an hour (dough should rise about 50%).

7. Divide the dough into 6 equal portions and roll each into an 8-inch rope (about 1/2-inch thick).

8. Join the two ends together and roll the joined section on the counter to hold the ends together.

9. Place formed bagels on a sheet pan and set aside for 30-60 minutes.

10. Preheat oven to 425F.

11. In a large stock pot, bring the water and brown sugar to a very gentle boil. Have a sheet pan fitted with a cooling rack nearby.

12. Gently boil bagels, 3 at a time, for about 60 seconds on each side.

13. Remove from the water and drain on cooling rack.

14. Blot bottoms if necessary before placing bagels on a parchment lined sheet pan.

15. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with optional ingredients if desired.

16. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool and enjoy. Best when eaten fresh.

adapted from Heather Christo