Raisin Bran Bagels
This recipe started as a way to use up a box of Raisin Bran I’d originally bought for cookie testing. Soaking the cereal in warm milk softens it into a mash that blends into the dough, adding sweetness and a little bran flavor.
Servings 6 large bagels
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raisin Bran (60 grams)
- ½ cup warm milk (114 grams)
- ½ cup warm water, about 115 degrees F. (114 grams)
- 1 ¾ teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar (18 grams)
- 2 cups bread flour plus another ⅓ cup (280 grams plus about 40 later)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
- 1 teaspoon salt (Morton kosher)
- 1 large egg white (30 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil or any other oil
Boiling Solution
- 6-12 cups water
- ½-1 tablespoon honey or barley malt syrup
- ½- 1 tablespoon mild molasses
Instructions
- Put the Raisin Bran in a cereal bowl and pour the milk over it. Let stand for about 20 minutes or until it is soft.
- Put ½ cup warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and add the yeast to proof.
- Add the sugar, 2 cups flour (reserve the other ⅓ cup), cinnamon and salt to the mixing bowl. Give it a quick stir then add the cereal mixture, egg white and the oil.
- Attach dough hook, put the bowl on the stand and begin kneading the dough. Gradually add 20 grams of the reserved flour, allowing the machine to knead for about 5 to 8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough will seem dry at first, then sticky. You should end up using at least 40 grams of the extra flour, but always go by the feel of your dough rather than trying to match the amount given. If you knead and knead and dough is too dry, add a touch more water. If too loose, add a little more flour.
- Once the dough is smooth and elastic you can simply cover the bowl with plastic or if you prefer, transfer the bowl to a second lightly greased bowl.
- Allow dough to rise for about 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Punch down the dough and divide it into 6 pieces. Shape each section into a ball, then poke your finger through the center and twirl the dough around your finger to form a loop with a hole about 2 inches in diameter. The holes will shrink as the bagels are boiled and baked, so at this point the holes should seem quite large.
- Set the bagels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cover with a greased sheet of plastic wrap. Let sit for about 20 minutes while you prepare the water bath. You don't want to overproof them on the second rise. By the time you are done shaping the bagels and making the water bath, it will probably be time to bake.
- Put enough water in a pot so that it's 3 inches deep (in my pot that is 12 cups, but this could vary depending on size and shape of your pot).Turn heat to medium. Add honey and molasses and bring to a boil. Carefully put 2 or 3 bagels in the boiling water and boil for 20 seconds on each side. Lift with a slotted spatula and allow excess water to drip off, then return to the parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake the bagels at 450 for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown.
Notes
To make sweeter bagels, after dividing the dough into 5 parts, decide how many sweet bagels you want. Make some cinnamon sugar by mixing about 4 teaspoons of sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. To make a sweet bagel, press you bagel dough piece down into a slab and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Dot with extra raisins or cranberries. Bring the edges of the dough slab up and around the sugar mixture and press down to enclose the sugar with dough. Shape into a ball and form into a bagel shape.