Homemade Bagel

Woke up this morning, I realized  I have nothing for breakfast!! Hubby just ate the last breakfast bun so I end up eating boiled egg. Well, there is cereal in the pantry cabinet but I don't really like to eat cereal in the morning because I found it is too filling & sweet. I am not a breakfast person because I get very uncomfortable if I eat too early. Normally I just take a mug of hot coffee to start my day.

But I always want to make sure my other half get his breakfast so there I was thinking what shall I bake..bread/bun/bagel? Then it strike my mind that he love to eat bagel so BAGEL it is. I am not a bagel fan but once in a blue moon, I can eat a piece or two. After spending almost 5 hrs cleaning the house & took my morning…or rather afternoon shower, I took out my baking equipment & ingredients and start preparing the dough. Actually, baking bagel is not hard and it almost the same as baking a bread except that it doest not need egg & you need to boil the dough after you shaped it into a bagel, and before you bake it inside the oven.

What you need is bread flour, yeast, sugar, salt & warm water. First, you mix the salt with the flour. Then fill up the measurement cup with warm water and dissolved the yeast & sugar in it. Once everything is properly dissolved, make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour the yeast mixture gradually. You want to result in a moist and firm dough after you have mixed it all. 

Flour the countertop for you knead the dough for at least 10 minute. When you pull the dough and it tear easily, that mean you still need to knead it until it slow to tear as you pull it apart. Then place the dough in a bowl and cover it with a damp towel, and placed it on a warm place to rise. Leave the dough for 1-2hrs until it double the size like this..

After 1-2hrs, you punch the dough and leave it for another 10 minutes. After 10 minuted, divided the big dough into 8 small round dough. If you want to get an equal size, then I suggest you weigh each dough (I actually did that)..

Take a dough ball and press it gently against the countertop moving your hand and the dough in a circular motion, pulling the dough into itself while reducing the pressure on top of the dough until you get a perfect dough ball shape. Repeat with the rest of the dough ball. 

Then leave the dough ball for 10 minutes to double it size. after 10 minute, take the dough ball and make a hold with your finger at the middle of the dough. Like having a dough for a ring. :) Slowly, widen the hole by stretching the dough for about 1/3 diameter of the dough. And it look like this..

Again leave the shaped dough for 10 minutes while you boil some water in a large pot. Once it is boiling, reduce the heat and start boiling the shaped dough. When u place the dough inside the pot, it will be at the bottom and it will only take second for it to float to the top. Let it be for 1 minute before you flip it over and leave it for another 1 minute. You can either place the dough in the pot one at a time ( like I did) or you can put as much as the pot can possibly fit.

The picture above show that the dough is already floating on top so you can remove it from the pot and place it on a baking tray. If you plan to have some topping, you should do it at this point. For some, they might want to brush some egg wash on the top but I skip that part. I just sprinkle some poppy seed on top of the bagel immediately after I remove it as it is still wet. So, the poppy seed can stick properly on top.

Once all the bagel is place on the baking tray, baked it in a 220C temperature for 20 minutes. Oh ya..remember to heat the oven when you do the boiling ya. Hehhehe..After 20 minutes…the bagel is READY!!

So tomorrow we can have bagel for breakfast!!

Ingredients;

• 31/2 cup of bread flour
• 11/2 tbsp of sugar
• 2 tsp of dry yeast (equivalent t0 20gm of fresh yeast)
• 11/2 tsp of salt
• 11/4 cup of warm water
• poppy seed/sesame seed (for topping)