Water Bagels

This recipe is courtesy of King Arthur Flour.  My oldest son loves bagels, but I noticed that he wasn't eating them as much.  When I offered to serve him a bagel for breakfast, he declined.  However, if we were going out somewhere, he was very excited to get a bagel at a restaurant, or breakfast place.  When you have a son with extreme picky eating, you need to fix the problem right away, so he will eat again.  So, I tried the bagel that I bought from the store, and it was dry and flavorless.   It became clear why my son was choosing the restaurant bagels over the store bagels.  However, I wasn't going to go out special for him in the morning to get fresh bagels.  I went to a trusted resource, King Arthur Flour.  I found this recipe for Waterbagels, and it was delicious!  The whole family went bonkers for fresh bagels.  Its a new family favorite.
King Arthur Flour is a well known baking company that has tons of products and recipes.  This recipe is a straight forward, beginner bagel recipe.  But you can go to their website and get more great recipes, King Arthur Flour.  If you get stuck, King Arthur Flour has a baking hotline, that you can call for help, it's at the top of their website.  Good luck! Happy Bagels!

Water Bagels
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
2 cups water, warm
1/4 cup instant malted milk powder or non-diastatic milk powder
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
5 3/4 cup King Arthur unbleached all purpose flour 

Water Bath
2 quarts water
2 Tablespoons instant malted milk powder or non-diastatic milk powder
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

Instructions
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Stir in the malt and sugar, then the salt and flour. Knead the dough till smooth (by hand, mixer or machine). Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly greased bowl covered with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow it to rise till doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. 

When the dough has risen, punch it down and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface. Put the water into a large, shallow pan -- the water should be about 3 inches deep -- and add the malt and sugar. Bring the water to a boil while you're shaping the bagels.

Divide the dough into 16 pieces. Working with one piece of dough at a time, shape it into a ball, poke a hole through the center with your index finger, and twirl; the dough will form a ring. Place the bagels on a parchment-lined baking sheet as they're shaped. Boil them immediately, or let them rise a bit.

Reduce the boiling water bath to a very gentle simmer. Gently transfer the bagels, 3 or 4 at a time, to the water bath; don't crowd them. Simmer them for about 30 seconds on each side, then return them to the baking sheet. 

Bake the bagels in a preheated 425°F oven for 20 minutes, or until they're a deep golden brown. Yield: 16 to 20 bagels, depending on size.

Additional Notes, also from King Arthur Flour: We used non-diastatic malt powder in place of the instant malted milk powder. You can use diastatic malt powder, but given the somewhat volatile nature of this ingredient -- used in too great a quantity, it'll "melt" the structure of your dough -- we prefer the non-diastatic. Malt powder not only gives the bagels a good taste; when used in the water bath it gives them a shiny crust.

You can use a doughnut cutter to make bagels; it's an easy, quick method to shape nice-looking bagels. If you've made the full recipe, divide the dough in half. Working with one half at a time, roll the dough out to a 9-inch circle, and cut as many bagels as you can. Gather the scraps and cut more bagels; you should end up with about 10. Repeat with the remaining piece of dough.

After you've boiled the bagels, and before you bake them, you may sprinkle them with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, caraway seeds, coarse salt, or whatever you wish. Bagels brushed with a bit of beaten egg white before topping will be shinier, and hold onto their topping better. 

To make flavored bagels, add ingredients to the dough before kneading. Bits of cooked spinach or fresh chive or garlic, diced onions, cinnamon and raisins are all popular.

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