Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

I had noticed an unfortunate trend in my recent blog posts.  There was no baking!  While it was probably good for my waistline, it was not good for my soul or mental focus.  Today is a baking day; bagels and cookies! There was so much leftover soup that tonight's planned dinner can wait another night.  However, I must bake!!

I've always wanted to make my own bagels.  I am a huge fan of buying purchased bagels and freezing them, but I've wanted to test my own ability to bake up my favorite breakfast treat.  I found a good recipe for cinnamon raisin bagels online and bookmarked it.  I had a lot of time to kill today (aka a lot of time to put off schoolwork) and made these up.

The were actually pretty easy to make.  I only swore about 3 times when kneading the dough.  That's about 35 times less than normal, so I must've been doing OK (or my Disney calm was still with me).  I might add more cinnamon next time, but overall these are delicious!!

Plan to devote a lot of time (about an hour) towards prepping them.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bagels
adapted from Eating Well 
Yield:  12 servings.  261 calories per 3 oz bagel.  (More nutrition on E.W. link above)
Ingredients

• 1 cup raisins
• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour, or white whole-wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 3-4 cups bread flour
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Kettle water

• 6 quarts water
• 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

Directions

1. Put raisins in a small bowl and add enough boiling water to cover; let stand for 5 minutes. Drain and blot dry with a paper towel.
2. Whisk lukewarm water, 1/4 cup brown sugar, honey, yeast and oil in a large bowl until the yeast dissolves. 
3. Stir in whole-wheat flour, cinnamon, salt and the raisins. 
4. Stir in enough of the bread flour to make a soft dough, about 2 1/2 cups.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead, gradually incorporating more flour, until the dough is smooth and quite firm, 10 to 12 minutes. 
6. Cover with a clean cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
7. Divide the dough into 12 even (good luck) pieces.  Roll each piece into a 10-inch-long rope.  Form bagels by overlapping the ends by 1 inch.  Pinch together firmly.  
8. Set the bagels aside, uncovered, to rise until slightly puffy, about 20 minutes.
9. To prep for kettle & bake bagels (while bagels are rising): Preheat oven to 450°F.   Line 1 large or 2 small baking sheets with parchment paper.  Bring 6 quarts water and 2 tablespoons brown sugar to a boil in a large pot.
10. To Kettle after rising:  Slip several risen bagels at a time into the pot.  (The water should be at a lively simmer.)  Cook for 45 seconds, turn them over with a slotted spoon or tongs and cook for 45 seconds longer.  Remove the bagels with a slotted spoon and drain on a clean kitchen towel.  
11. Place on the prepared baking sheet(s). Brush with egg white.
12. Place the bagels in the oven, reduce heat to 425° and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the bagels over and bake until golden brown, about 5 minutes more.

Wow, they are fantastic!! 

• Make Ahead Tip: Freeze fresh (and properly cooled) bagels immediately unless you are eating them all that day.

• If you like, substitute the new white whole-wheat flour for the regular whole-wheat flour in this recipe. You will get a lighter texture but have all the nutrition found in regular whole-wheat.  (I used a decent WW flour, preferably King Arthur, as opposed to Gold.)