Baking for Boys

When I was in grade school, I remember coming to Oregon on a visit (we were living in Texas at the time) to visit some of my mom's cousins. She has a cousin, named Eva May. Our visit to Cousin Eva May's was memorable. She baked fresh bagels in her kitchen and sold them at a local bakery. They were the most delicious. In Texas, we'd never eaten bagels. These were divine. I can still remember her boiling what looked like to be donuts. I think we filled our freezer in the camper with her delightful baked goodies. She made all kinds of flavors.

This past fall, when Mark and Tim were in the early weeks of their freshmen year of college, I began baking. It's now an official part of our week. I bake Tuesday nights, I text them on Wednesday morning to let them know where to pick up their fresh baked items from the kitchen. I have only repeated a recipe a few times - chocolate chip cookies for instance. This week - I tried something new - bagels.

Since they were pretty simple - and better than what you will find wrapped in a plastic bag in your local grocery - I thought I'd share.

Simple Bagels - makes 1 Dozen 
I have indicated the ingredients you need in bold so it's easier to make your grocery list - or determine what you need. Happy Baking!!

1. Dissolve 1 tsp yeast in 1 1/4 Cup of warm milk (110-115 degrees)
2. Add 1/4 C softened butter, 2 T sugar, 1 t salt and 1 egg yolk
3. Mix Well
4. Stir in 3 3/4 C flour - knead dough 10 minutes
5. Add flavors you'd like as you knead - I used 2 tsp cinnamon and a handful of raisins - you could add minced onion and shredded cheese, garlic etc...
6. Form dough into a large ball in place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise for an hour
7. Punch dough down and form into small balls - about the size of a racketball - poke a hole in the center and stretch a little - set on a non stick cookie sheet
8. Let bagels onto cookie sheet while you boil a pan of water and preheat oven to 400 degrees
9. Drop bagels into water 1-3 at a time and wait until they float (15 seconds or so). Remove from pot and put on cookie sheet.
10. Bake at 400 degrees ~ 13-20 minutes (depending on your oven) - brown on the bottom and golden on the top.
11. Cool on a wire rack!  YUMMY!!

A couple of pictures of the process....

Bagels boiling in the water

Pasta scoop to lift bagels out of the water