Former sourdough scaredy cat....now a Bagel Maniac
I had been terrified of trying my hand at sourdough for years. It seemed needy, it seemed time consuming, it seemed like a temperamental B. But then I figured....I have kids. I can probably do this. Lol. My friend gave me a starter and demystified things and my sourdough journey began. I left it in the fridge for 2 months. 🤦 Ok. let's go. dumped the hooch, attempted bread. it was rough, it was ugly, it didn't really rise but it was good. after a few more weeks of bread I started to get adventurous and start on focaccia, cookies, and bagels. I can't go back now. Every 3 days I need more bagels. I'm about to have surgery and I'm so so sad that I won't be able to make them for a few months. I've done plain, everything, and cinnamon crunch. Any suggestions for more varieties?
My basic process - though nothing crazy here.
Take out my starter in the morning/early afternoon to bring it to room temp.
that night- give it a good feed 1:2:2
next morning mix 120g starter, 1 pack of instant yeast (I'm impatient), 120 g water , tsp salt, tbs sugar. add 4-5 cups bread flour and knead 5-7 min. leave for about and hour to double in size.
cut into 10 pieces and form into rings. for the plains I just roll them into a ball and poke my thumb through. for the cinnamon ones I pat them out into a rectangle, add a little brown sugar and cinnamon and roll and twist them.
leave for 30-45 min to puff up while I get water boiling and oven to 425.
add 1Tbsp baking soda and 1 Tbsp sugar to the water then boil them 45 seconds each side. put them on a parchment lined sheet. add toppings either while still wet or add a little melted butter then add toppings. Bake 20 min.