Bagels and Bagel Dogs

A few years ago I found a good recipe for homemade bagels in Light & Tasty magazine. They are really not hard to make, a little time consuming (waiting for them to rise) but each step is easy. And the waiting for them to rise part, just means the recipe comes with built in rest breaks. So that's nice, isn't it? Kids can help too, they can put their play dough snake making skills to good use.

When I was growing up, we used to get "Bagel Dogs" at a local bagel shop. I used to love them so I decided to make them myself. This recipe makes the Bagel Dogs plus some extra bagels for breakfast the next day. Even my husband likes these bagels and he usually thinks eating bagels are like chewing on a spare tire.

Before I begin, I must warn you that this recipe requires parchment paper. Parchment paper has always been the Achilles heal of my cooking. I have a bad habit of not reading through a recipe completely before I dive into making something. I check the ingredients, if they seem reasonable, I get them and off I go. That's how the parchment paper gets me every time. It's never listed in the ingredients. They sneak it in, usually toward the end of the recipe, when I'm in too deep to turn back and I usually do not have it on hand. I think there should be some sort of recipe rule to list parchment paper in the ingredients. Because parchment paper has gotten me so many times, I'm obviously too set in my ways to change MY behavior.

Anyway, I've got some unresolved issues to work out, but here's how to make them.

First dissolve 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast in 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)

Add 3 tablespoons canola oil, 3 tablespoons sugar, 3 tablespoons honey, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 egg. Stir to combine.

I modify the original recipe by using 1 cup whole wheat and 3-4 cups bread flour.

Add enough flour to make a dough.

Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth. This is a great way to de-stress.

Cover with a dish towel and let it and yourself rest for 10 minutes.
After you've rested, divide the dough in half. Divide one half of the dough into 5-6 sections.
Roll each section into a 10" long rope and form into a circle. Pinch to seal the ends together.

Divide the other half of the dough into 4 sections.
Flatten each section and wrap around a hot dog.

Cover and let them and yourself rest for 20 minutes.

(Sorry to disturb you but after about 10 minutes put a large pot of water on to boil and turn the oven on to 425 degrees)

Place the bagels and bagel dogs into the boiling water 2-3 at a time. Boil for 45 seconds, and then turn them over and boil for 45 more seconds. Use a spoon to make sure they don't stick to the bottom. Note: it's really hard to get a picture of boiling water!

Remove them from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, 2" apart. Sprinkle with toppings such as sesame seeds, minced onion, kosher salt, poppy seeds, etc. I'm not a fan of poppy seeds, but I used all of the others.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 12 minutes.

Then turn over and bake for 5 minutes more.

Some pictures of the final products. Yum!

These pigs are really toasty in their blankets.