Blissful Bagels

Something very simple, like a bagel, can be transformed into a variety of delicacies ranging from pizza to blueberry muffin crumble. I have been sampling bagels from many different bakeries for years. Panera is one of my favorite places to go... when I can find one. There are not any Panera locations in Louisiana, but there is one near Sandestin, FL - where my family vacations each summer. Also, there is one in Boulder - where Vincent is about to move. (Little does he know, there will probably be a regular request for him to ship bagels to me via priority mail while I'm in PA school!) Panera has a cinnamon crumble bagel that has an eruption of crunchy pecan cinnamon crumble on top and also a cinnamon swirl throughout the bagel dough. It's perfection!!!!

In an effort to stay true to the non-processed concept of the Paleo diet, I decided to bake a batch of bagels for Vin and I to snack on while I am at work this 72 hour weekend. I opted for a whole grain, oatmeal, white bagel mix and adapted half of the dough into a lemon zest - wild blueberry bagel. I love the whole process of making bagels. It is actually very simple. The dough is an egg dough - similar to King Cake. The thing that gives the bagels that characteristic shiny crust and chewy inside is a step between rising and baking - boiling. This is an unusual step to baking breads, but soft pretzels are also boiled to give them a unique texture. Bagel boil is just made of water flavored with a scant amount of salt or sugar, depending on the flavor that you want to impart on your crust. I was going for the blueberry theme here, so I sugared my water. If you are looking for a poppy or sesame bagel, or perhaps an onion bagel, you will want to salt the water instead.

Bagel Dough

Whole Grain + Oat Bagels

1 cup oat bran

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

2 cups whole wheat flour

3 cups all purpose flour

4 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 T. salt

2 Tablespoons (or 2 packets) yeast

1 potato

2 1/2 cups water 

Bagels! To give them a unique texture, you will need the starchy water that is produced from boiling a potato. Fill a saucepan with 2 1/2 cups water and add to that 1-2 peeled and cubed potatoes. Boil the potato until soft, and remove the potato, reserving 2 cups of the starched water. Use the potato for another recipe! Allow this water to col to 120 degrees so that it does not kill the yeast. While the water cools, mix together the first four dry ingredients. Then, combine the potato water, yeast, salt, sugar, and 2 cups of the dry mixture. Mix this for 2-3 minutes to proof the yeast. Add in the lightly beaten eggs and the oil. Mix again for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and continue to mix the dough, adding the flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time until a sticky dough has formed. I also added about 2 tablespoons of honey and a sprinkle of cinnamon just to add a little love to them. If you are kneading by hand, lightly flour your work surface and knead until you have a smooth and springy dough ball. Avoid adding too much flour.... or you will have tough bagels (who wants that?!). If you have an amazing Kitchen Aid stand mixer, you can switch to the dough hook and allow the mixer to knead for 4-5 minutes, finishing the kneading by hand at the end. At this point, I divided the dough in half so that I could make blueberry bagels out of half of the dough. If you want all whole grain bagels, lightly grease a deep bowl and place the dough into it + cover with a clean kitchen towel to rise. For the blueberry bagels, take half of the plain bagel dough, zest one lemon and pat the dough out until about 2 inches thick. Sprinkle the dough with the lemon zest, along with 1 cup of defrosted frozen or fresh blueberries. Roll the dough up and knead it a few more times to incorporate the blueberries. Place the blueberry bagel dough in its own bowl to rise. I like to place my bread dough into an unheated oven so that it is slightly warmer and draft free! 

Allow the dough to rise 1 to 2 hours, or until doubled in size. Put a soup pot of water on the stove and sprinkle 2 tablespoons or salt or sugar, depending on what flavor of bagel you are making. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat it down. Divide the dough into quarters and each quarter into 16 pieces. Roll each piece into a round ball. I had previously divided the dough in half  in order to make half of the bagels blueberry. So, I got 16 of each kind of bagel total. To form the dough balls into bagel, place a floured finger into the center of one dough ball until your finger makes contact with the counter beneath. Spin your finger around for about 30 seconds until the dough ball begins to look like a bagel with a hole that is about 1 inch in diameter. Repeat this step until all of your bagels are formed and prepare them for the boiling process. Before you begin boiling them, line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Boiling Bagels

When the water is at a rumbling boil, lower the heat slightly so that you have a steady gently boiling pot of water. Drop 3-4 bagels into the water. They will sink and then rise to the top. Once they have risen to the top, use two chop sticks or other utentils to turn each bagel over and allow it to cook for 3 minutes. Remove the bagels from the water and place on the baking sheet. Repeat until all of your bagels have been boiled. Make an egg glaze by beating one egg with 1 Tablespoon of water. Brush the tops of each bagel heavily with this egg wash to give the bagels a golden color and a "bagel - like" crust. Bake for 23 minutes or until golden brown and you have a house full of bagel smells!!!! 

-------------------Enjoy Your Blissful Blueberry Bagels!------------------

Lemon Zest + Blueberry Bagels

Plain Whole Grain + Oat Bagels

Nom. Nom. Nom