Bagels

My sister, a.k.a. Aunt Nana said I should try making bagels and to use this recipe from the Half Assed Kitchen blog. And because I've "always" listened to my sister that is just what I did. I suddenly hear uncontrollable laughter coming from the north, hmmm. Anyway, who knew that making homemade bagels could actually be this easy? Check it out and give them a try, you won't be disappointed. Oh, and I made mine with whole wheat flour using 1 1/2 cups of water and they taste great, slightly crunchy outside and chewy inside just like, well, a bagel.

Mix ingredients and knead for 10 minutes.
Split into 8 equal pieces and let sit for 20 minutes.
Mine are more along the lines of equal-ish pieces, Joel wasn't home to divide and measure each chunk for me...I'm fine with equal-ish.

Take each piece and roll it into a 6 to 8 inch rope, wrap around your hand and press to seal the ends together. Let sit for another 20 minutes. I'm pretty sure mine were in the 8-inch, maybe even a little longer range. I plan to shorten this up a bit next time.

While the bagels were resting, I turned the oven on, got my pot of water boiling and picked out some toppings to put on my bagels. Because I had 8 I decided to go with 3 toppings: kosher salt, cinnamon & sugar and toasted sesame seeds. Two of each topping plus two left plain.

Drop each bagel into the boiling water and boil for 2 minutes each side. Reading the comments on Half Assed's blog a couple of others suggested that 2 minutes was too long. Too long in the water can cause gooey to set in and we don't want gooey. I opted for somewhere in between. About 3 minutes total or 90 seconds each side. Shana, the sister I always listen to (there's that laughter again!) said she did hers for 2 minutes each side and they turned out great. I guess you'll have to try and see what works best for you. After you boil them, remove them to a greased (I just used parchment paper) baking sheet.
What an odd picture...but you don't have much time to play with the camera when it's time to boil.

Steaming hot, just out of their bath with their toppings on. Now it's time to bake!

Baked at 425 for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool a bit before digging in...easier said than done.
These are delicious!