Bagels

Here's a new recipe that I wanted to try. I had never even thought of making bagels until I happened on a recipe that uses breadmachine to make the dough. How simple is that?

The process was pretty simple but I made the mistake of placing the bagels on waxpaper to rise. I thought: "I can lift them off easier that way!" I do not know how that made any sense to me. Don't do that. They stick. You'll be pulling them off the paper and they'll resemble bagels no more. You'll have a gnarly used-to-be-shaped-like-a-bagel lump of dough. *Sigh* I must have been dehydrated/tired/low on sugar and chocolate that day.

Whether it was because of my waxpaper idea or some other glitch, my bagels turned out somewhat flat. First this deflated me (no pun intended), but after tasting one and making a tuna sandwich out of another one I really didn't mind the flatness. It was actually really good. AND (yes, there's more) I found this post by David Lebovitz on *drumroll* FLAT bagels! I must be really in with the food blogger crowd.

Now I tell myself that my bagels were flat on purpose.

Bread Machine Bagels

1 1/8 cup warm water

1 1/2 tsps salt

3 cups bread flour

2 Tbsp white sugar

2 1/4 tsps active dry yeast

3 quarts water

3 Tbsp sugar or molasses

Egg white/olive oil

Poppy seeds

1. Place water, salt flour, sugar and yeast in a bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle and start.

2. After cycle is complete, let dough rest on a sligthly floured surface. Cut dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each into a ball. Flatten balls and poke a hole in the middle with your thumb. Twirl the dough around your finger to enlarge the hole, and to even out the dough around the hole. (Make the hole pretty big, it'll get smaller during rising and boiling.) Let bagels rise, covered, for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a large pot bring water and sugar/molasses into a boil. Sprinkle an ungrease dbaking sheet with cornmeal. Carefully transfer bagels into the boiling water, few at a time. Boil for about 1 or 2 minutes, turning half way through. Drain briefly on a clean towel. Arrange bagels on the baking sheet. Glaze tops with egg white or olive oil if desired (I didn't), and sprinkle with poppy seeds or other favorite toppings.

4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until well browned. Enjoy!

Original recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bread-Machine-Bagels/Detail.aspx

Note: David Lebovitz's site is going through reconstruction and the link may not work for a few days. Sorry.