Shape, Boil, and Bake Instructions

How to Bake Your Own Amazing Bagels
Allow 8 - 12 hours to thaw dough,
1½ hours to shape, proof, boil and bake.

Kit contains: 18 oz. frozen bagel dough, poppy and sesame seeds, semolina flour, baking parchment, detailed instructions.
You will need: bowl with close-fitting lid or plastic wrap, cookie sheet, medium pot, slotted spoon or spatula, and a tea towel.
You may use: a pizza or baking stone (see note on preheating stone), a kitchen scale, 2 tablespoons honey, 1 teaspoon kosher salt.

1. Thaw the dough: Remove dough from packaging and place in a clean bowl large enough for the dough to double in size, cover with plastic wrap or a close-fitting lid. Leave the dough at room temperature for 8 – 12 hours (warmer kitchens take less time, cooler kitchens more). If you do this before going to bed, the dough will be ready to shape, boil, and bake in the morning.

2. Prepare dough for shaping/preheat baking stone (if using): Eight to twelve hours later, dough will be thawed and slightly puffy. Take it out of the bowl and place on a clean FLOUR FREE surface. You may need to scrape the dough out of the bowl as it may be a bit sticky, this is normal. Cut dough into six equal pieces for 3 ounces bagels. (You can make larger or smaller bagels. Be sure to adjust baking time accordingly.) Cover dough blobs with a clean towel and let them rest for 10 minutes. [If you are using a pizza or baking stone, place it on a rack set in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.]

3. Shape the bagels/preheat oven and water: After the dough has rested, use both hands to shape each piece of dough by rolling it on a flour-free surface into a rope approximately 14 inches long. Overlap the ends of the dough rope an inch or two. Then, with your fingers inside the hole, roll the overlapped dough firmly against the counter until the ends fuse and the bagel is roughly symmetrical. Place bagels on a parchment lined cookie sheet sprinkled with semolina flour. Cover the bagels with a towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes. (This final rest is known as proofing.) While bagels are proofing, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with rack in the middle position. Fill a medium pot with at least 4 inches of water and preheat over low heat. (I like to add 2 tablespoons of honey to the water, but this is entirely optional.)

4. Boil the bagels: When your bagels have proofed they will appear only a little bit larger. Bring the pot of water to a full boil. Gently drop one or two bagels into rapidly boiling water, being careful not to splash yourself. Turn bagels over after approximately 10 seconds and boil on the other side for another 10 seconds. Remove bagels and drain briefly on a clean towel. [For seeded bagels: Mix 2 tablespoons seeds of your choice with 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Spread seeds on a plate or pie pan. Press just boiled bagel, rounded side down, into the seeds before placing on the parchment. Note: Freshly boiled bagels may be too hot for small children and some adults to handle. If so, cool the boiled bagels, spray with plain water (to help the seeds stick) and then press into the seeds.] Place bagels 2 inches apart on a parchment lined and semolina sprinkled cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining bagels.

5. Bake the bagels: Slide the parchment and bagels onto the preheated pizza stone (or leave on the baking sheet if you are not using a pizza stone) and bake 16 - 18 minutes or until nicely browned. (I like to rotate parchment or cookie sheet at about 8 minutes to ensure even browning.) Remove bagels and cool on a wire rack.

6. Storage: If you enjoy toasted bagels, slice cooled bagels and freeze in a zip-lock bag. Bagels may be toasted right from the freezer. To simulate a freshly baked bagel; run a whole frozen bagel under the faucet long enough to wet the entire surface, place bagel in a cold toaster oven (do not preheat), start oven with temperature set to 350 degrees F, remove bagel after 10 minutes.