PictureItSparkling: Bagels, because you can:)

So here is my story, these bagels are so good, I ate half of one sans topping while editing this blog post. Yum! If ever you make bagels you should really try these. I will give lots of credit for steps and timing to http://www.sophisticatedgourmet.com/2009/10/new-york-style-bagel-recipe/

temperature of your home and weather outside can affect how thirsty your dough is, so don't be afraid to use up to 1/2 cup more flour if your dough seems really wet.

This is my own recipe with a basic idea from the aforementioned site.

To start, put the following ingredients into a mixing bowl:

1 cup warm water

1 1/2 tsp yeast

1 Tbsp sugar

Let sit for 5-15 minutes until frothy and bubbly

After waiting

Add 2 Tbsp oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour,

Mix until you have a combined mass of dough.

in the next ten minutes you will knead 1 additional cup of flour into the dough. It took me all the kneading time to get that last cup in, I started with 1/4 cup and made small additions as the dough got tacky.

You will learn from the photos, that I'm very much a bowl kneader, meaning if I really don't have to. I won't make another surface dirty and I will just continually knead, stretch, pull, push, prod, poke, you get it, to my dough in the bowl.

Now we will let the dough rise until doubled in size for 1 hour

After the hour, cut your dough into 8 equal sized portions, roll, and break a hole in the middle to create a bagel shaped item. Make the hole fairly large as when it rises, it can close up more than anticipated.

The next step will require a large pot with boiling water.

Boil each bagel for 1 minute per side,

Then place in a 400F oven and bake for approximately 18 minutes until golden brown. I honestly can't say as I forgot to start the timer those first few minutes.

*** edited to add this makes 6 large bagels baked at 400F or the 8 slightly smaller bagels as shown.***