Bagels

Suzanne, who writes the blog "SuzieFoods," commented on the sesame bagels. Bagels are not hard to make, and you can avoid the huge, high calorie version in the supermarkets, etc., by making your own. Here's the recipe:

Bagels (8)

3/4 cup water

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup white flour

1 TB wheat gluten (optional)

1 TB sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp yeast

2 TBS bran (optional)

2 TB flax (optional)

Process all ingredients in breadmaker, or make the dough by hand. When dough is ready, form into bagels. Let rise for about 20 minutes. While dough is rising, prepare a large saucepan with about 2 inches of water into which 2 TB of molasses has been dissolved. Simmer bagels, four at a time for 30 seconds per side. Drain on a rack for about 5 minutes. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 375º for 20 minutes. Cool on a rack.

This, like all recipes I use, has been "tweaked" from the one I got somewhere. The original recipe called for 1 TB salt. We just don't like that much salt, so I don't use that much.

To form the bagels, I roll the dough out on a pastry sheet, cut circles out with a clean, empty tin can. (I actually weigh each bagel to get them quite uniform.) I pick up each circle and poke my thumb through the middle to make the hole and then kind of pull it into shape around my thumb. The rest of the dough gets rerolled and cut into circles. The last bagel just gets shaped into a circle. (It's always the least attractive of the bunch!)

Don't boil the bagels, just simmer them gently, 30 seconds on one side, flip and simmer 30 seconds on the other side. Drain them. I dry them off with a clean tea towel. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds.

Vary the recipe by adding raisins and cinnamon, 1 tsp will do, to the dough. This tastes really good with apple butter.

You'll notice that there is no added oil in the dough or the handling.

ENJOY!!!