Ingredients

The following ingredients have 12 Servings
  • 500g / 4 cups of strong / bread flour
  • 4 tsp caster sugar
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • 7 g sachet instant dried yeast
  • 250 ml / 1 cup + 1 tbsp of lukewarm water
  • 50 ml / 3 tbsp + 1 tsp of vegetable oil (I used mild olive oil), plus extra for coating
  • 2 tbsp cinnamon
  • 115g / ¾ cup raisins
  • ½ tsp baking soda

Instruction

  • Mix the flour, salt, yeast, sugar, cinnamon and raisins in a large mixing bowl.
  • Pour in the lukewarm (not cold!) water and stir everything together with a wooden spoon. Then add the oil and combine.
  • When the mixture has mostly stuck together turn the mixture out on to a work surface. Knead the mixture by holding one end of the dough in one hand and stretching it out with the other hand. Reform the dough, turn it 90 degrees and start again. Repeat this for 10 minutes. See this recipe for photos on how to knead if you're unsure.
  • When the dough is shiny and smooth, put it in a large mixing bowl, coat in a thin layer of oil and cover the bowl with a tea towel. Leave it in a warm place (but not too warm - ie not next to an open fire!) for between one and two hours (until it has doubled in size).
  • Empty the dough out on to a work surface and push the air out with your fingertips.
  • Split the dough into twelve equal parts - best to use kitchen scales here.
  • Shape the dough into the classic bagel shape of a circle with a hole in the middle in one of two ways:
  • METHOD 1 - Roll the dough into a "snake" approximately 18 cm / 7 inches long, loop into a circle and join it with itself (using a bit of water to seal the join). This gives you a nice round bagel with a larger hole but it can potentially come apart in the future poaching step.
  • METHOD 2 - Form the dough into a circle (like a flattened bread roll) and poke a hole through the middle with your thumb. This usually gives you a slightly "fatter" bagel with a smaller hole, but is highly unlikely to break apart in the future poaching step.
  • Leave to prove, covered on a lightly oiled baking sheet.
  • Pre-heat the oven to 200° C / 390° F, put a large saucepan (largest diameter possible) of water (at least 10 cm / 4 " depth) to boil, and lightly oil a couple of baking sheets.
  • When the bagels are about 50% bigger or have proved for around 30 minutes, they are ready for the poaching step. Note that I usually 2nd prove bread for twice as long as this, but I do a half proving time with bagels as I find the poaching step expands them too much if I give them a full prove.
  • Turn the boiling water down to a simmer, add ½ tsp of baking soda to it and place as many bagels as comfortably fit in the saucepan for 90 seconds on one side, then turn them over and do them for 90 seconds on the other side before removing them from the water. You can do 1 minute on each side for "breadier" bagels, or 2 minutes on each side for chewier bagels. Place them on the paper towel to dry for a few seconds before placing them on the lightly oiled baking trays.
  • Glaze the top of the bagels with oil (this gives them a golden colour) and put them in the oven to bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.