Homemade Bagel-y Goodness!

I'm so excited about this recipe! I found a recipe for plain bagels last week, and I've been dying to try making bagels since I failed miserably in high school. I made a batch of the plain ones, and they were delicious!! Being the sometimes health-nut that I am, I decided that I'd try and adjust the recipe from corn syrup and white flour to something a little more healthy, and here's what I came up with. I hope you enjoy making (and eating!) these bagels as much as I am!

Honey & Wheat Bagels ala Lindsay
Makes 10 bagels

1 tbsp. yeast
2 c. warm water
3 tbsp. honey
3 tbsp. molasses
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. oil
3 c. whole wheat flour
2-1/2 to 3 c. white flour (bread flour works well)
3 tbsp. sugar (for boiling bagels)
corn meal for baking

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add honey and molasses, and let sit for a while until you can see that the yeast is alive and bubbling. In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast, salt, and oil. Add flours alternately a cup at a time (so one cup wheat, one cup white) until you have a dough that adheres to itself. Turn dough out onto a well-floured countertop and knead for 7-9 minutes, adding flour as necessary, until dough is elastic and not tacky. The longer you knead, the better the texture of your bagels.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and turn once to coat. Let rise for about 40 minutes, until dough is double the size. Divide dough into 10 pieces and shape into round discs. Poke a hole in the middle of each one, and pull gently until you have a 1-1/2 (or so) inch hole in the center. Place bagels on a greased baking sheet and let rise again until nearly double (about 20-30 minutes).

When bagels have about 10 minutes left, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and get a sauce pan and fill it about 2/3 full of hot water. Add sugar and bring to a boil. Add bagels, one or two at a time, cover, and boil for 20 seconds. Flip bagels and boil for another 20 seconds. Remove bagels with a slotted spatula and let drain for about 10 seconds before placing them on a VERY WELL CORN-MEALED baking sheet. When you've boiled all the bagels, place them in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until nice and golden brown.

If you have trouble getting them off the baking sheet, wait until they cool down. The bottoms of the bagels pull away from the baking sheet as they cool.

Enjoy!!