DIY Wheat Bagels

Make your own bagels in an evening! A little on the labor intensive side as far as breads are concerned, but easy enough to fit between commercial breaks, or as a break from reading a good book, or whatever the evening in's entertainment may be. Homemade bagels are both delicious and inexpensive to make!

Ingredients:
Dough
3 cups lukewarm water
1 ½ tablespoons active dry yeast
1 ½ tablespoons salt
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
6 ¼ cups whole wheat flour


Water Pot
water
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions:
1. Mix dough ingredients in order of appearance. (First the water and yeast, then salt,then sugar, then sugar, then flour)


2. Allow to rise 2 hours. (Watch a movie while waiting perhaps?) This time can be slightly longer if desired/more convenient.


3. Dust the counter with flour and divide the dough into 12 approximately equal pieces. Shape into balls by tucking the edges under and sticking to the bottom.

4. Let rise 20 minutes. While waiting, turn the oven to 450 F. Place a cast iron pot or metal tray on the lower of the shelves. This will be used to add ice to create steam inside the oven. Additionally, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. 


5. When 20 minutes are up, the oven should be preheated, and the water boiling. Add the baking soda and the sugar to the water at this point. 


6. Poke a hole in each piece of dough and gently stretch from all sides. The hole will shrink down again after cooking, so make it a little bigger than you think it should be. 


7. Using a spoon or other convenient utensil, gently place a bagel onto the boiling water. Allow to cook for 2 minutes, flip, and then cook another minute. Place onto a lightly greased baking pan. You may be able to do 2-3 at a time if your pot is large. 

8. Throw a couple of ice chunks into the pan at the bottom of the oven, and place your bagels on the upper shelf. Cook 18-20 minutes or until brown.  

Delicious!