Sesame Bagels

A good friend of mine has been making her own bread and bagels for some time now, which inspired me to do the same. Thanks Maria, for the inspiration and perfected recipe! Makes 8 bagels.


Ingredients
2 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
1 tbsp brown sugar or molasses (I used molasses)
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm almond milk or any sort of milk works here (microwave for about 40 seconds)
3 1/2 cups bread flour (extra for kneading)
1 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1/2 tsp baking soda
sesame seeds

Directions
Add sugar/molasses and yeast to milk. Do not stir. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes, then stir yeast and sugar mixture, until it all dissolves in the liquid.

Combine the flour, flax seeds, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the yeast mixture.

Pour about half of the remaining warm water into the well. Mix and stir in the rest of the water as needed. (You may need to add anywhere from a couple of tbsp to about 1/4 cup of water to result in a moist and firm dough.)

On a floured countertop, knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. (I used my stand mixer with the hook attachment.)

Lightly brush a large bowl with oil and turn the dough to coat. Cover the bowl with a damp dish towel. Let dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in size. Punch the dough down, and let it sit for another 10 minutes.

Carefully divide the dough into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball. Coat a finger in flour and gently press your finger into the centre of each dough ball to form a ring. Stretch each ring to about 1/3 the diameter of the bagel and place on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Place dough rounds on cookie sheet and cover with a damp kitchen towel; allow to rest for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 F.

Add baking soda to a large pot of water to boil. Reduce heat. Use a slotted spoon to lower the bagels into the water (or, like me, you could just gently place them in the water with your hands - carefully). Boil as many as you are comfortable with. Once bagels are in, it shouldn't take long for them to float to the top (a couple of seconds). Let them sit there for 1 minute, and then flip them with rubber-coated tongs to boil for another minute. I used a stiff spatula to remove them from the boiling water. (Extended the boiling times to 2 minutes each, if you prefer a chewier bagel.)

Dip one side of each bagel into sesame seeds and the other into cornmeal and place cornmeal side down onto a lightly oiled baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown, then cool on a rack.

They don't stay fresh for long, so after having one after baking and/or the next day, I pre-sliced them and froze them in a sealed freezer bag.

Though it takes a bit of time, making bagels was very do-able!


*Special recipe credit and thanks goes to my friend, Maria, who has become a bagel-making master!