After years of wanting to make bagels at home, I finally did it!!!! I had bags of freeze-dried blueberries that I wanted to use up and somehow had this picture of toasted blueberry bagels schmeared with butter in mind. This recipe from Heather’s French Press was easy to follow and the bagels were delicious! I can’t believe I waited this long to try to make bagels.

Blueberry Bagels

Recipe adapted from Heather’s French Press Notes: You can certainly rehydrate the freeze-dried blueberries before using, just let them soak in warm water (or even rum or Grand Marnier) for 15 minutes, drain before using. I used the blueberries as is, as they slightly absorbed from the moisture in the dough.

Ingredients

2 tsp active dry yeast (~1 envelope)
2 Tbsp sugar
warm water, divided -1/2 cup and 3/4 cup
3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of freeze-dried blueberries
cornmeal

Directions

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar with 1/2 cup of warm water, let rest for 5 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the salt and the flour. Make a well in the center, add the yeast mixture and 3/4 cup of warm water to the flour. Mix with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough is formed. Pour the dough onto a slightly floured surface, continue to knead until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
Add the blueberries to the dough. Fold the dough in half and knead, repeat until the blueberries are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Cover the dough and let rise in a warm and humid spot until doubled, for about 1.5 hours.
Once the dough is doubled in size, punch it down and divide into 8 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball shape.
Press into the center of each ball forming a hole, and stretch to form the bagel shape. Let rest for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Boil the bagels, one or two at a time for two minutes per side. Set the boiled bagels onto a baking sheet with cornmeal.
Place the bagels onto a clean and lined baking sheet, bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Enjoy!

These are so good as a healthy snack. Yeast bubbling away, working its magic. So colorful. Purple is my favorite color! Doubled in size and ready to go! No I’m not making scone. A bench scraper is an essential tool to bread making. Just taking a quick bath prior to baking. Almost there. DONE! Aren’t they gorgeous? Enjoy these toasted with a little butter and sprinkle of sea salt. And a little stubby on the side…perfect breakfast!