Bagels

I just recently started making bagels, because I like bagels, and good ones are expensive. The cheapest ones I've ever been able to buy are $2 for half a dozen, and they have the consistency of cardboard. Homemade bagels, on the other hand, are delicious, easy to make, and really cheap; the recipe below, which makes eight, costs less than a dollar, barely over a dime per bagel. The recipe comes courtesy of John Lee.


Bagels


4 c. bread flour
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
1 T. vegetable oil
2 1/2 t. active dry yeast
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 c. warm water


Let the yeast proof for 5 minutes in 1 1/4 c. warm water and sugar. Add flour, salt, and oil. If the dough is too dry, as in the picture below, add a little more water, up to 1/4 c.


Knead the dough for 10 minutes, then divide into 8 equal balls and let rest for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425. After the dough has rested, take each ball and roll it into a long snake. Take the ends and squish them together (I dip both ends in water to make them stick). You want a good bit of overlap so when you squish the ends together they end up the same thickness as the rest of the bagel instead of much thinner.



Let the bagels rest for 20 minutes, and in the meantime bring a pot of water to a boil. Grease a large baking sheet with some vegetable oil. After the bagels have rested, it's time to boil them. I do two at a time. Put them in the water, let them boil for a minute, then flip them and let them boil another minute. Remove each batch from the water and let dry on a paper towel as you finish the rest. Once they're out of the water, feel free to sprinkle on some sesame seeds (my personal favorite), poppy seeds, salt, whatever you want. Once all the bagels are done, put them on the baking sheet and put them in the oven for 20 minutes. John recommends flipping them halfway through for evenness. As for myself, it's quite a pain and I don't mind if the tops are a little more done than the bottoms, so I usually don't flip them.