GNOWFGLINS™

Here’s a great recipe to create bagel-shop tasting bagels at home. I tried it out last Thursday and Friday. The bagels are awesome! If you give it a try, you’ll need to get some barley malt, an alternative sweetener. It is available at a health food store or in the health food section of a regular grocery store. If you don’t want to or can’t use barley malt, that’s okay, too. Just use your regular natural sweetener.

100% Whole Wheat Bagels

My friend Vickilynn Haycraft adapted the bagel recipe from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice (by Peter Reinhart). She wanted to make his bagels 100% whole wheat. On her blog, she also shares some pictures of her bagel making process.

Here’s are few things I learned during my process. When shaping the bagels, keep the hole somewhat small — around 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Otherwise it will be too big. Also, make sure the damp towels that cover the bagels are not too damp or they’ll make the dough soggy. On boiling/baking day, take the bagels of the fridge out right before boiling. Don’t let them come to room temp or they’ll get soft and lose their shape.

Once you master the basic technique (and it is not hard, just takes 2 days off and on) the recipe can easily be adapted to different varieties. I’m about to try some cinnamon-raisin bagels. I plan to start the dough for those Sunday night.