Cheese Addicts Bagel Food

JALAPENO CHEDDAR CHEESE BAGELS

Steps:

• In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the kneading hook, combine the lukewarm water, yeast and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes. Add the salt, cornmeal and 2 cups of the all purpose flour. Mix to combine. Add another cup of flour and mix in well. Begin adding the last cup of flour in small increments, mixing well between additions and adding flour only until the dough wraps around the kneading hook and cleans the bowl. *You may not need all of the last cup OR you may need a bit more that the last cup. Use as much flour as you need to get a moist, smooth dough that cleans the bowl.
• Remove the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead in the jalapeno pepper and 1/3 cup of cheddar cheese. *Take your time doing this. A lot will fall out as you knead. Just scoop it up and place on top and keep kneading. Knead until the cheese and jalapeno are evenly distributed in the dough.
• Place dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes - 1 hour.
• Prepare a large baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle the parchment with a bit of cornmeal. Set aside.
• Remove dough to a lightly floured work surface and gently deflate. Divide dough into 8 equal-sized pieces. *I like to weigh the whole dough ball first, then divide by 8 to get the weight I need for each piece. In my case, that was about 119g per piece. I weigh each piece out so they are all the exact same size.
• Form the 8 dough pieces into balls, then using your fingers, poke a hole in the middle and stretch the hole gently, into a bagel shape. Place shaped bagels on the prepared baking sheet.
• Cover the bagels with a clean tea towel and let rise for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and preheat oven to 400F (not convection bake).
• When bagels are ready, add baking soda to boiling water. Gently re-stretch the hole in the bagels, to make sure the bagel hole doesn't close in when boiled. Add 2 or 3 bagels to the boiling water and boil 1 minute per side (2 minutes total), then remove to the same baking sheet. Repeat with remaining bagels until all have been boiled. Brush top of bagels with eggs wash, then sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese.
• Bake in preheated 400F oven for about 22-23 minutes. Check at 20 minutes and cover top loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil for the last few minutes of baking, if they are at risk of over-browning. Remove from oven and transfer the bagels to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Bagels will keep well a couple of days at room temperature or a few days more if kept in the fridge. They also freeze beautifully.

EVERYTHING BAGEL CHEESE CRACKERS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Place the cheese, flour, everything bagel seasoning, salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture turns to small pea-size pieces. Continue pulsing and add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture resembles couscous and sticks together when you squeeze a small amount in your hand. Turn it onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands to work the mixture together into a ball of dough. Roll it out to 1/4 inch thickness and then cut out 1 1/2-inch squares. Place them 1 1/2 inches apart on your baking sheets, sprinkle with a bit more salt if you'd like and bake until they're lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

CHEESY BREAD MACHINE BAGELS

Steps:

• Combine water, cheese, sugar, salt, flour, and yeast in the bread machine. I let the cheese kind of melt into the water for a minute before adding the remaining ingredients. Use the dough setting on your bread machine. If you machine doesn't have a dough setting stop it after the second kneading.
• Remove the dough after it has finished rising in the bread machine and divide into 12 equal pieces.
• Roll each piece into a ball.
• Using fingers, poke a hole in the middle and form into a bagel shape.
• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Let rise under a wet tea towel or paper towels for 30 more minutes.
• While bagels are rising, start boiling a large pot of water with 3 TBS of sugar.
• After bagels have risen boil each side for 30 seconds, place on dry paper towels to dry before transferring to cornmeal dusted pan. (I divide them between 2 jellyroll pans).
• Use a pastry brush to brush the egg whites on top of the bagels.
• You can sprinkle extra cheese on top of bagels for a caramelized cheese crunch.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes. Turning the pans halfway for even baking.
• Cool for 5 minutes on wire rack and enjoy!

CHEESE ADDICT'S BAGEL

Steps:

• Spread cream cheese on cut sides of each bagel half.
• Top each with a slice of provolone.
• Toast under the broiler until cheese starts to melt.