Bagels

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is Bagels. This week’s host is Heather at Heather's Bytes and you can visit her blog for the recipe for these. Make sure you also check out the Tuesdays with Dorie site to check out all the variations of this recipe. I chose to make the plainest bagels possible, but I know that others tried different toppings and other variations.

I had tried making bagels a couple of weeks ago and didn’t have any luck, so I was a bit worried about making these. They also took quite a long time so I was frustrated by that. These have a lot of steps, none of which are very difficult, but a lot of steps none the less. I was hoping to make these in one day, but the required 4 hour refrigeration made that not happen. This dough is super sticky and I wanted to shape the bagels after the first rising but it was just too sticky. The next evening I shaped them and it was better.

Last time I made bagels, everything went wrong when I boiled them. They turned into water-logged messes. This time I was very cautious at the boiling stage and boiled the bagels for about 30 seconds a side. That was enough! They ended up baking up very nicely, nice and fluffy although they are maybe too crusty and I would use less cornmeal next time. The recipe had some really specific directions, which I generally followed but I wonder if they would have turned out just as well if I would have simplified. It’s a shame that bagels don’t stay fresh for longer, as they take quite some time to put together. I did have one the next morning for breakfast and it was just on the edge of being ok to eat. I did like these and it was very encouraging that they turned out after earlier failed bagels.

Recipe from Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan, page 87