Bagels

Yup, I did it! I made bagels. I used my KAF All-Purpose Baking Cookbookfor the recipe and took a lot of photos to document the process. The result? Appearance needs some work and taste was good, but more like a sourdough than Einstein's.


Dough Ingredients
1 tbsp instant yeast
4 cups unbleached bread flour
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp non-diastatic malt powder
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water



Water Bath Ingredients
2 quarts water
2 tbsp non-diastatic malt powder
1 tbsp granulated sugar

Directions:
Combine all the dough ingredients in a mixing bowl

and knead vigorously on medium-low speed for 10 minutes.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and set it aside to rise until noticeably puffy though not necessarily doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.



Transfer the dough to a work surface


and divide it into eight pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll it into a smooth, round ball. Cover the balls with plastic wrap and let them rest for 30 minutes.

They'll puff up very slightly.

While the dough is resting, prepare the water bath by heating the water, malt powder, and sugar to a very gentle boil in a large, wide-diameter pan. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Poke a hold through the center of each ball then twirl the dough on your finger to stretch the hole until it's about 2 inches in diameter. Place each bagel on a lightly greased or parchment-lined (or Silpat, WooHoo!!!) baking sheet and repeat with remaining pieces of dough.

Transfer the bagels, four at a time if possible, to the simmering water. Increase the heat under the pan to bring the water back up to a gentle simmering boil, if necessary. Cook the bagels for 2 minutes, gently flip them over , and cook 1 minute more.

Using a skimmer or strainer, remove the bagels from the water and place them back on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining bagels.

Bake the bagels for 20 to 25 minutes, until they're as deep a brown as you like, turning them over after about 15 minutes, which will help them remain tall and round (which mine didn't...).

Remove the bagels from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.


Final Result: