Carbs 1; bagels

EDIT! Oops! I left out the amount of yeast when I first published this post. So sorry about that!

If you read my column in today's paper, you know I like carbs. Here is the bagel recipe I wrote about (writing about it again, especially before breakfast, is making me hungry!);

Basic Bagels

3 cups warm water
2 tablespoons active dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

8 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons salt

In a large bowl (you can use an electric mixer with a dough hook, but I don't have one so mixed by hand), add yeast and sugar to warm water and let sit and let the yeast activates - about 2 minutes.

Add the flour and salt and mix. Once dough forms, knead for about 10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl - I used olive oil - and let rise 1.5 - 2 hours. 

One a floured surface, divide dough into 16 equal parts, and shape into smooth round balls. It is important to get them smooth in this step, because your bagels will show any folds in the dough. 

Place on a greased baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes. 

While the dough is rising, dissolve 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 tablespoons cane sugar in a pot of water, and bring to a boil. I use a large shallow pan which can fit about 4 bagels at a time. 

Preheat oven to 425 F. 

Shape bagels by pressing your thumb through the center of the balls of dough, then on a floured surface twirling the dough around your finger until the hole is a couple inches across.

Place bagels in the hot water and sugar bath, and let simmer for two minutes, then flip and simmer for another minute. This gives the bagels their signature crust. Note: don't let the bagels rise again after shaping, or the texture will be wrong.

With a slotted spoon lift each bagel out, let drip dry, and place back on baking sheet. 

Bake bagels for 15 minutes, brush with water and add toppings (asiago and rosemary what whaaatt), and then bake for another 10 minutes. 

Some who've tried these say they are better than the bagels they used to get at traditional old-school bakeries. So this recipe works. In theory, they'd freeze well, but I've never had the chance to test freezing them.

Remember, I'm an amateur home baker - if I can make these, anyone can! 

Note: this makes 16 bagels. I doubled the original, and it works well, but if you want only 8 bagels (which I don't understand why you wouldn't want 16 bagels), go ahead and halve this recipe. The original also called for brown sugar, but I used less refined once, and they turned out so beautifully that I've been repeating this mistake.