Whole Wheat Bagels with Cinnamon and Raisins

I occasionally have spurts where I eat a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast in the morning.  I never knew how bagels were made, so when I saw the recipe in the book called Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois, I had to give it a try.  

First you made the dough (see this blog entry and watch the video clip for the recipe).

Then you let the dough rise for 2 hours and put it in the fridge overnight.  

When you are ready to make the bagels, get your dough out of the fridge and also find your sugar, baking soda, raisins, and cinnamon.  

Put some flour on top of your dough so it doesn't stick to hour hands and pull up about 2 pounds of dough (half of what is in the bucket).

Then take a rolling pin and roll the dough out thin (about 1/4 inch thick). 

Then combine 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and sprinkle over the dough.  Also sprinkle 3/4 cup of raisins onto the dough. 

Next roll it up. 

Then roll it up some more into a ball shape to incorporate the raisins.  

Then you need to break off about 3 ounces of dough (the size of a small peach) using flour as needed.  Form into a small ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides. Then push your thumb through the middle and gently stretch the dough until the center hole is about three times as large as the dough wall.  Once all your dough has been formed into big O's let them rise for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile get a big pot and fill it with water.  Bring to a boil and add 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of baking soda.  Also preheat your oven with a metal broiler pan and a baking stone in it to 425 degrees.  

Next take a few bagels and drop them into the simmering water, making sure they have enough room to float without touching.  Let them simmer on one side for about two minutes and then flip them over and simmer for another minute.  Remove from the water and place on a dish towel that has been sprinkled with flour to absorb the excess moisture. 

Next place them on a floured cutting board or pizza peel and slide them onto the preheated baking stone. Put a cup of water in the metal broiler tray and close the door.  

Bake 20 to 25 minutes until well browned.  

Serve slightly warm.  MMMmmm!!!

These were a bit of work, but they were yummy while they lasted!