Bagels are the third bread in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge line-up. Unlike the anadama bread and the christopsomos bread, (obviously) this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of or had bagels. Also, it isn’t the first time that I have made bagels.
In the past, I have used a bagel recipe that I found on Bunnyfoot. In fact, like the other breads that I have made so far, I wouldn’t have necessarily made these bagels because I was totally satisfied with the bagel recipe that I had.
Reinhart’s bagels require a long stay in the refrigerator, which was a challenge because this recipe made a lot of bagels and I had to find a way for those to fit in the fridge.
I wished that I had had barley malt or barley malt syrup, but, I didn’t and it was not available at any of the stores that are close to where I live, so I substituted brown sugar as suggested in the recipe. I also added baking soda to the boiling water, which did impart a pleasant flavor on the outside of the bagel.
Overall, this was a satisfying cooking experience though I would like to try the bagels with the barley malt or malt powder. Maybe I will. However, it will be after I get through the other breads. There’s only so much baking a gal can do.