Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Cake

June 21, 2016 ~ bakingwithsibella.com ~ 2 Comments

Rhubarb again, you might say! Yes, this time with its favorite buddy – strawberry and all enveloped in a tasty batter with scrumptious topping of streusel and almond slices.

You will love this spring/summery dessert and especially if you are baking for a large crowd. In no time you’ll have a large baking sheet of super tasty, fruity goodness.

This is me, using a large rhubarb leaf from my garden as a fan. 😀

Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Cake

[Printable recipe]

Ingredients:
• 450 g (200 + 250) or 7 oz + 8.8 oz flour
• 400 g (150 + 250) or 5 oz + 8.8 sugar
• 2 packs (1 + 1) vanilla sugar (or 2 tsp [1+1]vanilla extract)
• 400 g (150 + 250)or 5 oz + 8.8 butter
• 1 pinch of salt
• 500 g (1.1 lb)rhubarb
• 800 g (1.7 lb)strawberries
• 4 large eggs
• 75 g (2.6 oz) corn starch
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 75 g (2.6 oz) sliced almonds
Prepare streusel:
For the streusel combine qty of ingredients marked bold in the ingredient list – flour, sugar, vanilla, salt and cut in butter with a pastry blender or hand until it resembles coarse crumb. Cover and place in the fridge.

Cake:
1. Wash rhubarb, pat dry and cut into 1.5 cm or ½ inch pieces. Wash strawberries and split them into halves if small and into quarters if bigger.
2. For the batter combine the remaining butter (or half qty of butter, half cream cheese), remaining sugar and vanilla. Mix at high speed until creamy. Add one by one egg making sure they are well mixed into batter.
3. Combine remaining flour, corn starch and baking powder and stir well. Lower the speed and add the flour mixture.
4. Spread the batter onto a large baking pan covered with parchment paper. I’ve used 13 X 17 inches which is about 33 X 43 cm.

5. Place rhubarb and strawberries on the top of the batter. Sprinkle with sugar (if desired). Now spread streusel over it and finally almond slices.

6. Bake at 200 C or 395 F 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven, let it cool and serve. You may want to sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
ENJOY!

Savory Muffins with Queso Fresco

May 7, 2015May 7, 2015 ~ bakingwithsibella.com ~ 22 Comments

Hello Friends, I hope everyone is doing well! 🙂 Spring is my favorite time of the year, I feel inspired to paint, bake and do all sorts of creative projects around the house. I made these savory muffins last Sunday for breakfast and they were a hit with my family. They are easy to make and you can have them on the table in less than an hour. They go well with butter, pate, cream cheese, jam or even just plain they taste wonderful. I imagine adding some bacon bits into batter would work great. Instead of Queso Fresco you can also use Feta cheese or any crumbly cheese. I absolutely loved the taste and the texture and will be making them again soon.

Savory Muffins with Queso Fresco

{Printable recipe}

Yields 12 muffins

Ingredients:

*** Use dry measure cup for all ingredients

4 eggs
1 ½ cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup oil
2 TBSP butter (melted)
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
5 oz Queso Fresco (or Feta cheese) finely crumbled

Preparation:

Beat eggs, yogurt, oil and melted butter at a high speed until smooth.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt and mix well.
Lower the mixing speed and slowly add all dry ingredients into the egg mixture.
At the end mix in Queso Fresco.

5. Brush the muffin form with melted butter.
6. Fill the batter into 3/4 of the muffin forms.
7. Bake at 400 F (200 C) for about 20-25 minutes.

Here they are right out of the oven:

And on the table:

Bosnian Pancakes {Uštipci}

May 6, 2014 ~ bakingwithsibella.com ~ 16 Comments

In Bosnia, we love our pancakes, our bread and just dough-y things in general. 🙂 We make two basic types of pancakes. The first kind is a simpler, less time consuming and I am talking about those today. The second kind is made with yeast and I will share the recipe some other time.

My recipe may differ a bit from others, but basically there are three main components for a good pancake: eggs, flour and some type of liquid (water, milk, yogurt, buttermilk, etc.)

I make my pancakes with Greek yogurt and I really love them. They have a nice texture and they remain soft even when cold (IF there are any left). What I love about them is that they are small, so you can grab one or two on your way out. They are a perfect bite (or two) size and make a really delicious breakfast. We spread them with variety of savory or sweet spreads or make them into sandwiches. Some people serve them coated in sugar/powdered sugar. I also had them with maple syrup and they were great, even though traditionally we don’t use maple syrup.

If you are interested in how to pronounce “uštipci”, it would sound something like “oosh-tipsy” 🙂

Bosnian Pancakes {Uštipci}

[Printable recipe]

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 cup of yogurt (I like to use Greek Yogurt)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

Whisk the eggs until foamy, add yogurt and mix until smooth, add salt and water.
Combine flour and baking powder and start adding to the egg mixture, stirring the whole time.
Batter needs to be a bit thicker than for the American pancakes.
Pour cooking oil into a large frying pan just enough to coat the bottom.
Set the heat to medium.
Prepare a large tray and cover with paper towel.
Grab a spoonful (I use soup spoon) of batter and pour onto the heated oil.
Make sure pancakes have enough space to expand.
When you see bubbles forming around the edges of the pancake, it’s time to turn them over.
Fry them until golden brown on both sides.
When done, place on a paper towel.
Bosnian pancakes can be served with a variety of spreads, such as cream cheese, pâté, jam, nutella, honey, etc. You can split them and make mini sandwiches too. They are firm enough to be picked up and they are usually one or two-bites-size. They are delicious warm or cold.

Have fun making them!

◊

These are some of the ways to enjoy them:

Fancy pull-apart Dinner Rolls

January 7, 2014 ~ bakingwithsibella.com ~ 22 Comments

Hello my friends, HAPPY NEW YEAR to each and every one of you! 🙂

I hope you had nice and relaxing Holidays with your family and friends. My wish is that this New Year will bring us all peace, love and compassion toward one another and a lot of good memories and joyful moments and that we will get to spend a while here in this virtual world and share some good cooking and baking recipes and stories.

In today’s recipe I wanted to introduce a fancy and an easy way to make holiday/celebration dinner rolls. These rolls are soft and flaky and can be served warm or cold. I made these for our Christmas dinner and they looked just gorgeous and tasted fantastic.

Fancy Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls

[Printable recipe]

Dough:

All-purpose flour: 500 g ( 4 cups)
Fresh yeast: 20 g (or 1 envelope dry yeast)
Warm milk: 2 dl (3/4 cup + a few TBSP if needed)
Sugar: 1 tsp
Salt: 1.5 tsp
Cooking oil: 5 TBSP

To brush the dough layers:

Butter: 120 g (1 stick) at room temp.

Also needed:

Round baking pan (or a spring form) 25 cm or 9-10 inches
1 egg
Sesame seeds (or any other desired seeds)

Preparation:

Place flour into a mixing bowl, make an indent and crumble up fresh yeast, add sugar and a little bit of milk, mix, cover and let stand for about 10 minutes. If using dry yeast, proof as directed on the package.
Turn the mixer to low setting and while mixing start adding milk and salt. When the flour and milk start forming a dough, add oil and let it stir for another 2-3 minutes to get a shiny and firm ball of dough.
Place the dough onto a floured surface, knead it by hand for a minute or two and then place back into the bowl, cover and leave it at a warm place until double in size.
Divide the dough into 5 equal pieces. Knead each piece and form a small dough ball. Let them rest for about 10-15 minutes.
Divide butter into 4 equal pieces. Roll out each dough piece into a 10 inch (25 cm) circle. Spread first circle with butter, put second circle on the top, then butter again and so on until you end up with the fifth circle on the top.
Now roll it all together into a large 18 in (45 cm) circle. With a pizza cutter cut off about 1 ½ inch (4 cm) all around the circle to get a “hoop”. Place the hoop on a flat surface and cut once vertically and once horizontally to get 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a bun (like a cinnamon bun) and place in the middle of the greased baking pan.
What’s left now is a smaller circle which you will cut to get 16 equal triangles. Roll each triangle not like a crescent, but more like a cone or along one of the longest sides of a triangle. That way you will get a nice swirl. Place all the cones all around the 4 middle rolls with a little bit of space in between.
Cover and let it rise for about 30 minutes. Lightly beat an egg, brush all over the rolls and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake at 395 F (200 C) about 30 minutes or until deep golden brown. Serve warm or cold. The rolls will be soft and flaky and will look just amazing on your holiday table.

Fancy Pull Apart Dinner Rolls

Homemade Phyllo Dough

March 29, 2012September 26, 2012 ~ bakingwithsibella.com ~ 55 Comments

In Bosnia and neighboring countries phyllo dough (orignally jufka – read yoofkah) is often made for pastries such as pita/burek or baklava. Even though phyllo can be bought at the store or bakery, fresh, homemade phyllo is always the best! In the past it was very desirable for a young woman to know how to make jufka. Often after a girl learned how to make phyllo, family members would jokingly say “Well now you CAN get married!” Sooo, I hope you can imagine how important phyllo dough is in a young girl’s life and in what kind of pressure I was to learn how to make it! 🙂 A Bosnian husband wants a wife who knows how to make pita and baklava! All jokes aside, I really like that I’ve learned how to make jufka, to keep tradition alive and to treat my family and friends with this delicious food of my ancestors.

Phyllo dough can be made two ways (that I know of). One, with a very long rolling pin and other, with pulling and stretching dough by hand until paper thin. I use the second technique because it’s easier and somewhat less time consuming.

When making phyllo dough, give yourself plenty of time, as this is a process of kneading – resting – kneading – resting – resting – stretching – baking… plus preparing the filling. It is time consuming, but so well worth it in the end!

There are different recipes for phyllo, which warry in adding or excluding one or two ingredients. The key ingredients are flour, warm water and salt. Some add an egg to it, some add vinegar, some oil, depending on how it’s made in their family. I also want to point out that you can’t use any kind of flour for phyllo. I’ve tried 4-5 different brands with horrible results (the dough wouldn’t stretch, it was rubbery and ended up in the trash can). In the US the best flour for phyllo (in my opinion) is King Arthur all-purpose flour.

Also, there are different ways of shaping phyllo pastries. Two traditional Bosnian ways are to shape it as swirls or layer it. Here I will show how to make pita/burek swirls.

Homemade Phyllo Dough or Jufka (Yufka) Printable recipe

*** This is a recipe for a larger quanity. You may use just half the measure.

Ingredients:

5 cups (640 g) flour (King Arthur all-purpose flour)
1 ½ tsp salt
2 ¼ cups (530 ml) warm water
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp oil

Also needed:

Cotton table cloth or fabric to cover the table for stretching the dough
Pizza knife or any sharp knife
Large baking pan
Oil to grease the pan

***FILLINGS (For the above quantity of dough use about 1 lb of any two fillings below)

Cottage cheese filling (cottage cheese, sour cream, egg and salt)

Ground beef feeling (finely chop onion and sauté in a bit of oil, add ground beef and sauté just until brown, salt and pepper to taste)

Spinach filling (blanched spinach, cottage cheese or ricotta cheese, sour cream, egg, salt)

Preparation:

Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Combine warm water, vinegar and oil and slowly start pouring into flour mixing the whole time. If the dough is sticky add more flour.
Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces (3 pieces if using ½ above measure). Knead each piece on a flour dusted surface about 50 times and form it into a ball. Make sure each ball is dusted with flour, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 20-30 minutes.
After resting the dough balls will be soft to touch and smoother than before. Repeat the kneading process and again form them into balls, just this time coat every piece with cooking oil so they look nice and shiny. Cover again with plastic wrap and let rest for another 20-30 minutes.
Brush your working surface with oil and roll out the ball of dough into an approx. 12 X 7 inch oval (30 X 18 cm). Brush the top of it with oil and let it rest for at least 15 minutes.
Cover the table with cloth, grease the baking pan and pre-heat the oven to 425 F (218 C).
Place the rolled out dough piece on a rolling pin and transfer it onto the cloth. Put both hands under the dough with palms up and stretch gently from the middle to the sides. The dough is supposed to be elastic and stretchy (if not, let it rest for about 10 more minutes then try again). After that, stretch the sides so the whole piece covers the table.
Please see the photos on how to add filling and wrap it.

Bake until golden brown and enjoy!

Wheat-Rye Bread with Kefir

March 4, 2012 ~ bakingwithsibella.com ~ 16 Comments

About a year ago we started using kefir as a part of our daily nutrition. Kefir has multiple benefits for your body and can be used as a plain drink, a smoothie, and can also be mixed into pancakes, breads and other baked goods since it contains some beneficial yeasts. Fresh (24 hour kefir) is very mild and yogurt-like tasting. After 48 hours it becomes somewhat sour and after 72 hours quite sour. It is still good to use, it just depends on what you prefer. Today I was experimenting a little with the 72-hour kefir just to see what kind of flavor my bread will have. In the back of my mind I had this idea that it may taste like sourdough bread…

WHEAT-RYE BREAD WITH KEFIR Printable recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups (500 g) bread flour (wheat)
1 cup (100 g) rye flour
1 tsp yeast
1 ¼ tsp salt
¾ cup (175 ml) kefir (room temperature)
1 ¼ (300 ml) warm water

Flour for kneading
½ cup (125 ml) water for baking

Preparation:

In a bowl of a stand mixer combine wheat and rye flour, add yeast and keep mixing for a minute or two.
Now add kefir, warm water and salt and keep mixing for about 5 minutes. Let it rest for 10 minutes and again mix for another 5.
Put the dough on a flour dusted surface and knead for a few minutes. Form into a ball, place it back into bowl, cover it and let it rise for about 1 – 1 ½ hour.
When the dough looks double its size, place it back on the working surface, knead it thoroughly and form it into a desired shape. Dust it with flour, cover it and let it rise for about 30 minutes.
While the dough is resting, heat the oven to450 F. Placea baking dish (oven safe) into the oven for 10 minutes to heat it.
With a sharp knife cut a lengthwise ½ inch slit in the bread. Pick it up from the working surface and place it in the hot baking dish. Place a ½ cup of water on the bottom of the oven. This will provide necessary moisture and the bread will get a nice thick, crunchy crust.
Lower the oven temperature to 430 F and bake for about 40 minutes.
Cool down completely and enjoy!

*** This bread made with sour kefir tastes so much like a real sourdough bread!

Lazy Apple Pie

October 30, 2011 ~ bakingwithsibella.com ~ 8 Comments

For some time now, my daughter has been asking me to make an apple pie. Honestly, I have never made a pie, not apple or any other kind, at least not what in the U.S. one would call a pie.

Pie dough I made numerous times, but always for some different desert such as a tart, a galette or similar. I guess, I just hang too tight on my European/Bosnian strings and have not yet found inspiration or courage to tackle the Pie Challenge. So, today I went for a, what is in Bosnia known as a Lazy Pie, because it really is almost effortless and the results are more than satisfying. Instead of all white flour, I used some rye flour too, for a richer taste. The real pie will have to wait for that special moment of inspiration…

THIS PIE TRULY MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH!!!

Dough:

1 2/3 cup (215 g) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (43 g) rye flour
1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
10 1/2 tbsp (150 g) unsalted butter (room temperature)
1/2 lemon (zest)
1 tbsp sour cream
1 egg yolk
pinch of salt

Filling:

35 oz (1 kg) apples (peeled and shredded)
6 tbsp (75 g) sugar
1 pack vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1/2 lemon (zest and juice)
1 tsp cinnamon
handful of raisins (soaked in mixture of 1/3 cup rum and 1/3 cup water)

1. For the dough combine white flour, rye flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Mix well. Add butter, sour cream and egg yolk and mix for few minutes to form a firm dough ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for about 45 minutes.

2. While the dough is resting, soak the raisins in rum/water mixture. Next, peel apples, and coarsely shred them (don’t worry if they are turning brown). Add sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and juice, cinnamon and raisins. Set aside.

3. Grease a 9×11 inch baking pan, sprinkle with flour. Take the dough out of the fridge and divide in two. Dust your working surface with flour, roll the dough into an 9×11 in square. Roll it carefully back onto the rolling pin, transfer to the pan and unroll.

4. Spread all the filling onto the dough. Repeat the same with the second piece of the dough and place it on the top of the filling. Poke the top with a fork in about 10 places, so moisture can escape during baking.

5. Bake at 400 F (200 C) about 40 minutes. Cool completely, dust with powder sugar, cut into 1×3 in squares and serve.

Enjoy!

Grandma’s Plum Cake

October 9, 2011October 10, 2011 ~ bakingwithsibella.com ~ 8 Comments

My favorite kind of plums are Damson plums. They are very common in Bosnia, where I grew up. Their smell and taste remind me of my childhood and my grandparents.

I was so happy to find them on my Saturday’s visit to our local Farmer’s Market. I decided to make this cake by my grandma’s recipe. Her plum cake is delicious, rich and aromatic, and the whole house was enveloped in its heavenly smell.

Ingredients:

2.2 lbs (1 kg) Damson plums (washed, pitted and quartered)
1 pack of vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
4 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

5 eggs (divided)
1 cup (200 g) sugar
1 pack of vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
6 tbsp (85 g) unsalted butter (melted)
1 small lemon (zest and juice)
2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup (75 g) walnuts (coarsely chopped)

1 tbsp confectioners sugar (for sprinkling the cake)

Also needed:

Parchment paper
9 X 13 inch (23 X 33 cm) rectangular baking pan

1. Wash the plums, dry them, remove pits and quarter them. Mix sugar, vanilla sugar (or extract), cinnamon and sprinkle over plums. Mix well and set aside.

2. For the batter beat egg whites with just a pinch of salt, until shiny and firm. Set aside.

3. Mix egg yolks, sugar and vanilla sugar at a fast rate and until pale yellow, add melted butter and continue mixing for another minute.

4. Fold in (by hand) lemon juice and zest. Also gently fold in flour and at the end egg whites just until combined (Batter needs to look fluffy).

5. Now add the plums into batter and mix them in well (by hand).

6. Pour the batter into 9 X 13 in rectangular baking pan, lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

7. Bake at 395 F (200 C) about 30 minutes. Cool down completely, sprinkle with confectioners sugar.

BON APPETIT!!! 🙂

Damson Plums – fresh from the Farmer’s Market

Batter

In the pan and sprinkled with walnuts

Voila!

Spongebob Challenge

October 2, 2011October 2, 2011 ~ bakingwithsibella.com ~ 10 Comments

I would have never thought that I would write about Spongebob on my blog! He is a cartoon character that my kids have been watching for several years now. Even though, they are teenagers now, they still enjoy watching Spongebob from time to time… Personally, I don’t find him very amusing and his laugh annoys the heck out of me! Really!

Spongebob Squarepants and his best friend Patrick Star! 😛

The reason, I am writing about our famous Spongebob is that my 7 year old nephew wanted a Spongebob birthday cake! Actually, he said he wanted either a “Spongebob” or “Cars” cake… Since I made him a “Cars” cake last year, I just took on a Spongebob challenge. I am not really a fondant cake type of person! Yes, fondant covered cakes are nice and beautiful, works of art and so on… just not for me!

So, this was really a double challenge – Spongebob and fondant (so not me)! For the love of my cutie-pie nephew I made this cake! It wasn’t easy and it was time consuming.

I enjoyed baking the cake from scratch and making the chocolate ganache frosting. I sliced the cake in half, spread half of the frosting on the first sponge, then put a layer of banana slices, frosting again and then second cake sponge on the top. Spongebob, his house and Patrick I made from rice crispy treats. Everything was covered in fondant (of course)!

Fondant was a whole different story! I didn’t make it myself (learned that lesson last year)! 😀 I bought the white fondant and then worked food coloring into it to get the colors needed for the Spongebob cake! While I was working on it, I remembered how people on the Cake Boss Show do this every day and all I can say is “Hats off to them!” After I made all the colors needed for the cake, I started working on all the small pieces that would come together at the end. My daughter helped me build Spongebob because she loves him and knows every little detail on him. She went even so far to put red and blue stripes on his socks!!! :S This was hard work, but I am glad we did it, especially because my daughter and I worked as a team and in the process she told me about all the funny Spongebob episodes.

I was happy to finish the cake (at 3 AM) and even more happy that my nephew loved it and that his Birthday party was a success! I’m waiting for another challenge this time next year or before… 🙂

This is how it turned out:

His royal Spongyness himself! 🙂

Dinner Rolls from scratch

September 24, 2011September 24, 2011 ~ bakingwithsibella.com ~ 9 Comments

Delicious dinner rolls are pretty simple to make if you have a little time. They are great, not only for breakfast, lunch or dinner, but for special occasions and holidays as well. I like to shape them like knots, pull-aparts or crescents, just for a fun of it! 🙂 Homemade dinner rolls are super yummy and soooo much better tasting than the store bought ones! In addition to that, they don’t contain any preservatives and questionable ingredients. You may sprinkle them with your favorite topping or just leave them plain!

Ingredients for about 15-16 rolls:

4 cups ( 512 g) all-purpose flour*
2/3 cup (75 g) dry milk powder
1 pack of active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar*
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp (42 g) butter (room temperature)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
about 2 1/4 cup (500 ml) warm water

Egg wash:

1 egg
2 tbsp milk

1. In a large bowl (or a stand mixer bowl) combine and mix well all dry ingredients, add thinly sliced butter. Pour little by little water into the bowl and mix slowly for 2-3 minutes, add oil and continue mixing for the next 5 minutes.

2. When the dough doesn’t stick to the walls of the bowl and it looks shiny and smooth, form it into a ball, cover with a clean dish towel and let it raise over night or at least 1 to 1 1/2 hour. The dough needs to double its volume.

3. Sprinkle your working surface with flour, roll the dough into a 10 X 15 inch (25 X 35 cm) rectangle. Prepare a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. Grease your muffin pan.

4. For the knot shaped rolls cut the dough at the shorter end into 1 in (2.5 cm) strips. Tie a strip into a knot with ends placed on the bottom. Allow some space between knots as they will raise and expand during baking.

5. For the pull-apart rolls, form 1 inch balls, putting three together into a muffin pan.

6. For the egg wash, lightly beat an egg with two table spoons of milk, brush over rolls and sprinkle with your favorite topping or just leave plain. Let the rolls raise for about 30-45 minutes.

7. Pre-heat oven to 400 F (200 C) and bake about 20 minutes or until beautiful golden-brown color.

*Note:

For bread and rolls I always use “King Arthur” all-purpose or bread flour. I think it is the best flour on US market.

If you like sweeter rolls add 2 more tbsp of sugar into the dough.

Bon Appetite!

Homemade Bagels

September 19, 2011September 27, 2011 ~ bakingwithsibella.com ~ 6 Comments

On weekend mornings our family eats what we call a “Big Breakfast”. We take time making food we love, we take time setting the table and take time eating. It is important for us just to slow down, relax and eat this most important meal of the day. Everyone in our family always looks forward to the Big Weekend Breakfast! 🙂 Usually we have what we call an “European Breakfast”, but on some days we have also an “American Breakfast”. This weekend we had an American Breakfast and homemade bagels were on the menu.

Homemade Bagels

Ingredients for 8 large bagels:

4 1/2 cups (520 g) all-purpose flour
1 tbsp dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups (355 ml) warm water

1 egg white
1 tbsp water
sesame seeds, poppy seeds, shredded cheese, onion flakes, etc.

3 quarts (about 3 liters) water
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp molasses

Note: To have fresh homemade bagels in the morning, I always start the dough the night before. I enjoy making the dough by hand, but Kitchen Aid is a great helper too. 🙂

1. Combine all dry ingredients and mix well for about 1-2 minutes. Combine warm water and oil. Slowly pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and start forming the dough.

2. Bagel dough needs to be firm. It is ready when it becomes smooth and doesn’t stick to the walls of the mixing bowl.

3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until it doubles its volume or over night.

4. Transfer the dough onto a flour dusted surface and knead for a few minutes. Roll it into a rectangle and cut into 8 equal pieces. I weighed mine and they were all about 4.4 oz (125 g).

5. Knead each piece into a small ball, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for about 30-45 minutes.

6. Poke a whole in the middle of each dough ball (swirl around your point finger a few times) to form a bagel.

7. In a bigger pot boil the water, add salt, molasses and mix well. Reduce the water to simmer. Place each bagel into the simmering water and cook 30-45 seconds on each side. If you like chewier bagels you can boil them for about 2 minutes. Take them out and place on a wire rack.

8. For egg wash mix together egg white and water, brush over bagels and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds, shredded cheese, onion flakes (or whichever topping you prefer).

9. Pre-heat the oven to 420 F (215 C). Line a large baking pan with parchment paper, sprinkle with corn meal and place the bagels on the pan.

10. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nice golden-brown color. For a crispier bagel, place a cup of water on the bottom of the oven, while baking.

All is left now is to enjoy them! 🙂

Here they were just the dough balls.