On more than one occasion, I've had a head shaken at me when I divulge my culinary adventures. Usually it's the homemade dish that elicits this reaction - homemade donuts (pumpkin to be exact. they are so. good. I'll put that recipe up in a month or so), pretzels, peanut butter cups (don't worry, I plan on these being my next post. they are even better than the donuts). Basically, anytime I make a junk food at home. I never really ate fast food, and now that I'm vegan, it's ridiculously hard to eat out period. You just never know.. is there egg in this? milk? unicorn tears? you get the picture. Plus, I always liked what Michael Pollan said about junk food: “Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.” It's a lovely rule of thumb.. and tastier too.I picked up Isa's Vegan Brunch cookbook from the library, and I was delighted to find a recipe for bagels! I love a bagel. I find them very snuggly. This is a great recipe. It's simple, and the bagels are really very good. They have a nice shell on the outside with a squishy inside... kind of like a turtle protecting its tender middle... :) yep, just like that.
Bagels
makes 12
3 T. sugar, divided
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
(1) 1/4 oz. packet of active dry yeast (just one packet.. not 1 1/4 oz of yeast)
In a small mixing bowl, dissolve 1 T. of sugar in the lukewarm water, and then add the yeast.
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 T. vital wheat gluten
2 tsp. salt
In a separate, large mixing bowl, mix together the all the other ingredients, including the remaining 2 T. of sugar. Add the yeast mixture and knead for a good 10 minutes. The dough should be neither dry nor wet but nicely tacky (kinda like that sweet sweater you wore at Christmas).
Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap. Let sit for an hour or so. It won't rise much but it should be nicely springy.
Put a large pot of salted water on to boil, and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Turn dough out onto a dry surface and cut into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then use your thumbs to poke a hole through. The hole should be about 3/4 in. wide.
Reduce your boiling water to a gentle simmer, and add a couple bagels. Simmer for one minute, flip, and simmer another minute. Remove the bagels with a slotted spoon, and place them on a baking sheet covered in parchment. Now is the time to add any topping to them that you'd like - sesame or poppy seeds, cinnamon-sugar, etc. Bake the bagels for 18-20 minutes , until nice and amber brown. Remove and let sit for 30 minutes. Enjoy!
*This picture is our actual batch of bagels, as are all our pictures the actual pictures of the food we've made. On more than one occasion this has been questioned, but in truth, we're just that good! ha.
