Our weekend breakfast tradition for the last 6 years or so has been sweet on Saturday and savory on Sunday. I love pancakes and waffles and French toast but husband prefers eggs and sausage and potatoes so it's a tidy little compromise. There are so many savory breakfast options: sometimes we have breakfast burritos, sometimes omelettes, sometimes just simple scrambled eggs and bacon, but everyone's favorite is the bagel breakfast sandwich. 

I grew up with New York bagels as my standard. Whenever my grandparents visited from Long Island, they would stop on their way out and pick up a couple dozen bagels to bring to us.  Unfortunately, store bagels and even most bagel chains don't measure up. What to do except make my own?

This recipe is incredibly straight forward and yields some pretty delicious, chewy, soft bagels with very little work in the morning and only a little the evening before. I've tried a bunch of different bagel recipes and this one wins all around in my family. 

Just a note: this dough is very, very stiff. It would be quite hard to knead by hand so I recommend your mixer - unless you're looking for a long and tough arm workout! 

bagels

makes 8 bagels

Ingredients

• 22 oz bread flour (roughly 4 cups)

• 2 tsp salt

• 2 Tbsp barley malt syrup*

• 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast (or a generous 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast)

• 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water

• cornmeal, for dusting

*We get barley malt syrup from the local brew shop. Some natural food stores carry it, otherwise you can swap in brown sugar or molasses in equal measure

Instructions

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook. Stir in malt syrup.

2. Add flour and salt. Stir on low speed until dough comes together - this will take a few minutes and the dough will look pretty scrappy.

3. Increase speed to medium and knead until dough is smooth and stiff.

4. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll into balls and let rest, covered, for 5-10 min.

5. Shape into bagels. There are two ways of doing this. The first, more traditional method, is to roll the dough into a long rope, a little less than a foot. Shape the rope into a circle with the ends overlapping 1 1/2 - 2 inches. Pinch together (use a little water if necessary) and then roll the seam under your palm to seal tightly.

6. OR, poke a hole into the center of your dough ball and gently pull and tug and work into a ring. Aim to have uniform thickness.

7. Sprinkle cornmeal on a baking sheet, place the bagels on the sheet, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

8. In the morning, take the bagels from the fridge. Set the oven to 450. Fill a large pot about halfway with water and bring to a boil.

9. When the water is boiling, drop the bagels in carefully one at at time. Boil on one side for about 30 seconds to a minute, then the other side for 30 seconds to a minute. (The loner the boil, the chewier. Your call.) Remove with a slotted spoon or spatula and let drain on a wire rack.

10. When all the bagels are boiled, transfer to a baking sheet lined with lightly oiled parchment paper. Bake about 15 minutes or until crisp and golden. Let cool, then slice and enjoy!

chorizo avocado egg bagel sandwich

This is our favorite variation on a bagel breakfast sandwich.

Ingredients

• fresh homemade bagels (recipe above)

• mexican chorizo

• cheddar cheese

• avocado

• eggs

• mayo

Instructions

1. Cook the chorizo in a skillet over medium heat until cooked through. I like to press out the extra grease (and there's a lot of it) in a paper towel.

2. Slice and lightly toast the bagels. On one side, scrape a thin layer of chorizo. On the other, spread with mayo and sliced avocado. Lightly salt the avocado.

3. Fry the eggs and place on top of chorizo. Top with sliced cheddar cheese.

4. Close up that bagel sandwich and enjoy!