Homemade Bagels

These home-baked bagels are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and great with cream cheese or butter!

• Ready In: 2 hrs 5 mins
• Serves: 8-12

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups warm water (112-115 degrees F)
• 2  tablespoons dry yeast
• 3  tablespoons sugar
• 1  tablespoon salt
• 4 1⁄4 cups bread flour
• 8  cups water, for boiling
• 1  egg white, lightly beaten
• 1  tablespoon water
•  cinnamon, and or  raisins
•  poppy seed
•  onions or  garlic
•  sesame seeds

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix yeast, sugar and warm water together and let stand 3 minutes.
2. Mix 2 cups of flour with the salt in a large bowl; then add the yeast mixture. Stir until combined and slowly mix in the rest of the flour.
3. Knead dough on a floured surface for 5 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary. Dough should be fairly smooth and somewhat firm. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until double.
4. Punch dough down (if making cinnamon raisin bagels, add the cinnamon and raisins now -- knead just enough to swirl the cinnamon through the dough). Divide and shape into 12 balls. (For larger bagels, make only 8 balls.) Allow to rest for 5 minutes.
5. Bring 2 quarts of water to boil. Make a hole in each ball of dough and pull open about 2 inches, making a bagel shape. Place the shaped dough onto a cookie sheet and cover for 10 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 350°F Drop 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the boiling water for about 45 seconds, turning each once.
7. Drain cooked bagels on a wire rack. Mix egg white and water; brush tops with egg white mixture and top with optional toppings, if using. Place bagels on greased baking sheets.
8. Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes, turning once half-way through baking. (If making plain bagels, you can flip the bagels; otherwise, just rotate.) Bagels will be lightly browned and shiny.
9. Additional Notes:
10. This recipe and photos were submitted by guest chef Bethany Kerr.
11. She writes, "I love this recipe because the bagels taste so much better fresh than they do bought from the store -- the kids and hubby adore them! They really are not that difficult or time consuming to make either. :)".