Whole Wheat Bagels

If there was one food that I could eat every day it would be the bagel. Breakfast bagels with cream cheese,  panini style sandwiches with pepper roasted turkey and Havarti cheese, pizza bagels. The possibilities are endless! Unfortunately, most of the "healthy" labeled store-bought bagels still contain processed ingredients and if you do find a good product they can be pretty pricey. I am in love with these soft and chewy whole wheat bagels and warm from the oven...yum!

An important trick to making that dense, soft, and chewy bagel goodness is to really work the flour into the dough. Your dough should be smooth, slightly shiny and elastic after it has been kneaded and fairly stiff, so if you have a heavy mixer and a dough hook this would be a great opportunity to pull that baby out. Or if you need a really good workout, kneading by hand is always a great option. We inhaled these healthy bites for brunch toasting them and then slathering them with cream cheese.

Adapted from Lovely Little Kitchen

Yield: 12-16 bagels

Whole Wheat Bagels

Dough
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar
1 3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
4 cups plus 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour (approximately)
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup butter, melted

10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda

Optional Toppings
Poppy seeds
Sesame seeds
Ground flax seeds
Cinnamon sugar
Sea salt
Dried onion flakes
Ground flax & oatmeal

In the bowl of your stand mixture combine the water, honey and salt. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let mixture set for five minutes. Stir. With dough hook attached, add 3 cups of flour, gluten and melted butter. While mixing on low, add the remaining flour in 1/2 cup increments until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the mixer. Increase speed to medium and mix for five minutes. Dough will be slightly stiff but still pliable.

Lightly oil a large bowl and let dough rise for 1 hour or until almost doubled in size (cover the bowl with plastic wrap while rising).

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Fill a large pot with 10 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Turn dough out onto a counter and gently knead the air bubbles out. Separate into 12- 16 pieces (depending on the size you like your bagels) and roll into smooth balls. Cover dough with plastic wrap as you prepare the bagels. Once you have rolled the dough into balls, gently poke a hole in the middle of each ball and stretch until a 1-inch in diameter hole forms. Place on a lightly oiled parchment lined baking sheet.

Add baking soda to the boiling water and drop 4-5 bagels at a time into the water, boil for 30 seconds and then remove to a drying rack. Sprinkle with desired toppings. Once all the bagels have been boiled, place on prepared baking sheets and bake 11-13 minutes or until golden brown.

Let bagels rest on cooling racks for at least 30 minutes before freezing.