Water Bagels Make the Husband Happy

I reward the husband with food. It's a bad habit, I know, and probably one I should break before we open this house up to any little people, but it works. Food treats make the husband happy, and they make me happy. And, for that, I doubt I'll be able to stop anytime soon.

The husband has been super spectacular lately. I, obviously, always think he's the bee's knees, but he has really stepped up lately. I think he's vying for the Husband of the Year Award. Or maybe he's hoping Santa's watching. Either way, his good behavior has earned him multiple food rewards in the last week.

The husband's favorite: a good ol' homemade bagel with cream cheese

Water Bagels
From Food.com


4 -5 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups very warm tap water (120-130 degrees F)
1 egg white
1 tablespoon cold water

Optional add-ins:

raisins

cinnamon

mixed-up salt

mixed-up pepper

onion powder

garlic salt

In a large bowl thoroughly mix 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt and undissolved yeast.

Gradually add warm water to dry ingredients and beat for 2 minutes with electric mixer (at medium speed), scrape bowl occasionally.

Add 1/2 cup flour, and beat at high speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl.

Stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough (about 2 to 2 1/2 cups).

Turn dough on to a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes).

Place dough in ungreased bowl, cover and let rise in warm, draft-free place, like the top of the fridge, for 20 minutes. (Dough will NOT be doubled in bulk.) Punch dough down and turn out on to a lightly floured board.

Roll dough into a rectangle, 12 x 10 inches.

Cut dough into equal strips, about 1 x 10 inches each if you want 12 bagels. The husband thought the bagels were a bit small when I made this recipe into 12, but if I aim for 8 bagels, he thinks that's good.

To form the bagels, you have a couple of options. You can pinch ends of strips together to form a circle or roll the strips into balls and use your thumb to poke a hole in the center. I often have more luck with the ball method. 


Add any spices or add-ins at this point.

I tried making the husband cinnamon-raisin bagels. I put raisins and spices on one side of the dough strip, covered it and pressed the seams closed. You'll see this method didn't always work, but they still tasted good.   

Place on ungreased baking sheets.

Cover and let rise in warm, draft-free place for 20 minutes. (Dough will NOT be doubled in bulk.) In a large shallow pan, boil a 1-3/4-inch depth of water.

Lower heat and add a few bagels at a time.

Simmer bagels for 7 minutes (3 1/2 minutes on each side).

Remove bagels from water and place on a towel to cool. 

See? Some of those bagels I pressed closed - as opposed to the make-a-ball-and-use-your-thumb method - sprung open during the boiling process.

Cool bagels for 5 minutes, then place them on ungreased baking sheets.


Bake bagels at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, beat egg white with cold water. Remove bagels from oven and brush with egg white/water mixture.

Return bagels to oven and bake about 20 minutes longer, or until light brown and done to your liking. Remove bagels from baking sheets and cool on wire rack.

Keep an eye on your husband to make sure he doesn't eat all of them in one sitting. He should at least save one for breakfast.