Saturday, May 5, 2012

Whole Wheat Bagels

Confession: It was not my idea to try this amazing recipe, but I'm sure glad I did.  My sister Shonna did a post in January 2011 about bread machine bagels, and to be honest I ignored it at the time thinking that bagels were entirely too much work to make an attempt.  Boy, was I wrong!  Don't let the length of instructions scare you away. It was a very simple process that required minimal hands-on time, and the result is warm, chewy,  versatile whole-grain goodness.

The smell is incredibly enticing right out of the oven . . . It's hard to wait for them to cool!

Whole Wheat Bagels

1 1/4 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp bread machine or instant yeast
1 Tbsp granulated sugar

1.  Measure all ingredients except the sugar into your bread maker baking pan.  Place in oven chamber. Select dough cycle.
2.  Stop bread machine when the kneading portion of the cycle is complete. (Do not allow the dough to rise in the machine).  Remove dough to a lightly floured surface; cover with a large bowl and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Shape the dough into a round cylinder 12 inches long.  Cut into 8 portions 1 1/2 inces wide.  Push thumbs through the center of each piece and pull into a bagel shape, rounding all the surfaces.  *Shonna gave me the tip to put the bagel dough on your finger after pushing the thumb through and twirl it around to help make it more even. It worked like a charm.
3. Place dough on prepared baking sheet; cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 30 to 45 minutes, or until doubled in volume.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
4. Bring a large pot of water and 1 Tbsp sugar to a gentle yet full boil. Immerse bagels in water one at a time, turning upside down.  Hold under the water for 20 seconds with a skimmer or large spoon until the dough becomes a little puffy.
5.  Bake on the prepared baking sheet or preheated baking stone in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until the bagels sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Source:  "300 Best Bread Machine Recipes" by Donna Washburn and Heather Butt. Again, I have to give credit to Shonna for this Christmas gift.  Love this book!

3 comments:

Pal & Hatty said...

This sounds so good - a great way to jazz up chicken!

Pal & Hatty said...

Oops! I posted my chicken comment on the bagel recipe! These bagels sound good too - I have never tried to make bagels and this sounds like it is doable!

Kay Hinton said...

I love this "hurry and cool" picture. So cute. My favorite kind of bun for hamburgers is a bagel type. I'll have to try this.