mini bagels

Warm, fresh savory bagels (onion, garlic, herb) with some fluffy roasted garlic and vegetables cream cheese is one of my favorite breakfast items. When I am in the mood for it, that is.

I don't bake bagels and breads often as the good breads take a lot of TLC and time, plus, they are readily available baked fresh daily at the bakeries all across town.

However, every once in a while, I decide to whip up a batch just for fun. That's how this batch of mini bagels came into existence. And, I managed to take step-by-step photos (more or less)!

The bagel recipe I used here came with the bread machine. Rather than rolling the dough into a rope and shape it into a ring, as I was making mini bagels, I did what I usually do for "vada", an Indian fried snack: roll the dough into a 2"-3" diameter ball, flatten it like a patty, and make a largish hole in the center by poking with the back of a wooden spoon or just the finger. The trick is to make this hole fairly large, or it will close up on boiling, as I found out the hard way.

Ingredients
1 cup water
2 Tbsp honey
1 cup wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp salt
1½ tsp rapid rise dry yeast

Preparation

Combine the ingredients and knead to a smooth elastic dough. If preferred, activate the yeast in lukewarm water first before adding it to the dry ingredients. Cover and let it rise till doubled in size.

Divide into approximately 16-20 little balls - the size of the mini bagel is up to you - so, the number of bagels you end up with can vary depending on the size of each bagel. Flatten each ball a little and make a large hole in the center. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover and let it rise for another 15-20 minutes.

Heat oven to 350°F. Also, heat about 2 quarts of water to boiling in a pan. Keep a second cookie sheet handy for baking - line it with parchment paper if preferred.

Gently place 3 or 4 bagels into the boiling water. They will sink to the bottom, and then gradually rise to the top within a minute or so. Turn them once when they are in the water. Remove them from the boiling water with a slotted spoon when they float to the top, and place them on the cookie sheet.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds, or poppy seeds or both, or even minced garlic, or dry garlic chunks, anything you like.

Bake in the 350°F oven for about 10-15 minutes, checking half way through to see if they are done. The "skin" should be golden brown and inside should be cooked through. Usually, I "sacrifice" one of the bagels to be sure they are done: I remove one from the oven and dissect it - depending on how doughy the inside looks, I adjust the baking time - just trial and error...

Small is cute :-) Mini bagel sandwich, while not necessarily a complete meal, makes a filling breakfast: a slice of onion, a slice of cucumber, a slice of tomato, a slice of swiss cheese, maybe a couple of pickled jalapeños, some roasted red bell pepper if handy... Mmmmm... If only I could fit the stack in my mouth to get a yummy bite... However, D did eat this sandwich in about 2 bites, while I meticulously disassembled mine and ate the parts :-)