Not bad, not bad at all! You know… For a first try. From a Texan whose only trip north of the Red River in the last 20 years was to go skiing in Colorado. Using a recipe from my favorite British chick. For the bagel purists out there, please know that I’m making zero claims of authenticity in methodology or taste 🙂

I found Nigella Lawson’s recipe for bagels via Seizeon That Food. They were far easier to make than I ever imagined and I had every single ingredient on hand already. Chewy on the inside, golden brown on the outside – just the way a bagel should be. Or so I’m told.

Print

French Toast Bagles

Chewy bagels loaded with maple and cinnamon, just like our favorite french toast.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups warm water, plus more as needed
• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar, divided
• 6 - 7 cups bread flour
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 3 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil, plus more for greasing
• 2 Tbsp vanilla
• 1 Tbsp maple extract
• 1 egg yolk
• poppy seeds/sesame seeds/other toppings

Instructions

1. Combine water, 1 Tbsp sugar, and yeast in a bowl and allow to proof for 10 minutes until foamy.
2. Combine flour, 1 Tbsp sugar, salt, and cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer, making a well in the dry ingredients. Add yeast mixture, oil, vanilla, and maple extract into the center. Mix until combined and knead by hand or mixer for 10 minutes. The dough should be stiff but should become very smooth and elastic. Form dough into a ball, put it into an oiled bowl, turning once to coat all around, then cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise for about 1 hour.
3. Punch down the dough and turn out onto floured surface again and knead for a couple minutes. Divide into 3 pieces, and then divide each into 5 (I stink at measuring equal portions of dough so I ended up with 21 bagels in varying size). Keep these dough balls covered or in your plastic-wrapped bowl while you're not working with them. Form a ball and push your thumb through the center. Work around to make a smooth-ish ring that is about 3-4 inches in diameter.
4. Set bagels on oiled baking sheets, cover with a light towel, and let rise for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 500 F. Set a large pan/pot of water to boil (at least 5 inches deep), and when boiling add remaining 2 Tbsp sugar.
5. When the water is boiling and your bagels have puffed up a bit, start poaching. Drop a couple bagels at a time (or however many will fit with plenty of space) and boil for 1 minute each side. A spatula is mighty handy for flipping them around and then picking them up again. Place them back onto oiled backing sheets, well spaced.
6. Mix your egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush onto bagel while still moist. Sprinkle topping of choice. When all bagels are poached and topped, bake for 10-15 minutes or until they're shiny and golden brown.

Notes

Yields: 15 large bagels

Adapted from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess

Estimated time: 3 hours