Homemade Bagels........Yes, HOMEMADE!

I've come to realize that anything that can be bought, can be made.........and I just didn't know bagels could be SO EASY! I jumped on the homemade bread wagon, and now the bagel wagon.

You just use your regular bread recipe to make the bagels. I was so excited when I learned it could be so easy! Suzanne is my hero. She is an everyday woman, like you or me, and she just makes things so easy to understand, you can actually combine homemade into your everyday life. Yesterday, she blogged about homemade bagels. There she used a whole wheat version. Unfortunately I have whole wheat haters in my house, but she verified I could use the original Grandmother Bread recipe as well! I was in heaven!

To those that use bread machines.........Grandmother Bread can be made in the machine using the 1 loaf recipe Suzanne has on her site.

So this morning, I whipped up a batch of Grandmother Bread dough, brought up the Whole Grain Grandmother Bread & How To Make Bagels post on my laptop, and proceeded to make bagels. I made cinnamon bagels simply by adding 1/2 TBL cinnamon to the flour at the very beginning.

Note: I really need to learn following the directions exactly the 1st time, then figuring it out for larger portions. Suzanne used a 1 loaf bread recipe, then divided it into 6 sections. I made my normal size recipe, so then I didn't know exactly how I needed to divide it out. So I wung it!! I divided mine into 16 sections, and after learning how they rise, etc., I should have divided into 12. Lesson learned!

Divide the dough into 6 sections

Flatten out (not too thin, this is where you will get the thickness -- lesson learned twice!), poke a hole in the middle, place on greased or parchment papered cookie sheet, and let rise (I left mine rise for maybe 45 minutes).

Bring a pot of water to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Poach each side for 3 minutes. When done, lift with slotted spoon, drain, and return to the greased sheet

Brush tops with egg white. With a sweet bagel, you could sprinkle with natural sugars at this point if you wanted. Or if you're making non sweet, maybe some poppy seeds or coarse salt. It's up to you!

Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes

Cool a little, cut in half, and smother with cream cheese!! Enjoy!!

Mine didn't turn out thick like a Big Apple Bagel or a Brooklyn Bagel, but I will prevail! The taste was just amazing! I will master the looks of a homemade bagel!