Homemade Bagels

I don't know about you, but I LOVE freshly made bagels. Forget the store-bought stuff. Preservatives much? Lets just say that even the best store-bought brands can't compete with your local bakery. Sadly, my favorite bagel shop is quite the trek for a weekend morning. So instead, I found a recipe where I can create my own, yummy custom bagels right here at home.

Fresh Bagels

• Two tablespoons yeast
• 1- 1/2 cups WARM water (110-115 degrees, or lukewarm to touch)
• Two tablespoons sugar
• 1- 1/2 teaspoon salt
• One tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cups bread flour

In a large bowl, mix together yeast and WARM water. Let mixture sit for 5-10 minutes. Add sugar, salt and olive oil and stir until mixed well. Add bread flour and knead until dough forms. Should be firm, yet elastic. Remove from bowl, and knead a few more times on countertop. Let stand 5 minutes.

Cut dough in halves. Take each half, and roll into a dough log (my son called it snakes). Dough logs should be be about 1 1/2 inches thick, and over a foot long. Let 'logs' sit 20 minutes. Roll logs into 'bagel sized circles' and pinch off at end, making sure that each circle is firmly closed. After all the circles are complete, let sit for another 20 minutes. During this time, bring large pot of water to boil, and preheat your over to 450 degrees. (oven temps vary, if your oven cooks warmer, turn down to 425)

There are a few ways to prepare your baking sheet. You can use corn meal or olive oil. Make sure to cover baking sheet completely with whichever you use.

Once the water is boiling (and the 20 minutes has passed) , place a few bagel circles in the water. Boil on each side for one minute, then remove to paper towels to drain. Do this with all the bagel circles. When all the bagel circles are boiled and drained, place on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, flip bagels overs, and bake for another 10 minutes. Viola! Bagels, baby! (if you want to add a topping to your bagels, add after flipping bagels before the 2nd 10 minutes. If you want to add fruit to your bagels, mix fruit with 2 tsp cinnamon into flour before mixing into a dough. ENOY!