Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

I'm not a big fan of sweet bagels, but my husband is, so I made these for him. They're good--for a sweet bagel, and my husband remarked, "Wow. These are the real deal." As if I don't always produce real deal baked goods. Psh. 

At any rate, this is a good, solid cinnamon raisin bagel recipe that I found at Food52.com. I made a couple of adjustments, but I don't know that I made them taste much different that they would have been had I followed the recipe to a T. 

At this point I'm just typing this intro because it's what I do. Try the recipe. It's good. 

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

    Adapted from Food52.com

Ingredients:

• 3 to 3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/2 cup King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon non-diastatic malt powder
• 1 1/2 cups water (room temperature)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon oil
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

For boiling:

• 2 quarts water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons non-diastatic malt powder

Instructions:

• In a large mixing bowl, place the flours, yeast, 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, salt, and non-diastatic malt powder and mix thoroughly. Add water and vanilla and mix until dough is a cohesive mass. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (8-15 minutes). Dust kneading surface lightly with flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. When dough is about done being kneaded, flatten it out and spread surface with the raisins. Knead the raisins in until evenly distributed (I didn't get mine super evenly distributed, but it was fine.)
• Form dough into a ball. Put oil in to a clean bowl, put the dough ball in and shake and turn dough ball to coat with oil. Cover and allow to rise either at room temperature for about an hour or in the refrigerator for 4-8 hours.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Once dough has risen, turn out onto a clean work surface. Cut dough into 8 equal wedges. Flatten a wedge of dough; fold the long tip of dough onto itself and flatten into a rough rectangle (see pics below). Sprinkle with a little cinnamon sugar (half teaspoon or so). Roll the rectangle into a long, fat rope, pinching the seam to seal. Repeat with remaining dough pieces.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the 2 quarts water with 1 tablespoon water and 2 tablespoons non-diastatic malt powder into a wide-topped pot (like a Dutch oven)  to a gentle boil over medium to medium-high heat.
• Roll each rope to about 11-12 inches in length, tapering at the ends. Twist the tapered ends together to form a ring shape, pinching to connect the ends. Put your fingers through the center and roll the seam between your hand and the work surface to seal the ends together. 
• Place formed bagels onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a clean plastic grocery bag. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes or refrigerate if you won't be ready until later.
• Place 2-3 bagels in the boiling water at a time, boiling 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side. Remove carefully with a slotted spatula or spoon, placing a clean folded dish towel under it because the bagels will be slippery. Place each bagel back onto the parchment lined baking sheet and repeat boiling with the remaining bagels.
• When all bagels have been boiled, bake them in a 425 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until puffy and lightly browned. Move baked bagels to a wire cooling rack to cool.
• Freeze any bagels you will not eat by the end of the day.

Makes 8 mid-size bagels

Kneaded dough, set to rise

Before boiling

After boiling