Whole Wheat Bagels

 

I'm not really much of a bread eater, and neither is my husband BUT I love to bake bread.  I also love challenges.  The other day, after a LONG sabbatical from all things baking (I just haven't really felt like it.  There's been a lot going on and I just ignored all things culinary), I decided it was time to try something new.  

I could have baked bread, sure...but I've already done that before.  I needed something more.  After flipping through a few books I had, I decided on bagels! 

I decided to make plain whole wheat, just to see if they turned out.  I also sprinkled a few sesame seeds on top (which I might skip next time.  They smell funny and taste weird when you toast the bagel).

 The Recipe:

• 3.5 cup bread flour
• 3.5 cup whole wheat flour
• 2.25 cup water
• 1 Tbsp salt (you can change this to your taste)
• 3g instant yeast (3/4 tsp.)

The Method:

1) Grab your KitchenAid (or a large mixing bowl), and mix all the ingredients together, usually I add all the dry ingredients (minus the salt), then the water.  After I mix together a little I add the salt.  I'm always nervous about messing up the yeast.  Mix on first speed for a few minutes.  The dough should be pretty stiff and should not feel sticky to the touch.  Mix for 3 more minutes (usually I do this part by hand.  I love to knead!).

 When you're done kneading the dough should be very strong.

2) Cover the dough with a towel and let rise for 1 hour.  This dough won't really double in volume, infact you may not see much rise at all.  Regardless, you need to let the dough rest.

3) Divide the dough into 14 (or more) equal portions.  I used my food scale and measured out 3.5 oz.  It's important to keep your dough covered while doing this.  You don't want the outside to dry out and get a little crust on it.

4) Form your bagels.  This isn't as hard as it seems, and unfortunately I didn't take photos.  There are 2 ways.  You could form a ball and poke a hole in the center with your thumb.  Just make sure your hole is big enough.  Or you could roll your dough into a "snake", combine the two ends and join them together.  This is what I did.

5) Place the finished bagels onto a sheet pan covered with parchment paper.  Leave about an inch in between, and cover well with plastic wrap.  You could toss them in the fridge for overnight (or about 8 hours), or you could let rise outside the fridge for about 40 minutes.

6) You won't really notice much rise with the bagels when you bring them out of the fridge, although they might feel a little "springy."  Preheat your oven to 500* and start a pot of boiling water on your range.

7) Time to boil!  Put 3 bagels in the pot, you don't want to crowd them.  Move them around a little, and let boil about 1 minute, each side.  Toss them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.  Let them hang out in there for a couple minutes.  Remove them and put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Decide which side you want to be the top.  Sprinkle that side with seeds (if you want) and then flip it over so the seeds are on the bottom.

 8) Once all the bagels are done, toss them in the oven.  Let them cook for about 5 minutes and then flip them over.  Now the seeds will be on top.  Let them cook another 12 minutes or until they are nice and brown.  Remove from the oven and let cool about 20 minutes.

Eat and Enjoy!!!  They are YUMMY!!!

I like this recipe because I made them myself and I know what ingredients are in them.  There's no weird chemicals and they really taste better than anything you'd get in the grocery store!

 Give them a try!!!