Homemade Wheat Bagels and REAL Sweet Cream Cheese Spread

For breakfast this morning, my family had homemade bagels with homemade honey and cream cheese spread. These bagels turned out great! This is one of those store foods that we miss having around, but I hadn't learned how to do yet. Next time, I am going to try sprouting some wheat and making sprouted wheat bagels. The kids helped me shape the bagels, and we all had a lot of fun working together.

Wheat Bagels

Ingredients:

4 tsp. active dry yeast
2 cups warm water, divided
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 Tbsp. salt
3 cups wheat flour
2 1/2 cups bread flour, plus extra as needed
2 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten
1 Tbsp. baking soda
1 egg, beaten with water until foamy
Optional toppings: sesame seeds, poppy seeds, caraway seeds, coarse sea salt, minced garlic or onion, or a combination

Directions

In a bowl sprinkle the yeast over 1/2 cup of the warm water and stir to dissolve. Let stand 10 minutes until foamy.

In a heavy duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the remaining water, the butter, salt, 2 cups of the wheat flour and the gluten. Beat 1 minute. Add yeast mixture and 1 cup of the flour. Beat 1 minute. Beat in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the bowl sides.

Switch to the dough hook. Knead on low speed, adding flour 1 Tbsp. at a time if the dough sticks, about 6 minutes. Cover the bowl loosely and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Grease 2 baking sheets. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and divide into 4 portions. Divide each portion into 3 pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth, round ball. Flatten the ball with your palm.
Poke a hole in the center and roll your finger inside the hole to make it larger, until about 1 inch in diameter.

Place on prepared baking sheets, spacing the bagels about 2 inches apart. Let rise until puffy, about 30 minutes.

While the bagels are rising, prepare the water bath. In a large, wide pot, bring 4-6 quarts of water to a boil over high heat. Add the baking soda and reduce the heat to medium to maintain a gentle boil. Preheat the oven to 425.

Gently lower 3 or 4 bagels into the water (use a skimmer if you have one). After they rise to the top, turn each bagel and boil for 2 minutes on the opposite side.

Transfer to a dry kitchen towel to drain, then return to prepared baking sheets. Brush with egg mixture and sprinkle on desired toppings. Bake until deep golden brown, 16-20 minutes.

Makes 1 dozen large bagels.

I make my own cream cheese and whey using the Nourishing Traditions recipe (step by step directions from Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship can be found here). This cream cheese is good, but a little tart for my family when eaten plain on top of bagels. To sweeten it up, we use this recipe below.

Sweet Cream Cheese Spread

1 cup cream cheese (yogurt cheese)
1 1/2 Tbsp. raw honey
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
chopped dried fruit (optional)

Mix all together and spread on a warm toasted bagel.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays at Cheeseslave.