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I have had numerous emails and comments from yesterday, regarding my cruel nature which is evidently exhibited in my posting pictures of the Cinnamon Crunch Bagels I attempted. Any emotional pain was purely unintentional on my part and if you drowned from over-salivation, I can’t take responsibility. Unfortunately, you are responsible for controlling your own saliva glands. However, as friend Kathy pointed out to me yesterday, Cinnamon Crunch Bagels, as appealing as they appear, are useless without some kind of Honey Walnut Cream Cheese with which to slather them in sweet and creamy goodness. Not one to be scared of a challenge, I pulled out my trusty food processor, ripped open a package of cream cheese, and determined to make my own version of this spread. The following is a step-by-step tutorial of the results and trust me, if you think you had problems with the photos of the bagels, you may not want to proceed further for fear of losing all sense of propriety. However, if it makes you feel any better, my sense went out the window a long time back and I drool on command.  Put an 8 oz package of cream cheese into the food processor. I used fat free to make me feel like I am being health-concious. If you will notice, I am using the blade attachment. This is so I can chop the nuts when they are added. Add 1/4 cup of honey and process until smooth.  Add 1/3 cup English Walnuts either whole or chopped  Process until nuts are finely chopped, not pureed. Place in a refrigerator dish and refrigerate until firm and spreadable.  Use as spread on the Cinnamon Crunch Bagels. To die for! |
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Posts Tagged ‘bagels’
Honey Walnut Cream Cheese
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011
Cinnamon Crunch Bagels
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011
 I made a discovery today and you have to try it!! I am a cinnamon nut and I especially love those bagels at Panera Bread with the cinnamon crunch topping on them. So today, in my usual activity of making bagels for the week, I decided to try an experiment. I took 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 3 teaspoons of cinnamon and mixed those together to a fine mixture in a shallow bowl. Then I melted two tablespoons of butter in a small dish. Using my basic bagel recipe, I placed the boiled bagels on a rack to dry slightly. With a pastry brush, I gently brushed each bagel with butter, one at a time. I placed each bagel butter side down into the sugar and cinnamon mixture and placed on a greased cookie sheet. After I had gotten all of the bagels dipped, I carefully sprinkled leftover sugar mixture in a pile on each bagel. Those were baked at 425º for 20 minutes without turning them during the baking. Oh my gosh. They are incredible, if I do say so myself! Toast them and add butter and cream cheese and mmm yourself to death! 🙂  |
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Making Bagels
Monday, August 1st, 2011
  This morning, I am munching on a toasted bagel with butter and strawberry cream cheese. Let me tell you. There is absolutely no bread on earth, in my book, that is more gratifying and fun than the toasted bagel. And the taste. Oh my. Crunchy/chewy on the outside and soft and yummy on the inside. The only thing that comes a close second for me is an Aunt Annie’s garlic pretzel!!! Once you’ve eaten a fresh, homemade toasted bagel, you will never go back to the store-bought ones again. They are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The fun thing about them is that they don’t take very long to make!! And the more you make, the better you get at forming them. Pretty soon you are ready for a window in front of a gawking crowd that’s watching you slap bagel ropes around your hand and wowing them as you deftly tuck the ends together to make a perfect circle, ready for boiling water. According to the Kitchen Project the legend about bagels runs something like this: “In 1683 in Vienna, Austria, a local Jewish baker wanted to thank the king of Poland for protecting his countrymen from Turkish invaders. He made a special hard roll in the shape of a riding stirrup – Bugel in German – commemorating the king’s favorite pastime and giving the bagel its distinct shape.” In Poland, bagels were given as gifts to expectant mothers and used as teething rings for the new babies. And in Russia, they were given as good luck charms with magical powers! Immigrant Jewish bakers brought the bread rings to North America and they were quickly a favorite. Today, while many bagel stores use automated machinery to produce large quantities of bagels, there are also stores where artisans ply their trade with the stiff dough and roll them by hand. That is the way that I do it. Below is the recipe for basic bagels and step-by-step instructions. Total time from start to finish is a little over an hour. You can add any of your favorite ingredients to his recipe. Oven temp: 425º
 Place 1 tbsp sugar into a 2 cup measuring cup and add 1 1/4 cup warm water. Sprinkle yeast on top of the water and shake it until yeast starts to sink. Allow to proof for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, add all of the other ingredients to a mixing bowl. Pour proofed yeast in with the rest of the ingredients and mix with a dough hook on your mixer or mix by hand with a wide spoon. Knead by hand for 10 minutes or knead with a dough hook for 8 minutes on low.  I reconstituted some dried blueberries overnight by pouring warm water over them and putting them in the refrigerator to soak overnight. I added these to part of the dough after kneading. I divided the dough, leaving part in the mixer and then added the drained blueberries to mix. You can add cinnamon and raisins or fresh blueberries, garlic and onion pieces, anything that you like in a bagel.  On a floured surface, divide the dough into 8 balls. I am using an Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ here and it provides a wonderful surface on which to work with bagels. And cleanup is a breeze. Cover the dough balls with a warm damp towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes.  In the meantime, prepare a large pot with water to be boiled and oil a cookie sheet.  Remove damp towel from dough balls and flour the rolling surface. Roll each dough ball out to the length equal to the width of your hands placed side-by-side.   Place one end halfway under your less dominant hand and pick the other end in your other hand. Wrap the rope over the top of your less dominant hand and bring the end under your hand to match the other end. I have a bowl of water nearby where I can dip my fingers in and wet the surfaces of both ends so that they will join easily.  I flip my hand over and gently squeeze the ends together. Or you can press the ends together by pressing down onto the floured surface. At this point, I place the formed bagels back onto the pastry cloth, but the pastry cloth has been put onto a flat surface like a cookie sheet or pizza board. When all bagels have been formed, I cover them with the warm, wet towel again and then place in the oven that has been warmed to 150º and turned off, to rise for 20 – 30 minutes. They should look slightly puffy when they are done. You don’t want them to rise too much, but just have a nice, full shape. Meanwhile, start your water to boiling.  When the bagels have risen slightly, drop them into the boiling water for 1 minute on one side.  Using a large, slotted spatula, gently turn the bagels and let them boil for 1 minute on the other side.  Lift the bagels out of the water and allow to dry for a minute on a rack.  Then place them on the oiled cookie sheet. Bake at 425º for 20 minutes. If you like your bagels to be crispy on both sides, after 10 minutes of baking, you can flip them over to the other side and bake for 10 more minutes.  Just to show you the difference in appearance, the two bagels on the left were not turned and the one on the top right was flipped in the middle of baking. Slice bagels and toast in a toaster or toaster oven and serve warm. Extra bagels can be stored in a plastic bag and refrigerated for freshness.  Bible study with a freshly toasted bagel slathered with butter and strawberry cream cheese accompanied by a nice cup of hot, Fortunes Blueberry Vanilla Tea found at the Shopping Page. |
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