Bagels Abound

Steve strongarmed me into making bagels over the weekend...his argument went something to the tune of "my old co-workers got bagels but my new co-workers haven't had any yet." Hmm. Somehow this new job of his is causing some repeat performances in the baking department. I can't say I complained too much, though. There's something completely satisfying when you boil up the bagels and they actually look like...bagels! So perfect, yet so very easy. And it makes me feel kind of like a baking badass. Most people I know would shudder at the thought of spending a day off of work boiling bagels.

Last time I went with Asiago, a personal favorite of mine. This time around I decided to do cinnamon raisin...well, half cinnamon raisin. The other half were, of course, Asiago. Right now we're trying to save money on groceries (ha!), so buying a $10 hunk of Asiago at Whole Foods wasn't a top priority for me, but the end result is too good to resist. Again I used the Nigella Lawson recipe that Confections of a Foodie Bride had adapted, except I eliminated the maple extract and threw in raisins until I was satisfied (just keep on adding until it looks good!) for the cinnamon raisin batch. For the Asiago batch, again, no cinnamon or maple, shredded Asiago on top of the egg wash before baking. The cinnamon raising were amazing.

To keep on top of things when portioning out the dough, I used my handy kitchen scale, weighed the entire ball of dough, and then divided it up from there (each bagel was around 100-110 grams). This is much easier than going by site alone.

Now I just have to work things out so these bagels actually stay with me for enjoyment instead of trotting off with Steve to be devoured at work, and all will be good.