Bagel time!

Bagels are my favorite breakfast food to get at a restaurant. That's a hard race to win, since I subscribe to the thought that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Whether it's the Bagelicious(Everything bagel, muenster cheese, egg, bacon, no ham) from Boone Bagelry , the Cinnamon Crunch bagel with hazelnut spread from Panera Bread Company, or a simple McDonald's Bacon Egg and Cheese bagel, I'm sold.
I received an email from my subscribtion to AllRecipes' baking newsletter with a recipe for Boiled Bagels, and I knew I had to try them.

Boiled Bagels

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups flour
2 packets active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

Do it:

1. In a large bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups of flour with yeast. In a separate bowl, combine water, 3 tbsp sugar, and the salt. *To be the right temperature for the yeast to rise, the water needs to be about 110 degrees F. This is just a little warmer than body temperature.

2. Beat with a mixer on low for about 30 seconds, then scrape the sides and mix for another 3 minutes.

3. Form bagels slightly smaller than how you want them after completion, and set them aside to rise (covered) for 15 minutes, at least.

4. Place bagels on a greased baking sheet. I found it less greasy to sprinkle cornmeal on the baking sheet. At this point, go ahead and start your pot of water boiling.

5. Broil the bagels on high for 1:30 minutes, flipping once.

6. Boil a few bagels at a time for 7 minutes each, flipping once.

7. After they are boiled, bake them for 20-25 minutes.

I came back to this recipe a few weeks ago, and tried a few variations:

Blueberry: Make a dough ball, and place about 1.5 tsp of blueberry preserves per bagel. Carefully swirl the dough to incorporate the jam, then broil, boil, and bake as directed.

Cheddar Garlic: Add garlic powder and shredded cheese to the top before baking.

Chocolate Chip: Add about a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips before forming bagels. (amount can be easily adjusted)

Enjoy!