I love a good bagel, but no stores in our neighbourhood never seems to stock any.

If I want a bagel, I have to drive into town and if you know me well, I do not like driving in town and especially not with all the holiday traffic we are currently experiencing.

But sometimes the urge to sink my teeth into a huge massive bagel from town gets too much and then I just have to get my hands on a dozen or two!!!

Then I saw Anna Olson making bagels. I had her recipe book, the one with the bagels in and I thought why not, It’s eggless so I can make it all the time and everyone will be able to eat it.

I topped half my batch with sesame seeds and the other half with poppy seeds.

Ingredients for the sponge:

2 ¼ x cups water water.

1 x tsp instant dry yeast.

3 x cups white bread flour.

Ingredients for the dough:

¾ x tsp instant yeast.

2 x tbsp. honey.

2 ½ x cups white bread flour.

1 x tbsp. salt.

Ingredients for the final touches:

2 x tbsp. honey.

1 x tsp baking soda.

Method for the sponge:

In a bowl, mix the flour, active yeast and water together until well combined.

Leave aside to stand for 30 minutes.

Method for the dough:

 

Add the active yeast, honey, bread flour, salt and sponge to the bowl of your stand mixer.

Mix with the hook attachment on low, till the dough comes together.

Increase the speed to medium and knead until elastic, roughly 10 – 15 minutes.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter top for an hour.

Then pop into the fridge and allow to chill over night.

Turn the chilled dough out on a lightly floured work surface.

Divide the dough into 12 equal sized pieces.

Shape the dough into a ball.

Make a hole in the center, stick both index fingers through the hole.

Rotate the ball round and round, stretching your fingers allowing the hole to get bigger as you go round and round.

For the final touches, fill a pot halfway with water. Bring to the boil and add the honey and baking soda, stir to combine.

Gentle drop a bagel into the pot and allow the bagel to boil for about 2 – 3 minutes, until almost doubled in size.

Remove from the hot water, using a slotted spoon, place on a greased baking tray.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds.

Pop into a preheated oven and bake at 180 degrees for 20 – 30 minutes.

Switch the oven off and crack open the door, leave the bagels in there for another 10 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before enjoying