Mini Whole Wheat Raisin Bagels

A while back, I wrote a post about making bagels.  I was so happy with that batch that I decided to make some egg bagels a few weeks ago.

Poppy on the left, sesame on the right.

These bagels were incredible...so fluffy on the inside with a fantastic chewy crust on the outside.  Just amazing.  We left to go on a short vacation the day after I made them, so I froze the remaining bagels.  Upon my return, I was craving a bagel.  Unfortunately, when I opened the freezer, they were nowhere to be found.  B and C had eaten all of them in my absence.  One of my biggest pet peeves is people eating the last of something someone else made without first asking that someone.  After seething with anger and frustration for a few hours, I made up my mind.  The only way to fix the issue was to make another batch.

By now, you probably realize I hate making the same thing twice.  Therefore, I decided that I would again make bagels but that I would follow another Peter Reinhart recipe (slightly different from those I had been using previously) and that I would make some custom modifications.  The result: mini whole wheat raisin bagels.  Why?  Because normal bagels are just too darn big for my tummy.  Because why not add a little nutrition?  Because raisins are nature's candy.  I also added just a hint of cinnamon.  I didn't want the bagels to be cinnamon raisin (because that might have limited the topping options); I just wanted to wake up the dough a bit.

Mini Whole Wheat Raisin Bagels
adapted from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day

Ingredients:

Dough

• 1 tbsp (21g) barley malt syrup (you can also use honey or rice syrup apparently)
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp lukewarm water
• 169g (6oz) whole wheat flour*
• 285g (10oz) bread flour*
• 150g raisins
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon

Poaching Liquid (for each pot of water - I used two to make the process more efficient)

• pot of boiling water
• 1 1/2 tbsp (28.5g) barley malt syrup (or honey)
• 1 tbsp (14g) baking soda
• 1 tsp (7g) kosher salt

Directions:

1. Stir together the syrup, yeast, and salt in the lukewarm water.
2. Put the flours in the mixing bowl of your mixer and add in the syrup-water mixture.
3. Mix with the dough hook on low speed for 3 minutes.  The dough should be a stiff, coarse ball.  Let rest for 5 minutes.
4. After resting the dough, mix again for 3 minutes on low speed.  In the last two minute of mixing, add in the raisins and the cinnamon.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand for 3 minutes.  The dough should be stiff yet supple and barely tacky, more satiny.
6. Place the dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
7. To shape the bagels: First, prepare two sheet pans, lining them with parchment and brushing the parchment lightly with oil.  Divide the dough into equal 2 oz pieces.  I used my scale here!  Form each piece into a ball.
8. Poke a hole through the center of the ball, making a donut shape.  Holding the dough with both thumbs in the hole, rotate the dough, gradually stretching the hole until it is between 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter.  
9. Place each shaped bagel on a sheet pan.  For each sheet pan, brush a piece of plastic wrap with oil and cover the pan with the plastic wrap, oiled side down lest the plastic stick to the bagels.
10. Refrigerate the shaped bagels overnight.
11. The next morning/afternoon/evening, remove the bagels from the refrigerator 60 to 90 minutes before you plan to bake them.
12. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
13. Immediately check if the bagels are ready for baking using the "float test".  Place one of the bagels in a small bowl of cold water.  If it sinks and doesn't float, shake it off, return it to the pan, and wait another 15 to 20 minutes before checking it again.  When one bagel passes the float test, they are all ready to be boiled.  Mine were ready 45 minutes after taking them out of the fridge
14. Prepare the poaching liquid.  Bring a pot of water (or two) to a boil.  Add in the syrup, baking soda, and salt.  Maintain the liquid at a simmer.
15. Lower each bagel into the poaching liquid (fitting as many as will fit comfortably in the pot at a time).  After one minute, flip the bagels in the liquid.  Cook for another minute.  (In the meantime, sprinkle the parchment paper - the spot from which you took the bagels to be poached - with cornmeal or semolina flour.)  Use a slotted spoon to transfer the boiled bagels back to the pan (still lined with parchment but also now sprinkled with cornmeal or semolina). 
16. When all the bagels have been boiled, transfer the pans of bagels to the oven.  Immediately lower the oven temperature to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  
17. Bake the bagels for 8 minutes, then rotate the pans.  Bake for another 6-8 minutes or until the bagels are golden brown.
18. Cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes (well, maybe not that long; it's hard to resist them) before slicing or serving.

*I'm sorry I don't have the cup conversions on these, but the original recipe calls for 3 1/2 cups bread flour, so this is how much total whole wheat and bread flours combined you should have.

The yeast was certainly active!  Look at that bubble.

2 oz bagels instead of the suggested 4.5 oz.

Sorry no picture sans plastique wrap.

Perfect dough to raisin ratio, in my opinion.

The perfect size for breakfast!  I have only sampled them with butter and cream cheese thus far, but I imagine they would be fantastique with any sort of cheese (a brie, a goat?) or a savory sandwich (currently craving chicken and avocado in there...).

These bagels are so yummy and chewy!  The subtle hint of cinnamon is perfect, and the whole wheat flour adds just a little bit of flavor and texture without making the bagels feel too heavy.  A success!  What bagel recipe will I try next?