Homemade Bagels

A friend of mine has been talking about making homemade bagels. We don't normally eat bagels, but BigM was watching when I was flipping through a magazine and she saw a picture of a bagel smothered in cream cheese and said, "I want to eat that."

So here you go. (And by you, I mean BigM, and you {reading} get to play along.) I used this recipe as a guideline. I recommend you read the reviews, because I learned a lot from them.

you'll need:

1 c water

1 1/2 t salt

2 T honey

1 1/2 c bread flour

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour

2 t yeast

(all ingredients need to be room temp except the water)

how you'll make it:

~fill a glass measuring cup with 1 c water and microwave for 45 seconds

~get out your bread machine and plug it in

~put honey in the bread machine

~add the hottish water

~add the yeast

~let it sit for about 10 minutes

~after 10 minutes, add the remaining ingredients

~turn the bread machine on the dough setting

~watch it for a minute and add a smidge of water as needed until the dough forms a solid ball. (I had to do this so I imagine you might too.)

~wait until the dough cycle runs out

~remove the dough from the bread machine, cut into 12 equal pieces

~shape the pieces into something that looks like a bagel

~cover with a clean dish towel and let rise for about 1 1/2 hours

~boil some water (3 q if you like to measure things)

~add the bagel dough to the boiling water, boiling for 30 seconds on each side

~transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet

~bake at 375 degrees for about 20 - 25 mins

~let them cool on a baking rack and enjoy

the verdict:

these are so good, not only will I never buy bagels again, but I will most definitely start eating them!