~ "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; Through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures." ~ "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing" ~ "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." ~ "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."~

Friday, May 8, 2009

Whole Grain Bagels


 
 

Whole Grain Bagels....This past week I ran out of bagels. I most always have some on hand in my freezer. But knowing that company was coming, I decided to make a batch of my homemade bagels.
As I was making them, a thought crossed my mind, why not make some whole grain bagels? Don't get me wrong, I love my homemade bagels. But ever since I made the whole grain sandwich bread(we just love it!), I have thought about making other breads using the 10 grain cereal mix.

I began my attempt at making the whole grain bagels using the same method from the sandwich bread recipe. I adjusted some ingredients and boiled the bagels as in my Best-Ever Bagel recipe. The result was wonderful...and I was quite pleased. They were nice and moist inside... they weren't dense at all. I think it would be wonderful to vary the bread basket a bit with these whole grain bagels. There's always one or two people who prefer a wholesome bagel. Hope you enjoy...

You will need:

2 1/2 - 3 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsps instant yeast
3 TBS honey
3 TBS butter, melted
1 cup 10 grain hot cereal mix
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup unsalted roasted sunflower seeds

Topping:
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup oats

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, add boiling water to the hot cereal and stir to mix.
2. Stir every so often until it resembles a porridge and is just warm(110 deg).
It will be anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending how cool/warm your house is.
3. Stir in melted butter and honey.
4. Combine 2 1/2 cups of the bread flour, whole wheat flour, yeast and salt in your mixer bowl. Use the dough hook.
5. On low speed, add the cereal mixture and mix about 2 minutes.
6. Increase the speed to med-low and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic....about 6-8 more minutes. Depending how humid the environment is, you might need to add a bit more flour so that the dough doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl...start with 1 Tablespoon at a time. The dough should not be too sticky or soft.... Add the seeds at the last minute or so of the kneading process.
7. Turn the dough on a lightly floured board and knead by hand to form a smooth ball.
8. Place the dough in a large oiled bowl and cover with a greased plastic.
9. Let rise in a warm place. I always like to turn on the oven for about a minute(or so) to make a cozy warm environment for the dough to rise in.
10. Let rise till doubled in size about 1 hour. Do not punch dough down and deflate. I noticed that it won't rise as much if you do this.
11. Take a lemon size chunk of risen dough and form into a ball.
12. Poke hole in the middle and stretch out a bit (in the form of a bagel). Make sure the hole is at least the size of a 25cent coin piece ...this way you can still see the hole after it has risen.
13. Let rise 20-25 minutes....they should look puffed.
14. In a large pot, boil about 6-8 cups of water and add 5 tsp baking soda along with 2 TBS sugar.
15. Bring to boil and boil 2- 3 bagels at a time for about a minute on the top side of the bagel. The bagels should rise to the top...if they don't, the bagels have not risen enough.
I usually do not turn the bagel to boil on the underside as I noticed that it can get too soggy.
16.  Lift each bagel with a slotted spatula and drain all the water.
17. Place on an oiled cookie sheet (bottom side down) or on a parchment lined cookie sheet that has been oiled ( I prefer the parchment as it makes the cleaning easier)....the oil makes the bottom crispier. 18. Brush the bagels with a beaten egg and sprinkle with oats( most times I skip the oats)
.
19. Preheat oven to 375 deg F, place in middle rack, and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned.
20. Cool and freeze....or toast and enjoy a nice warm bagel!

28 comments:

Unknown said...

I've been looking for a good bagel recipe -- this looks wonderful. I can't wait to try it!

Amanda said...

Thanks for this recipe! I STILL haven't made homemade bagels though I have a gajillion bookmarked :-P

Ellie said...

Amanda, I know exactly what you mean about bookmarking a ton of recipes!:).... Iknow I have many recipes I too have bookmarked and haven't yet tried them...hmmm.... one day!:)

Unknown said...

these came out AMAZING! now if i can only perfect my hummus recipe i wont ever need to go to Noah's again... besides, they always sell out of these delicious whole grain bagels which you so awesomely helped me make today. they were my first ever bagels! i did forget that i would have to bake them at one point, so i thought i had a soggy mess but all is good now! thanks againnnn

Ellie said...

K,
Thanks so much for your really nice comment! I really appreciate your feedback. I am SO GLAD they turned out well for you! Yay! Your first time making bagels... I am glad you remembered to bake them:).

Melissa said...

Hi! I just made them and I tried to knead the dough by hand, I don't know if it was the problem, but the bagels never floated on the boiling water and they came out quite different, can you tell me how is the dough supposed to be? I'm really looking forward to master this recipe! Is great and healthy

Ellie said...

Hi ML,
It is important to knead the dough the specified time...at least 6-8 minutes. I haven't tried doing this by hand.
1.But if you are doing this by hand make sure you knead it at least ten minutes. It is important
2.Make sure you use instant yeast(not active), this helps tremendously.
3.Also, make sure when adding the hot cereal, that the mixture is not hotter than 110 degrees F. or it will kill the yeast.
4.Make sure the the bagels have risen at least 20 -25 minutes( you can let them rise a bit longer if you see they haven't risen enough). If your house is cool, it will not rise. If your house is not warm enough, you can turn on your oven to preheat for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.Turn the oven off completely. It should be nice and cozy when you open the door. Not too hot not too cold. This will help the bagels to rise.
5. If your bagels did not float in the water, it was probably because the bagels hadn't risen enough.

ML, I hope that helps. Ellie

Melissa said...

Thanks for the help Ellie! I'll try to do them this week (I have to buy instant yeast :-) ) and I'll let you know how they came up... God Bless!

Melissa said...

I just made them and they came out great and delicious! My husband, my 17 month old son and I loved them!

I didn't have instant yeast, so I used active dry yeast, but they grew OK and also I had to add more flour, because the dough was very wet and sticky, I added aprox 1 cup more of unbleached white flour (probably it was because I added only 3/4 cup of cereal instead of a cup, my bad! It was late and I got mixed up with the numbers in the measuring cup. :-p), but they came out great! After they doubled in size the first time, I shaped them, put them on a baking sheet, then put them inside a plastic bag in the fridge overnight. In the morning I took them out and left them 30-35 minutes to grow, and I baked them... VOILA!

This is my second time doing bagels and I'm really happy with the way they came out! This recipe is a keeper! Thanks Ellie!

Ellie said...

ML,
Oh, I am so happy that they came out for you! Thanks for the feedback...you put a smile on my face! Glad it turned out for you...looks like you know what you are doing:). What a great idea to put them in the fridge... So glad that you enjoyed them. Take care and have a great day!~Ellie

Chrysta said...

I am new to baking, but noticed there wasn't a unit listed next to the instant yeast. 2 and 1/2 what of instant yeast please? :-)

Thanks!

Ellie said...

Chrysta,
Sorry...should be 2 1/2 teaspoons. Will edit and thanks for noticing that.

Shauna said...

I am so glad I found this whole grain bagel recipe! It was my second homemade bagel adventure and it was so easy and fun! I couldn't find the 10-grain cereal so I improvised: some grits, some oats (steel cut and rolled), some rye flakes and cracked wheat. I mixed them all together and measured out a cup and then added 2 cups of boiling water. Instead of whole wheat flour I used whole wheat pastry flour and my dough ended up too stiff. I added a 1/4 cup more warm water and then the dough was perfect :) My beautiful bagels are baking now and I am so excited for breakfast tomorrow morning :) Thanks so much Ellie!

Ellie said...

Oh, Shauna...you made my day! I am so glad it worked out for you, and this being your second try ?! Wonderful! I am happy you took the time to stop by and let me know of your success. I love to see how readers improvise and make the recipe their own:)!!
Hope you enjoy your healthy bagels:)!~Ellie

Unknown said...

Hi, Can I add chocolate chips to this recipe? If so, at what step do I add them? Thanks

Ellie said...

Audrie, I have never tried adding chocolate chips...
You could probably add them when you add the nuts, in the last minute of the kneading.

Having said that,though, You will need to make sure that there are no visible chips on the outside of the bagel. They will probably melt when you boil them. Hope that helps!...Ellie

Unknown said...

Thanks Ellie, I just found this blog and am so excited to try a few of the recipes. I am off of work next week so God willing I will try these bagels....yum! I'll let you know how they turn out.

Ellie said...

Wonderful! I hope you like them:)...Thanks for stopping by.
Have a great day!~Ellie

Unknown said...

I'm looking for a great whole grain bagel recipe I can use in my breadmaker. Do you think this recipe can be adapted for a breadmaker?

Ellie said...

Alisa, I have never owned a breadmaker before. But, I don't see why you couldn't make this in the breadmaker as long as you just mix it and knead it. It is worth giving it a try. When you take the dough out, just make sure the dough isn't too wet or sticky. If it is, you might need to knead in a bit more flour with your hands. You can then let it rise and shape as usual. I would love to know if it comes out for you. Hope this helps.~Ellie

Diana said...

I have a bread machine too and was wondering of tyring it in my bread maker too. So I will give it a go and will let you know how it turned out! Thanks for the recipe!

Ellie said...

Diana, I would love to find out how it works in a bread machine. Do let me know, as I too am curious:). Thanks for stopping by...

Diana said...

Ellie! I made the bagels in my breadmaker and they turned out fantastic! The only thing I changed was the amount of water from 2 cups to 1 cup only because I didn't soak the hot grain cereal beforehand. I put in all the ingredients as your recipe indicated and once the bread machine dough cycle was complete, I took the dough out, shaped the bagels and let them rise for 25 minutes. Then boiled them and followed the rest of your intstructions and voila! Yummy, whole wheat bagels! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!

Ellie said...

Diana, That's wonderful!! So VERY happy that it came out for you! You made my day:)...

Thank you so much for taking the time to write and to let me know how it turned out for you. That was really, really nice of you! Thank you for posting the changes you made in the recipe. It will definitely be very helpful to those who also have a bread machine.

Have a wonderful day! And, thanks for stopping by...~Ellie

Anonymous said...

I was wondering how many bagels this recipe makes. I am trying to calculate the calories. Thank you.

Ellie said...

Anon. You will probably get about 12 bagels( or so) This will depend on how big or small you make them. Hope this helps. Thanks for stopping by.

mak said...

I have never made bagels before but went looking for a whole wheat recipe and saw yours. I could only find one dough hook, oops, so kneaded with my one dough hook for a couple of minutes and then just finished kneading by hand. My second screw-up was I got distracted and forgot my dough was rising. Instead of one hour, it rose for 1 hour and 45 minutes, oops again. I thought surely I had blown it. But I have to say they came out YUMMY! I am so impressed with the recipe and highly recommend it. I bet adding craisins or dried cherries or regular raisins would be good!

Ellie said...

Mak, I am thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your feedback... glad everything worked out in the end:).
Yes, I can see how you can easily adapt this recipe and make a cinnamon raisin version... or even a blueberry one. Great idea!