Homemade Pumpkin Spice Bagels

I'm not very skilled in bread baking. I almost never bake homemade bread, and always have my mom make homemade challah during holidays because I'm too afraid I'll mess it up. I decided to put my fear of messing up bread aside yesterday and decided to go all out with making homemade bagels.

After baking and eating these pumpkin spice bagels, I strongly encourage you to put your bread baking fears aside and make these bagels! They were so much easier than I could have ever thought, and they are delicious.

I do not have a stand mixer at school and that was one main reason I was nervous to make bread. I have only ever made it using a stand mixer and wasn't sure how hard kneading by hand would be. Kneading the dough by hand is not only fun (I think) but not at all time consuming and very easy. Don't let it scare you. 

Another key trick to baking good bread is the temperate of the water. You definitely need a kitchen thermometer and make sure the temperature of the water is at the recommended temperature. If you have to water temperature right and make sure your bread rises in a warm place, you really can't mess up this bagel recipe.

So, enjoy the flavors of fall for breakfast tomorrow and go into your kitchen tonight to make these pumpkin bagels. I'll also be posting how to make homemade pumpkin puree soon if you're feeling extra ambitious and want to make the puree that goes into these bagels. Enjoy!

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Bagels:

(original recipe from: http://www.ladybehindthecurtain.com)

Makes 6 bagels

2/3 cups water (80°).

1/2 cup canned pumpkin 

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

3 cups all purpose flour

1 package active dry yeast

1 egg white

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon cornmeal

1. Heat the water in a small saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 80°.
2. Pour the water into a large bowl and add in the yeast. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.
3. Next, with a wooden spoon stir in the all purpose flour. Stir until a dough starts to form. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 6-8 minutes, until the dough is a smooth elastic ball.
4. Lightly grease a bowl and put the dough into the bowl. Turn once to get oil on both sides of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place to rise for an hour. The dough should double in size.
5. Break the dough into 6 even pieces and roll into balls. Poke a hold through the center of each ball and stretch the dough to form a bagel shape. Cover and let the bagels rest for 10 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 400°.
7. Boil a large pot of water and add 2 bagels at a time to the boiling water. Cook on one side for 45 seconds, flip and cook on the other side for 45 seconds. Remove from the boiling water and drain on paper towels.
8. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and sprinkle the cornmeal over the bottom of the baking sheet. Whisk the egg white and water together and brush onto the tops of each bagels. Place the bagels on the baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.