Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

Ok, here goes my first attempt at making something and documenting it and sharing it with the world via blog. I read a few cooking blogs for ideas including...Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations, Annie's Eats, Simply Recipes and Pioneer Woman Cooks. Usually I go to Annie's Eats for baking ideas because she's never failed me. Anyway, enough rambling back to the bagels. Annie posted this recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Bagels that she adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from the original author of a cookbook. (yes, you have to cite all these people... intellectual property my friends, you can't be ripping off people's recipes. SCORE, used the law degree for something!)


Now I haven't made a lot of bread in the past but lately I've been trying to make one type per week. I made this pita bread last week and it was so delicious - light and fluffy (try it with a little honey as a snack or with this recipe from Real Simple - I used turkey instead of pork, it was amazing). I realized that anytime you can make something from scratch, you should. Store bought bread has a lot of stuff (i.e. chemicals that probably are killing us) in it that we really don't need.


Alright, lets do it - its bagel time. Here is the recipe as Annie had it, I will include my own personal comments in black so you can rest assured that I am here with you, every step of the way. And yes, there really are 12 steps. That's a lot... so lets stick together.

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels
Yield: 12 large bagels - I made 13, but I probably should have made them smaller

Ingredients:
For the sponge:
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
4 cups (18 ounces) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
2 ½ cups (20 ounces) water, at room temperature

For the dough:
½ teaspoon (.055 ounces) instant yeast
3 ¾ cups (17 ounces) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
5 tbsp. sugar
2 ¾ teaspoons (.7 ounce) salt
2 teaspoons (.33 ounce) malt powder OR 1 tablespoon (.5 ounce) dark or light malt syrup, honey, or brown sugar (I used malt syrup made by Eden Foods that I bought at Whole Foods in the baking aisle.)

2 cups loosely packed raisins, rinsed to remove surface sugar, acid and wild yeast

To finish:
1 tablespoon baking soda
cornmeal or semolina flour for dusting (I used cornmeal)

Directions:
1. To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter (like pancake batter). Here are the stars of the sponge stage, I prefer King Arthur Flour. My dad always uses it, so I just follow the leader.

Here is a picture of what mine looked like......it kind of smells like pancake batter... yum... pancakes! Have you tried making regular pancakes with a little brown sugar and cinnamon in the batter? try it, you won't regret it!.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. (Mine was more bubbly than foamy, it looked like there were a bunch of holes in it) It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the countertop.

2. To make the dough, in the same mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour, cinnamon, sugar, salt and malt. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining ¾ cup flour to stiffen the dough. In the last couple minutes of mixing, add the raisins. You may need to add a bit more flour at this point, due to any extra moisture that was added with the raisins. I tried to mix this by hand because unfortunately I don't have a Kitchen Aid mixer (hint hint - Christmas is coming...) - but I found it hard to stir it and get it to turn over enough to grab all of the flour that was on the bottom of the bowl. So I did what any good baker does, I just stuck my hands in there and threw the spoon in the sink. I found that mixing it/kneading it by hand was a lot easier.

3. Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or for 6 minutes by machine). I would say at least 10 minutes is a minimum - its a pretty good cardio/upper body workout but its going to take some time to get it to pass the windowpane test*. The dough should be firm, stiffer than French bread dough, but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour – all the ingredients should be hydrated. The dough should pass the windowpane test* and register 77 to 81 degrees F. If the dough seems dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems tacky or sticky, add more flour to achiever the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feels satiny and pliable but not be tacky.

* What is the windowpane test you ask? Well I had no idea either, so I did some googling and I have a decent answer for you. First, rip off a chunk of dough and avoid grabbing any raisins cause that will ruin it. Second, roll the dough around to make it calm down from its trauma of being separated from its friends. Next, take the dough and start pulling at it slowly from all directions, rotating it around so that you pull from all sides. You should be able to stretch the dough thin enough so that its semi-see through. Its not literal though, its never going to be translucent... just enough so that its thin and not ripping/flakey looking. If it IS ripping still, you should probably keep kneading it and if its REALLY dry, it might need a couple drops of water. But seriously, you need to knead this dough for at least 10 minutes. Need to knead, ha.

4. Immediately divide the dough into equal sized, 4 ½-ounce pieces for standard bagels, or smaller if desired. Form the pieces into rolls. I don't have a food scale so I have no

idea how large 4 1/2 ounces is. I just separated them and made balls, perfection just isn't that important to me.

5. Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes. You do this so its easier to poke the holes. It lets the dough relax and take a little nap.

6. Line two sheet pans with baking parchment and mist lightly with spray oil. Proceed with shaping the bagels by pushing a hole through the center and stretching out the hole to 2 ½ inches in diameter. I just stuck my thumb through the dough and spun the rest of the bagel around my thumb. I also didn't worry about how big 2 1/2 inches is.

7. Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pan. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and slip each pan into a food-grade plastic bag, or cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. I used plastic wrap and didn't wrap it too tight. Be sure to spray a little oil though, you don't want them to stick to the plastic.

8. Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the “float test”. Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped into the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days). If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the ambient temperature and the stiffness of the dough. Mine didn't float after 20 minutes. And to be honest, I have no idea how long they sat on the counter before they were ready for the fridge because I had to leave to babysit..... so...I left this test to Chris! I'm sure he loved being a part of the bagel process. He said the bagel floated and put them in the fridge, that's all I can report.

9. The following day (or when you are ready to bake the bagels), preheat the oven to 500° F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the pot the better), and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby. The bagels will be hot and slimey and tongs are not a good idea, so really - have a slotted spoon or something wide enough to hold them so you don't scald your fingers....not that I would ever do that. (sniffle.)

10. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many comfortably fit (they should float within 10 seconds). After 1 minute flip them over and boil another minute. If you like very chewy bagels, you can extend the boiling to 2 minutes per side. While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-line sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you decided to replace the paper, be sure to spray the new paper lightly with spray oil to prevent the bagels from sticking to the surface.) I boiled mine for anywhere from 1-2 minutes each side. If you haven't noticed, I am not that precise. I like my bagels a little more chewy so I knew I wanted to be 1+ minutes.

11. When all the bagels have been boiled, place the pans on the 2 middle shelves in the oven. Bake for approximately 5 minutes, then rotate the pans, switching shelves and giving the pans a 180-degree rotation. (If you are baking only 1 pan, keep it on the center shelf but still rotate 180 degrees.) After the rotation, lower the oven setting to 450° F and continue baking for about 5 minutes, or until the bagels turn light golden brown. You may bake them darker if you prefer. I baked one rack at a time because I thought it was more efficient since I was still boiling bagels.

12. Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving. Do you have a cooling rack? Cause I don't. Here's my hint for the day, flip over some muffin pans and put the bagels on there to cool. Genius!!

TASTE TEST: Holyyyyy yummy. I loved them! They are much better than the usual bagels you get. They were chewy enough to be authentic. I waited until they cooled and then sliced, lightly toasted and slathered with cream cheese. For you non-cheese lovers, I would suggest some Country Crock butter. If you didn't grow up on Country Crock like I did - you are missing out and must try it. I should note that these are heavy on the tummy so if you want a lighter breakfast I would make mini-bagels. Otherwise, make these. NOW!