Jalapeno Cheddar Bagel Food

JALAPENO CHEDDAR BAGELS

Steps:

• Combine warm water (about 110 degrees F) with yeast and sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with a dough hook. Let sit until foamy (about 10 minutes). Slowly add in the flour, jalapenos, salt and garlic salt. Mix with the dough hook until the dough comes together, and then let it continue to knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky. It should be more elastic and bounce back when pushed.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a floured surface. Knead it a few more times with your hands and shape into a ball. Place the ball into a bowl coated with cooking spray, then coat the dough with cooking spray as well. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the dough doubles in size.
• After an hour punch down the dough and remove it from the bowl to a floured surface again. Separate the dough into 9 equal balls and place on a greased baking sheet. Making sure to leave space between each dough ball. Spray again with cooking spray, cover and let rise for 10-15 mintues.
• During this time bring a large pot of water and 1 tbsp of brown sugar to a rapid boil.
• After the second rise uncover the dough balls and poke a finger in the center of the dough and wiggle it around to form the classic bagel shape. Repeat with all the dough balls. Cover and let rise for another 10-15 mintues.
• Pre heat the oven to 415 degrees F.
• After the final rise carefully place one to two bagels at a time (depending on how big your pot is), in the rapid boiling water. Boil on each side for 2 minutes then remove with a slotted spoon back to the baking pan. Repeat for all the bagels.
• Top each bagel with a small handful of cheese and place in the pre heated oven for 25-28 minutes or until the bagels are slightly browned and the cheese is crispy looking. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
• Store bagels in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

JALAPEñO CHEDDAR BAGELS

Steps:

• 1. To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter (like pancake batter). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the countertop.
• 2. To make the dough, in the same mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour and all of the salt and malt powder. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining ¾ cup flour to stiffen the dough.
• 3. Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or for 6 minutes by machine). Add the Cheddar cheese and jalapeños during the last two minutes or so of kneading, and knead until evenly distributed. The dough should be firm, but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour - all the ingredients should be hydrated. If you have an instant-read digital thermometer, the dough should register 77 to 81 degrees F. If the dough seems dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems sticky or tacky, add more flour to achiever the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not be tacky.
• 4. Immediately divide the dough into equal pieces (each piece should weigh approximately 4½ ounces). Form the pieces into rolls.
• 5. Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for 20 minutes.
• 6. Line 2 sheet pans with baking parchment and mist lightly with spray oil. Proceed with shaping the bagels: Push a hole through the center of the roll with your thumb and stretch out the hole to 2½ inches in diameter, making sure that the resulting ring has a fairly even thickness all the way around.
• 7. Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pan. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• 8. Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the "float test". Fill a small bowl with cool or room temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped into the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days). If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the ambient temperature and the stiffness of the dough.
• 9. The following day (or when you are ready to bake the bagels), preheat the oven to 500 degrees F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the better), and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.
• 10. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit (they should float within 10 seconds). After 1 minute flip them over and boil another minute. While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour. Sprinkle the bagels with the shredded Cheddar cheese as soon as they come out of the water.
• 11. When all the bagels have been boiled and topped, place the pans on the two middle shelves in the oven. Bake for approximately 8 minutes, then rotate the pans, switching shelves and giving the pans a 180-degree rotation. (If you are only baking one pan at a time, keep it on the center shelf but still rotate 180 degrees.) After the rotation, lower the oven temperature to 450 degrees F and continue baking for about 8 minutes, or until the bagels turn golden brown.
• 12. Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.

JALAPEñO BAGELS

Steps:

• Using the flour, yeast and salt together in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Mixing on low speed slowly add the water. Once just incorporated add the jalapeno, 3 tablespoons syrup and chipotle in adobo. Increase the speed to medium-high and knead until the dough comes together and is smooth, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Portion the dough into approximately 10 7-ounce portions. Roll each into 10-inch-long by 2-inch-round tubes. Pinch the ends of 1 tube together to make a bagel shape. Repeat with the other tubes. Transfer the bagel shapes to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and refrigerator overnight, at least 12 hours or up to 2 days.
• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and coat with non-stick spray.
• In a 10 quart stock pot, boil 2 gallons (32 cups) of water with the remaining 1/4 cup of syrup. Working in batches, drop half of the bagels into the boiling water. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining bagels. Top each bagel with one Cheddar slice and bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

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.

JALAPENO BAGELS

Steps:

• Combine warm water, yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar. Allow to stand 3-5 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the flour and red chili pepper flakes; stir in the chopped jalapenos. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until it forms into a ball.
• Knead for 10 to 12 minutes, adding more flour if necessary, until dough is stiff. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
• Divide into 8 equal pieces and form into balls. Punch a hole in middle with floured finger and gently pull to enlarge hole to 2 inches.
• Place bagels on greased baking sheet; cover with tea towel and allow to rise for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare water bath and put it on to boil.
• Once water bath is boiling, reduce heat to a simmer. Place bagels, 2-3 at a time, in water for 1 1/2 minutes, turning after 45 seconds.
• Remove and drain, placing on greased baking sheet. Brush with egg wash. The egg wash enhances browning of the bagels.
• Bake at 400°F for 18 to 20 minutes.