Yes, I know that making something as labor-intensive as bagels is very unlike me, but I do it now and then. I use this recipe from the Sunset Cookbook of Breads.
Here’s how:
EGG BAGELS
- 2 packages yeast, active dry or compressed
- 2 cups warm potato water (water in which potatoes have been cooked) (lukewarm for compressed yeast)
- 4 eggs
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 cup salad oil
- About 8 cups unsifted regular all-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Boiling water
- 2 egg yolks beaten with 2 Tablespoons water
Soften yeast in 1/2 cup of the potato water. Beat eggs in large bowl; blend in the yeast, remaining potato water, salt, sugar, oil, and 2 cups of flour. Stir in remaining flour to make a soft dough.
Turn out on a lightly floured board and knead for about 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed to make a firm dough. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover lightly, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk.
Punch the dough down, and knead it for a few minutes on a lightly floured board until it is smooth. Roll the dough out to a rectangle, and divided into 32 pieces of equal size. Roll each piece between the palms to form a strand about 6 inches long and 3/4 inch in diameter.
Moisten the ends, and seal them together firmly to make doughnut-shaped rolls of uniform thickness. Let them rise on a board for about 15 minutes (if the rolls come unsealed during rising, reseal ends before boiling).
Dissolve 2 Tablespoons of sugar in 2 quarts of boiling water in a deep pot. Drop bagels into the water, one at a time. They will rise quickly to the surface. Do not crowd. As the bagels come to the surface, turn them over. Boil for 3 minutes on the second side.
Remove with slotted or runcible spoon and place on greased baking sheets; brush with egg yolk glaze.
Bake in a hot oven (425F) for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the crust in golden brown and crisp.
Makes 32 bagels.
They ain’t symmetrical, but they sure were good!
A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character makes a labor-intensive dish and the result is less than attractive.
MA
Jane
February 20, 2013 at 11:29amHi. Those bagels look astonishing!
I made some once, and the mess was incredible. Many of them DID taste delicious. Love, love love bread!
Marian Allen
February 20, 2013 at 12:00pmI love bread, too! It’s one of the things Charlie and I are in perfect accord about. 🙂 The mess — Yes, it seems like every pot, pan, bowl, and surface is covered with bagels in some stage of development. Props to people who make ’em regularly!
Amanda Borenstadt
February 20, 2013 at 11:03amI cannot wait to make bagels. I’ve never tried.
🙂
Marian Allen
February 20, 2013 at 11:58amIt takes for.ev.er. including boiling the potatoes to get the potato water. Oh, but so good! 🙂