I've been working my way through lockdown by trying various things that I'd probably not had done before hand. Last week I was in the mood for baking and I had all the ingredients for some bagels; these made a pleasant change to a white loaf.
It started as a fairly simple process of measuring everything out and whacking it all in the bread machine for mixing. What hit me was the ratio of flour to yeast. For a fast loaf I'd use 3 teaspoons of yeast to 432g of strong white flour. The bagels required just one teaspoon to 576g of flour. It's also a very dry dough as both the recipes call for 270ml of water although I found myself adding a few drops more during mixing and the dough didn't seem to be forming very well.
Once mixed it was time to separate the dough into 12 and make them into right doughnuts ... to the delight of my eldest daughter.
Now it was time to leave them to prove whilst the oven got to temperature and a pan of sugary water came to the boil. That's the thing I never realised about bagels. They're boiled for 30 seconds on each side before they are baked.
The boiling process made them puff up a little and gave them a tougher consistency. Then it was time for the oven!
At first elder daughter complained that they were burnt due to their dark colour. I have to admit I thought they were a little over done at first but after consulting with google it was confirmed the darker colour is down to the sugary water. All concerns were washed away by the time elder daughter had stolen one to try as a thumbs up was returned.
They were rather delicious even if I do say so myself. These are a little more dense than items I bought in the shops and a had more texture to them; I thought they were nicer than the brand I would normally buy in the shop.
I'll definitely be giving them another go but next time with assistance from the kids. Elder daughter is a really fussy eater so I was great to find something else that she'll tuck into.