I love to bake. In recent years, I conquered my fear of yeast and have found the process of transforming basic ingredients like flour, water, yeast and salt into beautiful, flavorful breads to be quite enjoyable. I did less baking during the summer, but I’ve been anxious to try new recipes as the cool fall weather has rolled in. I’ve had my eye on a few varieties of bagels that Brown Eyed Baker has made during the past several months.

When I told one of my friends that my husband I and I had made our own bagels, she asked me “Are they hard to make?” As with most homemade items, they’re not hard to make, but they do take some time and a little planning. Each step is not difficult, but there are several steps that must be followed over the course of at least two days. You need to prepare the sponge, prepare the dough, divide the dough and allow it to rise, shape the bagels and let them rise, throw them in the refrigerator to rise slowly, boil them and finally bake them. See? No single step is overly complicated.

I must admit that while I was boiling my bagels two at a time, I thought “This had better be worth it!” Then, as the bagels baked my house became filled with the warm, yeasty aroma of fresh-baked bread. When I finally bit into a warm bagel, I saw the light! Store-bought plain bagels are good, but these are amazing! I don’t know what it is, but they’re soft (not too doughy) and far more flavorful then their mass-produced plain counterparts.

It’s true that it takes a bit of time to make bagels at home – certainly more time than it takes to grab a bag of bagels at the grocery store. After my first foray into the world of homemade bages, I can attest that the extra time and effort is well worth it!

You’ll find the full recipe below the break.

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