Pumpkin Spice Bagels

 

While doing a Pinterest search for anything “Pumpkin Spice”, I came across several recipes for Pumpkin Spice Bagels. It turns out, bagels are actually quite simple to make from scratch! Who knew? Plus…they are free of all of the trans fats and chemicals that are lurking in the store-bought versions.

Last week I decided to give them a try…and boy am I glad I did! These hands-down beat any bagels I have ever eaten. This weekend I made (and we ate) two batches!

I played around with a few different recipes, adjusted ingredients to suit our tastes, and came up with a winner!

What you will need to create a batch of your own:

• 3 1/4 cups of bread flour (I LOVE King Arthur)
• 1 packet of active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar (I use organic)
• 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree (or canned pumpkin)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• a pinch of either cloves or allspice, your preference
• 3/4 plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110 degrees)
• OPTIONAL: 1/4 cup sugar (for boiling)…this ingredient does not go into the bagel dough!

Equipment and utensils:

• Stand mixer with dough hook attachment (helpful, but not necessary)
• 1 large, oiled bowl
• A sharp knife
• 1-8 quart stock pot
• 1 large baking sheet
• Parchment paper
• Slotted spoon

Optional: (for topping bagels)

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

The first step is to place all of the dough ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large bowl, if you are kneading by hand)…flour, yeast, sugar, pumpkin, spices and water.

Attach the dough hook to your mixer, and mix for 9 minutes on the lowest setting. The dough should not stick to the sides of the bowl after 3 or 4 minutes. It should form a smooth ball, as illustrated in the picture above. If your dough is super sticky, add a little more flour.

If you are kneading by hand (which I have not tried), knead for at least 8 minutes, until dough is tacky, but not sticky. Adding flour as needed.

Once your dough has finished kneading, place in an oiled bowl (I used coconut oil), and cover with plastic wrap. Put in a warm place to rise for one hour. I always place my bread dough in the middle of my stovetop and turn my oven on 350 degrees. The heat from the oven helps the dough to rise, especially in the fall and winter months when your kitchen may not be the warmest.

 

While the dough is rising, cut parchment paper to fit the cookie sheet.

Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it to release the air.

Form dough into a ball, and place on a lightly floured surface.

Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 8 equal pieces.

To form bagels, start rolling each piece into a ball.

Poke your thumb thorough the middle of each ball to create a hole, and use your fingers to gently widen the hole. I found that twirling each bagel on my index finger (see picture above) helped. I might have had a bit too much fun doing this  

Place the prepared bagels on a the parchment covered baking sheet.

Cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm place for an additional 20 minutes.

While the bagels are rising, fill a stock pot with water (about 3-4 inches from the top), and bring to a full, rolling boil.

If you plan on topping some, or all, of your bagels with cinnamon and sugar, prepare that mixture.

Once the bagels have risen, gently set them one at a time, in batches of 2 or 3, into the boiling water. After 45 seconds, use a slotted spoon to turn bagels over and boil on the opposite side for an additional 45 seconds. With your slotted spoon, promptly remove bagels, one at a time, and place them back on the parchment covered baking sheet. Continue with the next batch of 2 or 3 bagels, until finished. (Illustrated below.)

Note: If you want a nice shine to your finished bagels, you can add 1/4 cup of sugar to the boiling water before you start dropping them in.

Once the bagels are boiled, you can add the cinnamon sugar mixture if you like. I did half and half.

Bake at 425 degrees for 20-23 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before digging in!

These are supper yummy fresh from the oven. But…they were still mighty tasty the next day. Just wait for them to cool completely, and place in an airtight container for up to 3 days (or at least I assume 3 days is a reasonable amount of time…mine did nit last past 24 hours).

I will be back later in the week to share my recipe for Cinnamon Honey Butter. Which put these babies right over the edge of deliciousness!!