the food out here

Bountiful bagels

By hunter hill
Posted 10/23/24

Eggs are likely the pinnacle breakfast food, but they require some work to be able to eat them on the go. Waffles too are right at the top of the list, yet require syrup or other additions to be …

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the food out here

Bountiful bagels

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Eggs are likely the pinnacle breakfast food, but they require some work to be able to eat them on the go. Waffles too are right at the top of the list, yet require syrup or other additions to be enjoyed fully, and they make it all the more difficult to grab and go. Toast is great, but still quite simple when seeking a truly fulfilling breakfast champion. Egg in the nest, pancakes, French toast, milk toast, cereal, omelettes, parfaits, yogurts; none can satisfy the true nature of the working American like a bagel. A bagel is the perfect American breakfast for farmers on the run, kids getting on the bus, and anyone with few to no minutes to sit down and dine with luxurious time.

Bagels can be topped with seeds and other ingredients, permeated with berries and spices, and smothered in spreads as simple as butter or as decadent as whipped cream cheese. You can even use bagels to take those eggs on the road, or just stuff a freshly toasted ring in your coat pocket to be enjoyed on its own merits. 

With my busy schedule lately, I wanted to find a substitute for toast, especially when many of our lunches consisted of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Bread for breakfast, bread for lunch, sometimes bread for an evening snack, and the boys and I were getting a bit tired of bread in its rather two-dimensional form. Yeah, bagels are still bread, but it’s fun bread. Chewier, crisper and a little bit sweeter depending on how they are prepared. 

But the other problem with choosing something like bagels has been the cost. With two boys eating one each, me eating one, and occasionally my wife eating one, bagels can get expensive fast, especially if you want to eat them for breakfast every day. So I turned to baking to reduce the cost of this breakfast staple and finally more or less settled on one of my favorite baking resources, King Arthur. 

As I practiced this a few times this week I’ve ultimately made my own recipe to suit my preferences. But for anyone looking for all things baking, I find King Arthur Baking Company’s tips and notes very helpful for being successful, if you at least start out by following their instructions to the letter. 

One minor change for example would be how I grease the pans. My wife and I have opted for a spray-on coconut oil for many of our baking applications. It’s far healthier and safer than canola oil or even vegetable oil. If you are concerned about all things aerosol, simply wiping down your bread pan with coconut oil is still a great option. I have found that it tends to leave a slightly sweet taste behind as well which has yet to offend my palate.

On the same health note, we now use almost exclusively sea salt as opposed to kosher or other kinds of salts. These changes aside however, I found bagels to be much more intimidating to read about making than to actually concoct. While it sounds labor-intensive to knead and form and boil and bake, the whole process actually goes much faster than baking a single loaf of bread. 

What’s nice is the lack of downtime. If you make a few batches, you work right through the only rise time you would ordinarily have and can turn out bagels pretty quickly within the hour. 

The forming of the dough rings seems tricky at first, but there are only a few hundred tutorials online to get you started on figuring out what works for you. 

The way out here no matter how busy we are, it always pays to learn how to do one or two more things for yourself. Will you see me trying to make cream cheese for my bagels? Well, not yet at least—but one thing at a time.

bountiful bagels, the food out here

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