Just the way we like them – chewy on the outside and soft on the inside, these bagels are topped with Penzey’s minced onion, blue poppy seeds, and roasted sesame seeds.

I let the Zojirushi bread machine do the first steps of mixing, rising, and kneading the bagel dough while I tended to other things today. After about one and a half hours, it was my turn to finish the bagels by shaping them, boiling them and baking them. When the finished bagels came out of the oven, we knew the dinner menu would feature these beauties smeared with cream cheese and topped with Jack’s smoked salmon.

Bread Machine Bagels

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 3 quarts boiling water
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• toppings of your choice

Directions

1. Place first 5 ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough setting.
2. When cycle is complete, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and let rest.
3. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add 3 tbsp of white sugar.
4. While water is coming to a boil, cut dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Flatten balls into discs about 1/2 inch thick. Poke a hole in each disc and twirl the disk around your finger to enlarge the hole. Place bagels back on the lightly floured surface to rest until the water boils.
5. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
7. When water is boiling, place bagels in water. Boil for 1 minute, then flip to boil for an additional minute. (I fit 4 bagels at a time in my pot.)
8. After bagels have boiled, remove them from the water with a slotted spoon or strainer spoon made for frying. Place bagels on a clean, dry towel.
9. Arrange bagels on baking sheet. Brush tops of bagels with beaten egg. Sprinkle with topping of your choice, or leave plain.
10. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until well browned.