from Tracey G.

Water Bagels from King Arthur Flour (shown here with Everything Bagel Topping)

I love bagels. They are one of my all-time favorite bread products. Half of the fun of going down to my mom-in-law’s was to get to go to Einstein’s or Bruegger’s Bagels to get some of the tasty treats – because as much as I’ve loved Lender’s (which is all I have access to where I live up here in the wilds of Northern Michigan, lol), they just aren’t the same as those types of place’s tastes and textures.

I used to make bagels at home, but they never quite filled the bill either, they were just lacking that “bagel magic”, they tasted like regular old rolls. So, I’d given up making them. Then, I ran across the King Arthur Flour recipe for Water Bagels – I was intrigued. It uses Non-Diastatic Malt Powder. What?!? Was that the missing link in my bagel-making adventures? Could one ingredient be all that was needed to get that real bagel flavor as close as I could at home? So, I bought some from KAF. It turned out to be a very small investment in really BIG bagel quality and flavor!

Since then I’ve been making them until the weather said I must take a break when summer came along. I’ve made a cinnamon-raisin version, plain, asiago cheese bagels, and my all-time favorite, the Everything Bagel. And let me say – that although it might sound like a lot of steps, it really isn’t. They are easy, and it’s a fairly quick process to get them from beginning to eating them coming out of the oven! I will forever make my own now! They freeze well too!! I slice them in half, then wrap them, individually, in plastic wrap and pop into a freezer bag. To use, I thaw for about 30 seconds in the microwave, then toast them as desired. Perfect!

The ingredients are really basic, the only different item is the non-diastatic malt powder or they list that you can use instant malted milk powder (all this malt talk has me wanting an ice cream shop chocolate malt!). But here’s a breakdown of the ingredients:

DOUGH

•  active dry yeast or instant
•  lukewarm water
•  instant malted milk powder or non-diastatic malt powder
•  sugar
•  salt
•  King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

WATER BATH

• water
•  instant malted milk powder or non-diastatic malt powder
•  sugar

It’s a very simple process, mix your dough and let it rise. When it’s risen sufficiently, you transfer to a lightly greased work surface. At this point, I get my oven heating and my water bath started (I just use a large deep skillet and it works great!) You divide your dough into 16 pieces (good thing they freeze well, because it makes a fairly big batch!). Roll each into a ball, then start forming your bagels! They recommend poking your hole in it with your index finger, then twirling it on your fingers – this works really well, to get a large enough center hole so you don’t have a bagel “bun” after they’ve baked. Mine still aren’t always pretty and perfect looking – but toppings help hide that! KAF has a great blog post on making and shaping bagels it shows you here: How To Put The Hole In The Bagel: And Other Good Bagel Stuff

Now you can top them anyway you like, I brush my freshly boiled bagel with egg white first then add my toppings. I have recently bought some dehydrated minced garlic and some onion to make a couple more of my favorite flavor bagels! I even have plans on making a blueberry version!

The possibilities are endless once you make this recipe the first time and see just how easy it is – I’ve so many ideas I can’t wait to try once it’s back to Baking Weather here! They are easy and absolutely delicious, I can honestly say I will never every buy bagels again!!

 

from Kris B.

Breakfast Sandwich Pizza

Two of my favorite things wrapped up into one amazing package – breakfast and pizza!  Because breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, I’m always on the lookout for something new and different…and easy…to try.  Though I love sweet breakfast treats like muffins and coffee cakes, I need something with protein to carry me through my long mornings.  So, when the breakfast category comes around in our recipe rotation, my search goes directly to a savory breakfast selection.

This recipe for Breakfast Sandwich Pizza works like any traditional pizza recipe; you make the crust and then you top it and bake it.  Don’t let the fact that you have to make the crust from scratch turn you off!  It’s a simple process and can be made as far in advance as 36 hours.  It does require a 45 minute rise followed by at least four hours in the refrigerator, so you do have to think ahead a little bit, but its easy to make the night before and pop it in the fridge.  The next morning, the dough is proofed, ready to go, and the Breakfast Sandwich Pizzas can be whipped up in just a little time!

THE DOUGH

• King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• Semolina Flour
• King Arthur Easy-Roll Dough Improver
• Pizza Dough Flavor
• instant yeast
• salt
• olive oil
• cool water

For a change, I had on hand all of the “extra” ingredients that this recipe uses – Easy-Roll Dough Improver and the Pizza Dough Flavor.   I have used the Pizza Dough Flavor before in the dough for traditional pizza.  It is a mixture of cheese flavor, garlic, and spices.  Though you could probably make a similar concoction on your own, this is a quick and easy way to take your pizza dough up a notch.  I had not used the Easy-Roll Dough Improver before so I can’t speak to the difference that it makes in a recipe.  What I can say is that when it came time to roll and shape this crust, it was super easy to work with.  This dough had no “snap-back” at all!  That is the one thing that frustrates me the most about making homemade pizza dough; you roll it into a 12″ circle and the next thing you know it has shrunk back to a 10″ circle…no fun!  I’m anxious to try the Easy-Roll Dough Improver with other pizza dough recipes.

When you are ready to make your Breakfast Sandwich Pizza, divide the dough into four, six, or eight pieces, depending on the desired size of your pizzas.  I divided mine into four pieces, which, as you can see in the above photo, yielded some good-sized thick crust pizzas.  I love crust so I was happy with the thickness of the crust, but a pizza this size was too much food for me.  My husband said that he would prefer a thinner crust next time.  I think that dividing the dough into six pieces may be the best option for our preferences.  With this batch, we split one of these pizzas in half and shared and it was plenty filling.

The topping is easy and flexible.

TOPPING

• large eggs
• shredded cheddar, Swiss, or Monterey Jack cheese
• bacon, diced ham, or cooked, crumbled, sausage

I used Monterey Jack cheese and diced Canadian bacon.  Next time, I am going to saute a little bit of onion and bell pepper and add it to the mix.  We need our veggies at breakfast too, right?

All of the topping ingredients are mixed together and then spooned onto the crust that has been baked at 450 degrees for 8 minutes.  The one place where you need to pay close attention when putting the pizzas together is in the final shaping of the crust.  You need to make sure that you have enough of an edge that the egg doesn’t run off of your crust.  Once the egg mixture topping is added, the pizzas are returned to the oven to bake for another 16 minutes.

That’s it!  Really very simple.

I froze my remaining pizzas with the hope that on busy work mornings I can pop them into the toaster oven and I’ll have a homemade filling breakfast with no effort.  I’ll report back as to how these taste after having been frozen and reheated.  If they taste just as good, this may become one of those recipes for which I set up an assembly line and make a few different kinds over the weekend, freeze them, and have breakfasts covered for a few weeks in advance.  That would sure simplify my life!

If your college days of cold pizza leftover from Friday being your Saturday morning breakfast are past, but that pizza for breakfast thing still sounds good, give this recipe a try.  You won’t be disappointed!

Oh, and you probably want to trade in the Friday night beer for Saturday morning juice or coffee! 🙂