Growing up my mom would let one child choose a treat to make each Sunday.  I looked forward to my turn.  Thinking that maybe if I tried out this tradition with my husband maybe, just maybe he’d start to love sweets as much as I do.  If I let him choose what to make he’d be more happy about it right?  I thought my plan was fool-proof.  However, you know what he picked? Bagels!  Well played sir, well played indeed.  I guess his “treats” will always be bread.  Not that I mind that either.  The recipe has been adapted from here.

Ingredients:
4 cups Honeyville Bread Flour
1 T Honeyville Granulated Honey
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 T Olive Oil
2 tsp. Yeast
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups Warm Water

Directions:
In a bowl add water and yeast.  Let set for a few minutes while you get the other ingredients ready.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix together.  The dough should feel stiff.  If it feels really stiff or all the flour isn’t getting incorporated add some more water 1 Tablespoon at a time.  Knead dough for about 5-10 minutes until it is uniform and smooth. (I like to start mixing with a spoon until the ingredients get mostly incorporated and then I turn it out on the counter and knead with my hands.)  Cut dough into 8 equal pieces and shape each one into a ball.  Cover with a small hand towel and let rest 10 minutes. 
Take each dough ball and shape into a bagel.  You can do this one of two ways.  The harder more traditional way is roll each ball into a long snake.  Take both ends and roll them together to fuse the ends and make a ring shape.  I prefer the second method of just poking a hole into the middle of each ball and then gently stretching it out to make a bagel.  Let the bagel rings rest another 20 minutes on the counter, covered with the small hand towel.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a large pot or deep skillet bring water to a boil.  You need enough water so there is a couple of inches of water.  Work in batches as to not crowd the bagels, put the bagels in the boiling water.  Boil for 1 minute and then flip them over and boil for another minute.  Take the bagels out of the water and let dry on a cooling rack for about a minute.  Repeat until all bagels have been boiled and dried.  Once dry transfer to an oiled cookie sheet.  Cooking spray isn’t enough to adequately grease the pan for this recipe.  Pour about a Tablespoon or more of vegetable oil on the sheet and wipe around with a paper towel.
Bake for 10 minutes then flip over and bake for another 10 minutes. 

Even though it looks like a hard recipe from the long directions I promise it isn’t bad.  The worst part is waiting until they are cool enough to eat!

Happy Eating!