31 Days of MOO No. 13 Bagels
I don't make them very often, but when I do, they disappear in a flash. My family just love bagels, perhaps because they're a treat, but also because they are bread rolls with chew and crunch and fluffiness.
What makes bagels so special is they are boiled before they are baked. One extra step, but it changes an ordinary bread roll into something superb.
They are so easy to make, as easy as rolls, and fun to eat. I call this recipe 15 Cent Bagels, because when I started making them about 10 years ago, they cost 15 cents each.
Even with inflation, they still only cost 15 cents each to make. Why? Well going back through my price book, the only ingredient that I'm paying more for is flour. The yeast and oil have both come down in price because I switched brands. You do what you have to do to stick to the grocery budget!
Bought bagels cost $3.50 for 4, or 88 cents each! And they're stale folks - edible, but not nearly as delicious as a freshly made 16 cent bagel.
15 Cent Bagels cost $1.26 for 8.
Bought bagels cost $7 for 8.
Try making them, you'll have yet another thing you can cross off the shopping list and keep $5.74 in your grocery budget.
Ingredients:
4 cups plain flour
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp vegetable oil (I use olive oil, you can use any vegetable oil you have on hand)
2 tsp. dry yeast
1-1/2 cups lukewarm water
Method:
Step 1. Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a mixer.
Step 2. Add oil to the water and pour into the mixing bowl.
Step 3. Mix with a dough hook until smooth and creamy looking.
Step 4. Add remaining flour and continue to knead with the dough hook for several minutes until the dough is uniform and smooth.
If you don't have a mixer with a dough hook, you can beat the batter by hand with a wooden spoon, then add the remaining flour and knead it by hand for 10 minutes.
Step 5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Cut dough into 8 equal size balls or, if you're as OCD as I am, get out the scales and weigh each ball of dough so the finished bagels will be the same size.
Let them rest for 20 minutes, the dough will puff up into balls.
Step 6. Roll each dough ball into a long "snake" until it will wrap around your hand to form a circle. Don't make your circles to small or when the bagels rise they will just look like regular, over-sized rolls. You want them to have the "hole" in the middle. Fuse the ends of your dough snakes well, then roll with the palm of your hand to smooth them over. Let them rest for 20 minutes.
Step 7. In the meantime, preheat oven to 205 degrees Celsius, bring a pot of water to the boil and oil a large baking sheet.
Drop the bagels into the boiling water and cook for 1 minute on each side. Let them dry for a moment then place onto the oiled baking sheet.
Step 8. Bake at 205 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, turn bagels over and bake for another 10 minutes.
You can add flavour to your bagels before cooking. After taking them out of the boiling water, drop them face down into either poppy or sesame seeds, dried onion, dried herbs and garlic etc. then bake as per the instructions.
Cost: $1.26 or 15 cents per bagel - so much cheaper than buying them and nicer too.
What makes bagels so special is they are boiled before they are baked. One extra step, but it changes an ordinary bread roll into something superb.
They are so easy to make, as easy as rolls, and fun to eat. I call this recipe 15 Cent Bagels, because when I started making them about 10 years ago, they cost 15 cents each.
Even with inflation, they still only cost 15 cents each to make. Why? Well going back through my price book, the only ingredient that I'm paying more for is flour. The yeast and oil have both come down in price because I switched brands. You do what you have to do to stick to the grocery budget!
Bought bagels cost $3.50 for 4, or 88 cents each! And they're stale folks - edible, but not nearly as delicious as a freshly made 16 cent bagel.
15 Cent Bagels cost $1.26 for 8.
Bought bagels cost $7 for 8.
Try making them, you'll have yet another thing you can cross off the shopping list and keep $5.74 in your grocery budget.
Ingredients:
4 cups plain flour
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp vegetable oil (I use olive oil, you can use any vegetable oil you have on hand)
2 tsp. dry yeast
1-1/2 cups lukewarm water
Method:
Step 1. Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a mixer.
Step 2. Add oil to the water and pour into the mixing bowl.
Step 3. Mix with a dough hook until smooth and creamy looking.
Step 4. Add remaining flour and continue to knead with the dough hook for several minutes until the dough is uniform and smooth.
If you don't have a mixer with a dough hook, you can beat the batter by hand with a wooden spoon, then add the remaining flour and knead it by hand for 10 minutes.
Step 5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Cut dough into 8 equal size balls or, if you're as OCD as I am, get out the scales and weigh each ball of dough so the finished bagels will be the same size.
Let them rest for 20 minutes, the dough will puff up into balls.
Step 6. Roll each dough ball into a long "snake" until it will wrap around your hand to form a circle. Don't make your circles to small or when the bagels rise they will just look like regular, over-sized rolls. You want them to have the "hole" in the middle. Fuse the ends of your dough snakes well, then roll with the palm of your hand to smooth them over. Let them rest for 20 minutes.
Step 7. In the meantime, preheat oven to 205 degrees Celsius, bring a pot of water to the boil and oil a large baking sheet.
Drop the bagels into the boiling water and cook for 1 minute on each side. Let them dry for a moment then place onto the oiled baking sheet.
Step 8. Bake at 205 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, turn bagels over and bake for another 10 minutes.
You can add flavour to your bagels before cooking. After taking them out of the boiling water, drop them face down into either poppy or sesame seeds, dried onion, dried herbs and garlic etc. then bake as per the instructions.
Cost: $1.26 or 15 cents per bagel - so much cheaper than buying them and nicer too.