Maybe a Food Truck in my Future?!
I have always teased my fiancé that I have wanted to have my own food truck! He would quiz me on what things I would serve out of it. For a long time I figured I would master different lasagna recipes and have a lasagna truck!
Then when we were in Banff last March on a snowboarding trip, we stopped in Canmore at the Rocky Mountain Bagel Co restaurant. We enjoyed some breakfast bagels on our way home. I bought a dozen of their bagel as well. I highly recommend stopping there for a bite to eat if you are ever in the area. With those bagels, I created some interesting combos… butter chicken bagel, pizza bagel, and a favorite in our house, the ultimate breakfast bagel. Sunny side up eggs, bacon, ham, cheese, lettuce and tomato with a secret cream cheese sauce I am not willing to share! (You know, just in case my food truck dream takes off!)
So, for this weeks “baking with Shana” adventure I MADE BAGELS! I spent some time researching recipes on Pinterest for homemade bagels! I came across an account by Sandra, a self taught cook and her blog “Shes not cookin” It is where I found the recipie to use. It honestly had me a little freaked out though it called to BOIL the bagels… As I was laying in bed with Spencer and telling him all about my plan the next day to create these bagels, I told him “I’m so nervous… it wants me to boil them before baking!” I never knew that was a thing to do, when it came to making bagels.
The next morning, I started my day off making my bagel dough! it was easy enough to follow Sandra’s recipe. however, I do wish that she included pictures so I could compare what mine looked like to hers!
The dough was EASY PEASY to make!
Here comes the part that had me a little freaked out! After I rolled my dough into ropes and pinched the ends closed to make my circle with a hole. I let them rest again for 15 minutes. Now, I am boiling 8 cups of water with sugar (the recipe called for 16 cups, but I didn’t have a big enough pot for that). WHY the heck am I boiling these bagel doughs? I needed to know the answer so I took to Google and found this blog post called “Food Crumbles” and learned that when boiling the bagels the starches in the flour of the dough gelatinize. During this process the starch granules absorb water, swell and ultimately break releasing more starch molecules (the same happens when boiling potatoes). This process stiffens the starches and thus the bagel, starting from the outside. By cooking the starch on forehand it won’t loose as much moisture anymore in the oven. As a result bagels won’t get that super crunchy crust that some sourdough breads for instance might get. That tip is also my baking tip #7 for my blog!
Ok, LIKE HOW GOOD DO THEY LOOK? I am so impressed with myself! BUT we cannot have a bagel without cream cheese! I found a recipe on Pinterest that I liked and made it.
These bagels turned out AMAZING! I am so happy with myself and the final product. I was beyond nervous about tackling this adventure, but following the directions and researching when I was unsure made the process so enjoyable. I have come along way in the kitchen. I highly recommend the bagel recipe linked earlier, You can use my pictures for reference since her blog doesn’t include any. I stepped out of my comfort zone and I am so glad I did! This bagel recipe will be a staple in our house hold now! (Or I might tweak it in the future to make it my own:)
The final product!
The bagels were rated 10/10. I do want to let the dough rest longer once I get them formed the next time I make them!
Stay Sweet,
XOXO,
Miss Blenkin
Oh my, I really need to remember to eat before looking at your blog posts! Those bagels look delicious, I want to eat them all 🙂 . Needless to say I have control issues with tasty foods…so I don’t have much of that stuff in my house. I will just continue to live vicariously through your wonderful blog and dream about eating all of the tasty things! Your blog posts are always so well put together and easy to take in. Great job Shana!
THEY WERE SO GOOD! I am actually beyond happy with how they turned out. Thank you for the compliment, I have a huge food passion it was mostly for cooking but this baking thing is really starting to grow on me now! Although, I need to be more like you and not have this stuff in my house because a goal of mine was to work on my nutrition this spring!
Take care,
Shana
Shana, first, I absolutely love how your blog looks! It’s so pleasing to look at and the information is so clearly presented! Second, your bagels look AMAZING!! My dad was looking over my shoulder while I read this and has now decided that i have to make these for him! Any tips for when i make them? Definitely going to be referencing your photos while making them! Amazing job!
They were really good Payge! I would suggest only make 9 instead of 12 if you are following that recipe. I think they will be thicker and more full that way. I am making another batch tomorrow we liked them that much! Thank you for the compliment on my blog! Let me know if you do end up trying to make them.
Hey Shana,
Your blog and the bagels look great. Making bagels from scratch seems like a multi-step process so I appreciated the blog taking us through each step and providing pictures. I have never actually made any kind of bread product from scratch before so reading your blog was very interesting. The bagels look awesome. Great Job!
Jesse
Hey Jesse, Thank you for your comments! It was a multi-step process and you definitely need to start in the morning, for the rising of the dough! I actually enjoyed making them so much that I am going to make another batch tomorrow! I think I will add sundried tomatoes into the dough and see how that goes! It can be intimidating from scratch, that is for sure, but follow a good recipe and its not so bad.