Yesterday I was walking down the aisles of BJ's Wholesale Club, looking for my gigantic size bags of raw almonds and raisin medley when I decided to check out the bakery section. When I'm not too concerned about my diet, I love getting their bagels. They are chewy, toast great and the price is pretty reasonable. But then, my Mommy light bulb came on. Why don't I try making my own? That way I can control the ingredients and portion. Plus, have the general satisfaction of making something that's just so damn convenient to grab off the grocery shelf.
I got home and poured through my cookbooks and Google. Most recipes called for a combination of bread flour and all purpose. I wanted to make it with white whole wheat. Then I stumbled on a cute little blog, Hidden Fruits and Veggies. Their recipe called for all white whole wheat (http://www.hiddenfruitsandveggies.com/?s=bagels&submit=Search). Sold!
While my little guy was at school, I began my science experiment..er...baking.
Combine a tbsp of active dry yeast, 1/4 cup of warm water and 1 tbsp of sugar and stir. Let that sit for about 5 mins.
Combine 4 cups of white whole wheat flour, 2 tsp of salt and 2 tbsp of sugar in a large mixing bowl or you can use your stand mixer. For extra fiber, I also threw in a tbsp of flaxmeal.
When your yeast mixture is all bubbly after about 5 mins, it's time to add that to your flour mixture. If it hasn't bubbled, something is wrong with the yeast and the recipe won't work.
After you have combined the yeast with the flour, start adding in another 1 1/2 cups of warm water to create the dough. Do this slowly. If using your hands (like the silly lady I am), make sure you are incorporating all the dry bits along the side of the bowl. Once fully incorporated you should have a nice ball of dough like this.
I rubbed extra virgin olive oil all over the dough (you can use nonstick spray), returned to the bowl and covered with plastic wrap. Brought into a warm room and allowed it to rest(and rise) for a little over two hours. At this point it will almost double in size.
It was time to go pick up my little helper for him to do the fun part. Adding the holes to the bagels! I divided the dough into 12 mostly equal portions. And let the dough rest again for another 5-10 mins. And then it's bagel shaping time!
Just stick your thumb (clean hands!) in the center and create your bagel holes.
Now your beautiful little bagels need to rest again for about 20 mins before boiling. So for us, that means it's time for being goofy in the kitchen.
Once the 20 mins are up, start boiling about 2 inches of water in a large saucepan. Boil 3 bagels at a time about 90 secs on each side. While they are still warm, press in some cornmeal on the bottom which helps reduce sticking while baking. This is also the time to add any topping if you want, just press them in the tops gently. I stuck with plain for now, but next time I might try making everything bagels for the hubby!
Heat your oven to 425 and generously spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray. Bake about 8-10mins, flip and bake another 8-10 mins. This will depend on your oven and how well you like your bagels.
The excitement in my house was electric (no cooking pun intended lol). My little guy was literally counting down the time until we could dig into one of these.
Totally worth the wait...
These look amazing! And your helper is awfully cute, too.
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