Active Sourdough Starter

Day 1 - Time: 2:00 pm

• The first thing to do for these homemade sourdough bagel recipes is to have an active sourdough starter. The best way to do this is to feed the sourdough starter and let it rise.
  
• Once that is done do a float test by taking a piece of the starter and drop into a glass of water. If it floats to the top like a piece of dough, get ready to mix the ingredients.

Day 1 - Sourdough Bagel Dough

Time: 7:00 pm

• First, get the bowl of a stand mixer and use the dough hook attachment. You can mix by hand but it is very tough dough so work out the arms before you do.
  
• Add the sourdough and water at room temperature and mix, then add the honey and one cup of flour.

Adding Cranberries & Walnuts

• Chop the walnuts into small pieces, about ½ cup for this recipe. For the cranberries, I soak ½ cup in hot water for about 3 minutes, then drain the water and put the cranberries in the mix.
  
• Add a little zest of an orange to really boast the flavor of the bagels.
  
• Mix it into the dough, then add the salt and the rest of the flour one cup at a time. < I also need to add a little more flour, about 2 tablespoons because the berries are wet >
• This dough is tough to mix and tempting to add water, but do not. Stop mixing once it is a smooth ball and place it in a bowl. 
• Place plastic wrap and shower cap on top and let the dough rise until the next morning in a warm place
  
• This is the first rise for the dough to double in size.

Day 2 - Shape Sourdough Bagels

Time: 6:00 am

• Take the dough out of the bowl and roll into dough balls. With a dough cutter, cut equal pieces into 8.
  
• Weight each piece of dough on the scale if you would like to have same-size bagels.
  
• Roll each piece of dough into a ball.
  
• Place a piece of parchment paper onto a sheet pan and do a light spray so the dough will not stick. Take your dough ball and with index fingers pock a hole in the center and stretch the dough around to make a water tube. Then place it on the pan. Repeat this for each piece of dough in the bagel shape.
  
• Place a damp towel on top of the bagels for a second rise of about 1 to 2 hours depending on the climate.
  

Egg Wash

• Once the bagels have risen, make an egg wash with 1 egg yolk and 2 tablespoons of water and coat the top of bagel.
  

Boil Sourdough Bagels

• Preheat the oven at this time to 375º degrees.
• First, I use spring water from a bottle to fill up 8 cups of water, along with baking soda and sugar and I start by boiling the water.
  
• With a slotted spoon remove the wet bagels and return to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat the process for each bagel
  

Baking Sourdough Bagels

• Place the bagels in the oven and let them cook for 15 minutes at 375º degrees.
  
• Rotate the bagels after 15 minutes and bake until golden brown which for me with my oven was about 10 minutes more.
  
• Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.
  
• Serve with your favorite cream cheese or freeze for a later date. Enjoy!