Homemade Bagel Recipe

Bagels are one of those foods that you can have for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You can dress a bagel up or you can dress a bagel down--it's a valuable culinary staple. That's why I decided to try my hand at making my own bagels, and it ended up being surprisingly easy.

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp yeast
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp salt
1 egg white
Optional poppy seed, salt, sesame seeds, or garlic

First, begin by dissolving the yeast in the warm water, continually stirring as the yeast dissolves. Next, measure the flour, sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Once the yeast is dissolved, slowly add the warm water and mix the liquid and the dry ingredients with either a hand mixer or a stand mixer until the dough becomes elastic and holds together (this will take a long time--somewhere around 5-10 minutes).

Then, cover the dough ball and the bowl with a hand towel and let the dough rise for 30-45 minutes. Try to leave it in a warm area, because the heat will expedite the process. Once the dough has risen, shape the dough into rings with your hands (it's up to you how large or small you want to make the bagels) and lay them down on a greased baking sheet. Preheat your oven to 425°F.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and drop the dough rings into the boiling water for less than 60 seconds each, until they become firm but still appear doughy. Place the bagels back onto the greased baking sheet and blot the top of the bagel with egg white, sprinkling your choice of topping over the bagel (I love sesame seeds, salt, garlic or poppy seeds) and place them in the oven at 425°F for about 20 minutes. Remember that each oven bakes at different speeds, so be sure to check the bagels often. When the tops have browned nicely the bagels will be done.

These bagels are also very easy to freeze and store for weeks at a time. Just throw them into a plastic bag and into the freezer, and you'll have fresh, homemade bagels for weeks! This recipe yields about 10-12 bagels.