I grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta. To me, Aunt Jemima was syrup (not fake maple syrup), there was nothing weird about mashed potatoes from a box, and salad dressing came in packet. Oh, and I thought Lender's Bagels were bagels.
When I moved to New York in 1996, my eyes were opened to real bagels. Over the years, my taste for what goes in my bagels has evolved. I used to get an everything bagel with cream cheese, then I got into bacon and egg bagel sandwiches, then scooped out and buttered whole wheat bagels, and nowadays I enjoy bagels with cream cheese, tomato, salt and pepper. The one thing that hasn't changed is my love of bagels!
So, imagine my surprise when I saw this post about making bagels at home on Serious Eats, one of my favorite food websites. I read the headline a couple of times with my head tilted like a confused puppy...homemade bagels? What do you mean? I thought you needed fancy equipment and unusual ingredients. If you could make them at home, why wouldn't I have heard about it before?
Well, I tried the recipe about six weeks ago ago and I've been making and freezing a big batch of bagels ever since. I highly recommend this recipe because it's easy and foolproof. It also produces delicious and chewy bagels for pennies each. The only thing that takes some figuring out is getting the bagel shape after you roll out the "rope" of dough. The first couple of times I made the bagels, I couldn't get the connecting dough not to taper, but it just takes practice.
Check out our video where I talk about the bagel-making process below. Photos and detailed instructions are after the jump, so click on "read more."