New York Bagels

Ahhh vacation.

Late mornings waking up to shafts of sunlight through the drapes after late nights under twinkling stars. A bit of sunshine, a bit of sand. Sunscreen like no one’s business. Fruity drinks by the pool.

Doesn’t that sound nice?

I normally am lucky enough to travel to a warm destination in the late winter before spring arrives, but with a very pregnant sister, I decided to forgo the warm clime and visit her for a week after the birth to help out with the itty bitty baby.

So no beaches for me…

But it’s cool, I have a crazy adorable niece!

Anyway, naturally I assumed a new mother would be exhausted, so I made it my mission to feed everyone while I was there. I started planning for 3 square meals a day, hopefully with some leftovers. So let’s get that misconception out of the way right now, I underestimated how much everyone would eat, so while everyone left the dinner table stuffed, there were basically no leftovers.

Next time…

Anyway, when I visit people, I take requests for food. My sisters often come up with strange demands, but this time Kelly wanted something pretty normal: bagels. Not sure where that came from because a freshly toasted bagel from the grocery store is pretty tasty, but hey, I’ll try anything.

When looking for recipes, I figured I would go straight to the source, and who knows bagels better than New Yorkers? Exactly.

Last thing before we begin – I love making things extra complicated. No one knows why, but I do.

Thus, feel free to make plain bagels – they are delicious. However, I decided to split my batch and make some jalapeño & cheddar bagels and cinnamon crunch bagels. It was easy and fun to try, and since you probably have the ingredients at home, try some toppings.

Wrap yourself in an apron – flour is dangerous!

Now it’s decision time… if you have any aggression to relieve, then get out a regular bowl and plan on kneading that dough, but if you would you rather use your arm muscles to hold your new niece, then pull out your stand mixer.

Hence the stand mixer with a dough hook.

Warm up some water to ~110F. Somehow my grandma could measure the temperature of “lukewarm” on her arm and make killer bread every time. I have not inherited the talent so I use a thermometer to make sure I don’t kill the yeast. Everyone gets different talents I suppose.

Bloom the yeast in warm water and sugar. Wait until it gets lovely and frothy.

In the meantime, add flour and salt to the bowl of the stand mixer. Slowly pour in the yeast mixture and turn on low speed until ingredients have combined. Increase to speed 4 and mix for 8-10 minutes.

**If you want to make jalapeno cheddar bagels, separate 1/3 of the dough and mix in the diced peppers.

Transfer the dough to a large bowl and coat with a thin layer of vegetable oil. Cover with a damp towel and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Remove the dough from the warm location, punch it down and let it rest for 10 minutes.

On the stove, heat a large pot half full of water to boiling.

If making all three kinds of bagels (plain, jalapeno cheddar and cinnamon crunch), you will have 1/3 of dough with the jalapenos, so separate the remaining plain dough in half. With each mound of dough, separate it into 5 small, equally sized portions (= 15 total portions). Roll each into a sphere.

Now for the fun part! Dip your finger in flour and stick all the way through the center of one ball of dough. Draw a little circle with your finger to enlarge the hole. Soon you will have something that vaguely resembles a bagel. Continue to stretch the dough until the hole in the center is 1/3 of the total diameter. Set aside and repeat with all remaining balls.

Cover bagels with a damp towel and rest for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat.

Mix up the cinnamon crunch topping. In a small bowl, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Your water should be boiling at this point. Before we bake the bagels, we have to boil them to form that chewy skin on the outside, similar to what you would do with pretzels. If you like a thicker skin, you can boil them slightly longer. For a thinner, fluffier bagel you can cut the time by half.

Gently slide 2-3 bagels (depending on the size of your pot), one at a time into the boiling water. After 1 minute, flip the bagels over and boil for 1 more minute. Gently remove the bagels and place on the prepared baking sheet.

Topping time!

For the 5 jalapeno bagels, liberally sprinkle the top with cheddar cheese.

For the cinnamon crunch bagels, coat with melted butter and sprinkle the tops with cinnamon/sugar mixture.

The plain bagels can either get a little egg wash on top, or just stay as is.

Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

After they have cooled for at least 5 minutes (so you can actually touch them without burning yourself), cut one in half and devour.

They also make a great vehicle for breakfast sandwiches!

New York Style Bagels

Adapted from The Sophisticated Gourmet
Published October 2009

Ingredients

Bagels

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 7 cups bread flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Toppings:

Jalapeno Cheddar:

• 1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed, minced
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Cinnamon Crunch

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Instructions

1. Add yeast and sugar to warm water and stir once just to combine. Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes, bubbles should form on the top of the mixture.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook add flour and salt. Add yeast/water mixture and turn on low speed until combined. You may need an additional 1/4 cup of water to achieve a moist yet firm dough.
3. Continue to knead dough for 8-10 minutes on medium-low speed. **If you are making jalapeno bagels, take 1/3 of the dough and mix in minced peppers.
4. Transfer dough to a large bowl and cover lightly with vegetable oil. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise for 1 hour in a warm place, until dough has doubled in size.
5. Punch down dough and rest for 10 minutes. If making cinnamon crunch bagels, mix together granulated sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside
6. Separate dough into thirds and separate each third into five equal sized mounds of dough.
7. Roll each mound into a sphere. Coat a finger in flour then press it to the center of the sphere. Stretch the ring into 1/3 the diameter of the dough until you have a nice bagel shape. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover bagels with a damp towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 425 F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone mats.
9. Bring a large pot half full of water to a rolling boil. Gently place 2-3 bagels (depending on the size of the pot) into the boiling water, one at a time. After 1 minute, flip the bagels over and boil 1 additional minute. Remove from water and place on baking sheet.
10. Optional toppings: To the 5 jalapeno bagels, sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top evenly. To an additional 5, brush liberally with melted butter and top with cinnamon sugar mixture.
11. Bake bagels for 20-22 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
12. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: 15 bagels