Saturday, September 17, 2011

sesame and raisin bagels.



this is a product that is not so common in germany. 
the ones you do find, are either too dry or too "elastic".

so, this fine day (or this fine two days ago)
i decided to give homemade bagels a go.

the result, 
quote from my bf:
"i want these every weekend for breakfast!"
seriously, 
they really were that good!

i won't be making them every weekend
- you do need to give this recipe around two hours of time -
but i definitely will give some other types of bagels a try in the future.


bagel recipe
300g all-purpose flour (type 450)
70g bread flour (type 550)
5g granulated sugar
7g salt
1 egg
25g oil (i used sunflower)
80g honey
10-14g dried yeast (depending on how dense you want them to be)
150ml water (luke-warm)

for boiling:
1.5 l water
50g honey
pinch of salt

extras:
sesame
raisins
anything you like! spices, onions and such!

warm water. set aside.
weigh all other ingredients into kitchenaid of food processor.
add the water and knead the dough in the machine, 2 minutes at lower setting, another 3 minutes at high setting.
if the dough is very sticky, add some more all purpose flour.
the dough should be slightly sticky though, even after the kneading process.
transfer the dough onto a floured working surface and continue to knead it by hand (using only as much flour as necessary!), until you can form a smooth ball.
cover dough with a cloth and let stand for 15-20 minutes.
in the meantime, prepare water for boiling and preheat your oven to 220 degrees celcius.
beat together the risen dough, give it a few kneads, then weigh it.
(if you want to add raisin, onions or spices like rosemary - you may at this point of time).
divide it into 8 or 9 pieces.
roll them lengthwise, so you can make a circle with a whole in the middle.
connect the two end pieces, by pressing them together and rolling that section back and forth slightly.
place the finished bagels on a floured surface.
while forming your bagels, bring the water to a simmer and keep a slotted spoon and your topping (like my sesame!) handy.
when all your bagels are formed, give them an additional 5-10 minutes to rise.
(remember, the first ones you rolled will already have risen a bit while you were finishing the others, so you wouldn't need 15-20 minutes rising time from the time you finished all bagels, only some minutes additionally!)
bring you water to a boil.
with slotted spoon, add 2-3 bagels at a time.
at first they will sink to the bottom, but when they rise, turn them, and boil on the other side for an additional minute.
then remove from water and press into topping, place onto baking sheet.
once you have all your bagels on the baking sheet, place them in your oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
you should watch your oven temperature and maybe adjust it (turn it down somewhat). 
i turned it down to 200 degrees after 10 minutes.
remove from oven, let cool slightly, and then eat with cream cheese!
by the way, they freeze well!