Sourdough Bagels

This recipe is the one that made me believe I could do anything involving sourdough. As much as it's true that all bread is good bread, it's even more true that all bagels are good bagels. Seriously, have you ever met a bad bagel? Well, here's some amazing ones:

Ingredients:

• 105 g sourdough starter

• 250 g water

• 40 g honey (can sub sugar if you don't have honey, ~ 35 g)

• 12 g salt

• 500 g bread flour

Optional ingredients for bagel toppings:

• Sea salt

• Cinnamon

• Cinnamon Sugar

• Garlic powder, minced onions, salt, poppy seeds

  • whatever else you want bc this is giving everything but the bagel toppings -- which you could use that pre-made everything but the bagel seasoning

• Your preferred shredded cheese

  • +/- jalapenos

• Get creative, put whatever you want on these bad boys, let me know how it goes!

Recipe:

1. Combine starter, water, honey, and salt until everything is well dissolved.

2. Add in bread flour.

   1. I like to do 250 - give it a stir until mixed, then add the remaining 250.

3. Combine ingredients until all the flour has been incorporated into the mixture. Use a spatula, use your hands, use whatever you'd like!

4. Let dough rest in bowl, cover with cling wrap for 8-12 hours (or aluminum foil... I somehow never have cling wrap on hand... where does it even go? Anyway, just cover it).

5. On a lightly floured surface, dump out your dough and separate into 8 sections.

   1. I like to use my bench scraper as a sharp edge and "Chop" into halves until I have 8 sections -- they're mostly the same size.

6. Shape the 8 dough sections into balls. Then, create a hole in the middle with pressure from your thumbs. Shape your bagels.

7. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, then place the pre-shaped bagels onto the paper and cover again for at least 30 minutes.

8. In the last ~ 5-10 minutes of your bagels resting, start a pot of boiling water. Once the bagels and the water are set, you're going to dunk the bagels in for a nice warm bath.

   1. You can also begin pre-heating your oven - go ahead and set that to 425F.

9. Soak the bagels for 2-3 minutes. I like to flip them over halfway through. You'll probably only be able to soak 2-3 bagels at a time unless you have a massive pot... I do not.

10. After you soak your bagels, while they're still hot and moist, apply the toppings of your choice on the parchment paper.

11. Plop your seasoned bagels into the oven for 25-30 minutes. Keep an eye on them around 20ish minutes, and continue baking to your preferred golden brown bagel shade.

12. Let them rest as long as ya can, try to give 'em 30 minutes.

    1. I usually eat at least 1 right away, who couldn't?

Note, this recipe makes 8 bagels. To make a dozen, measure this instead:

• 160 g sourdough starter

• 370 g water

• 62 g honey (can sub sugar if you don't have honey, ~ 35 g)

• 20 g salt

• 750 g bread flour