It seems as though everyone I know is making some major change in their respective lives this month: Someone is either moving across the country, breaking up with their significant other or entering grad school. Or all three. As for myself, I’m starting a new job.
Most of you who follow me on Twitter know that, when I’m not standing over a food processor, drooling my way through Whole Foods or buying shoes, I’m a marketing professional. Recently, I accepted an opportunity with a very small, very hip and very exciting marketing agency where I’ll be doing pretty much everything I love. However, with a job for which I’ll have such passion comes demanding hours.
That said, I still plan to bake and blog whenever I can. Food is such an integral part of my life and will continue to be; after all, a girl’s gotta eat. So though my updates may be more sporadic, they are by no means gone for good.
And so, without further ado: I. Love. Bagels.
I love bagels so much that if I didn’t know better, I would eat them for every meal. And snack. And for no reason at all. It recently became clear to me: Just MAKE some bagels, dummy, and see what you can do to make them healthier.
And so I did. Twice. The first time, they came out looking like this:
Nutritious, delicious and flat. Luckily, many of my friends are hungry grad students. Take two: Amanda meets bread flour.
There’s a reason why bread flour and I had never been previously introduced: I would weigh roughly one metric ton had it been in the house. The moment I opened the bag, it was love at first smell; “Oh, I get it,” I thought. “THIS is where all those tasty carbs come from.” And oh, how grand those carbs are.
Ingredients
¼ oz yeast, active dry
1 ½ cups warm water (I boiled it)
4 tbsp raw, unrefined sugar, divided into 3 and 1
1 tbsp sea salt
4 ¼ cups organic bread flour (Try to use organic if you can; I used King Arthur. The non-organic had some ingredients added that just didn’t seem right.)
Instructions
In large bowl or food processor, combine 1 ½ cups bread flour and yeast.
Add water, 3 tablespoons sugar and salt to the dry ingredients. Beat with a mixer for half a minute at a low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl clean, then beat at a higher speed for 3 minutes.
By hand, mix in remaining flour to make somewhat stiff dough.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). Cover, let rest for 15 minutes.
Before…
After!
Cut the dough into 12 portions and shape into smooth balls.
Poke a hole in the center of each ball with your finger and gently enlarge the hole while working the bagel into a uniform shape.
Once this has been done to all 12 pieces of dough, cover them and let rise 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, start a gallon of water boiling, adding 1 tablespoon of sugar. When the bagels are ready, put 3-5 bagels into the water and boil for 7 minutes, turning them over once.
Drain the bagels and place on a greased baking sheet.
Bake at 375º F 
for 30 to 35 minutes.
These bagels can be enjoyed hot or cold, one at a time, or three within 20 minutes…which was the option I selected.
The original recipe can be found here .
Weight Watchers POINTS® Value: 3 per bagel
It seems as though everyone I know is making some major change in their respective lives this month: Someone is either moving across the country, breaking up with their significant other or entering grad school. Or all three. As for myself, I’m starting a new job.
Most of you who follow me on Twitter know that, when I’m not standing over a food processor, drooling my way through Whole Foods or buying shoes, I’m a marketing professional. Recently, I accepted an opportunity with a very small, very hip and very exciting marketing agency where I’ll be doing pretty much everything I love. However, with a job for which I’ll have such passion comes demanding hours.
That said, I still plan to bake and blog whenever I can. Food is such an integral part of my life and will continue to be; after all, a girl’s gotta eat. So though my updates may be more sporadic, they are by no means gone for good.
And so, without further ado: I. Love. Bagels.
I love bagels so much that if I didn’t know better, I would eat them for every meal. And snack. And for no reason at all. It recently became clear to me: Just MAKE some bagels, dummy, and see what you can do to make them healthier.
And so I did. Twice. The first time, they came out looking like this:
Nutritious, delicious and flat. Luckily, many of my friends are hungry grad students. Take two: Amanda meets bread flour.
There’s a reason why bread flour and I had never been previously introduced: I would weigh roughly one metric ton had it been in the house. The moment I opened the bag, it was love at first smell; “Oh, I get it,” I thought. “THIS is where all those tasty carbs come from.” And oh, how grand those carbs are.
Ingredients
¼ oz yeast, active dry
1 ½ cups warm water (I boiled it)
4 tbsp raw, unrefined sugar, divided into 3 and 1
1 tbsp sea salt
4 ¼ cups organic bread flour (Try to use organic if you can; I used King Arthur. The non-organic had some ingredients added that just didn’t seem right.)
Instructions
In large bowl or food processor, combine 1 ½ cups bread flour and yeast.
Add water, 3 tablespoons sugar and salt to the dry ingredients. Beat with a mixer for half a minute at a low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl clean, then beat at a higher speed for 3 minutes.
By hand, mix in remaining flour to make somewhat stiff dough.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). Cover, let rest for 15 minutes.
Before…
After!
Cut the dough into 12 portions and shape into smooth balls.
Poke a hole in the center of each ball with your finger and gently enlarge the hole while working the bagel into a uniform shape.
Once this has been done to all 12 pieces of dough, cover them and let rise 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, start a gallon of water boiling, adding 1 tablespoon of sugar. When the bagels are ready, put 3-5 bagels into the water and boil for 7 minutes, turning them over once.
Drain the bagels and place on a greased baking sheet.
Bake at 375º F
for 30 to 35 minutes.
These bagels can be enjoyed hot or cold, one at a time, or three within 20 minutes…which was the option I selected.
The original recipe can be found here .
Weight Watchers POINTS® Value: 3 per bagel