Bagel Bread

I work out 6 days a week but I'm not an athlete.  I sweat a lot but I don't workout out as hard as I can.  I follow workout videos and I'm surprisingly uncoordinated.  I don't run because - well, wimpy ankle issues.  I ride a spin bike because I don't trust myself to stay focused enough to stay on a road bike.  I'm not always excited about working out.  I whine.  I make excuses.  I complain.  I fail. I've accepted the fact that I'll probably never be able to knock out a proper pull up but I keep trying anyway.  I'm recognize that I'm not going to be good at everything but I refuse to quit.   I want to be fit and I know that the only way to accomplish that goal is to keep working out even when I feel inadequate.  

My relationship with food is much the same as my relationship with working out.  I'm obsessed with fruits and vegetables and I eat very little meat but I also know that pizza is beautiful.  I have mad love for chocolate and warm chocolate chip cookies are my jam.  I'm not always going to make the best food choices and if I'm being completely honest, some days it's easier to make healthy choices than others.  I may fail miserably more often than not but I'm not going to give up my fight to be a healthy eater. 

It's easy to get discouraged in my fitness and eating goals.  There's always an excuse to skip workouts or to eat something unhealthy but that's no reason to give up on my goals.  I managed to do P90X in a leg brace from the bottom of my foot to the top of my knee for 3 months so any excuse that I come up with now just pales in comparison to my struggle to workout on one leg.  

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of bread - more specifically - bagels.  A warm from the oven, chocolate chip bagel and a decaf latte from Einstein's Bagels is quite possibly my favorite breakfast EVER.  I try and not tempt myself with bagels very often but they are one of the things that I crave the most.  I love the idea of baking bagel bread.  I feel like I have more control over portion size without losing any of the chewy bagel texture that I love.  

Bagel Bread
Topping
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1 teaspoons kosher salt

Bread
3 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 1/2 Tablespoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 egg, beaten
​

Combine topping ingredients. 

Whisk together flour and yeast in bowl of standing mixer.

Add 1 1/4 cups water and 2 T. corn syrup.  Knead with dough hook. 

Cover bowl with towel and let dough rest for 10 minutes.  

Add salt and knead dough 10 minutes. 

Pat and roll dough into an 8" log.

Transfer to a greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2" pan.

Spray top with cooking spray.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1 hour.

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in large Dutch oven.  Add baking soda and 2 T. corn syrup.  

Gently put dough into boiling water and cook 45 seconds per side. Transfer to a towel lined plate. 

Use towel to gently wick away moisture.  Cool 2 minutes. 

Regrease loaf pan.  Sprinkle 2 T. topping in pan.  Transfer dough to pan. 

Cut 6 slashes in top of loaf.  Brush dough with egg.  Sprinkle with remaining topping.

Bake 45 minutes at 350.  (Bread should reach 200 degrees.)  Cool 2 hours in pan.

Slice and serve. 

Clearly, there are some recipes that are more appealing on paper than they are when they come to fruition in my kitchen.  This was one of those recipes.  I was good up until the point when I had to take RISEN dough out of the pan and drop it in a pot of boiling water.  I'm still not sure exactly how this was SUPPOSED to be accomplished.  I did manage to figure out how it WASN'T supposed to be done.  I pulled a weird ameba like blob of dough that didn't resemble anything remotely similar to a loaf out of my pot of water.  I managed to squish it back into the loaf pan and then I had to let it rise for another 45 minutes to regain some of it's loaf qualities again. 

My attempts to salvage my bread were moderately successful but I am looking for advice from my bread baking readers.   How in the world are you supposed to boil a LOAF of bread?  I recognize that the step is important in creating that signature chewy consistency that's unique to a bagel but there has to be a better way.  Help me!  Send me your ideas.  I would love to make this recipe again - the right way.  

​Ciao! 

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