Homemade Bagels with Cinnamon Cream Cheese

I've been making a lot of bread items lately because... well they are just so much better than store bought anything!  I love love love bagels, but am finding that the store bought ones are just tasting fake to me. I know, I'm a bread snob.  But you just can't get home made fresh awesomeness in the store.  

These were terrific!  Exactly what I needed to get my fix.  And the cinnamon cream cheese was just an added bonus, I just happened to have cream cheese on hand.  These would be awesome and easy to make ahead and serve to overnight guests with some fruit and a cup of coffee! Oh man, I think I might have to make these again this weekend!  

Baby is up from his nap so I'll stop yackin and let you get to baking!

Enjoy!

Bagels
Makes: 6

Ingredients:

Dough
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup lukewarm water
3 1/2 cups unbleached organic flour

Poaching Liquid
2-3 quarts water
1 1/2 tablespoons honey (optional)
1 Tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt


Directions: 
To make the dough, stir the honey, yeast and water into a large mixing bowl or bowl of your stand mixer.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes until it becomes foamy.  Add the flour and salt to the mixer and mix with the dough hook on lowest speed for 3 minutes, until well blended.  The dough should form a stiff ball, but should be plenty hydrated.  If it isn't add water. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. 

Resume mixing with dough hook on low for another 3 minutes, or transfer to a floured work surface and knead by hand for 3 minutes. The dough should be stiff, but barely tacky feeling.  If it seems too soft or tacky, add flour. 

Place the dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or wet towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. 

To shape the bagels, prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper or silicone mat, then lightly coat it with oil. Divide the dough into 6-8 equal pieces.  Form each piece into a lose ball.  Roll the ball into an 8 inch rope.  Hold one end of the rope in your hand and wrap around hand, overlap the two ends by 2 inches and press the ends together to seal.  You can then play with it to even out the thickness. 

Place each shaped bagel on the prepared sheet pan and mist with a light coating of oil. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night. (I made these once refrigerating the and once without and there wasn't a huge difference, they are better refrigerated, but it's not going to ruin them if you don't have the time.)

Remove bagels from the refrigerator 60-90 minutes before you plan to bake them and let them rest.  About 30 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 500 F.  

To make the poaching liquid, fill a large pot with 2-3 quarts of water, making sure the water is at least 4 inches deep.  Cover and bring to a boil, then lower heat to maintain a simmer.  Stir in the honey, baking soda and salt. 

Gently lower each bagel into the poaching liquid, making sure not to overcrowd the pot. They should float to the surface within 15 seconds.  After 1 minute, use a slotted spoon to turn each bagel over.  Poach or another 30-60 seconds, then use a slotted spoon to transfer it back to the baking pan. 

When all bagels are poached, transfer the pan of bagels to the over, then lower heat to 450F.

Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate pan and bake for another 8 minutes, until bagels are golden brown. 

Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before slicing. 

Serve with cinnamon cream cheese spread. 

Cinnamon Cream Cheese

Ingredients: 
4 oz softened cream cheese
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Cream all ingredients together until smooth.  Serve over bagels.  Store in refrigerator.