Recipe: Marilyn's Cheese Duo Bagels

Marilyn's Cheese Duo Bagels

This is from The Bagel Bible: Second Edition, by Marilyn Bagel. I made these for brunch today and they were *Fabulous* with cream cheese (even more so than most bagels in my opinion) - very cheesy and yummy! Ari

This is a luscious blend of Parmesan and Romano cheeses with fresh dill.

2 cups water, warm to the touch
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
4 tablespoons barley malt syrup*
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups bread flour
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
3 quarts water
Yellow cornmeal

1. In large bowl, combine warm water and yeast and stir until dissolved. Add

2 tablespoons barley malt syrup, and salt. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly blended.

2. Add bread flour, cheeses, pepper and dill. Mix until ingredients are well blended.

3. Place dough on a lightly bread-floured surface and begin to knead it. If the dough is sticky, add very small amounts of bread flour as necessary. Its better to add less than more. If you want to be sure you don't add too much at a time, dip your hands in the flour, shake off the excess, and knead. Repeat as necessary. Knead the dough vigorously for 12 minutes.

4. When finished, use a sharp knife to cut the dough into twelve equal parts.

5. Take a section of dough and roll it in your palms to make a ball. Poke your thumbs through the center and work them around to make a hole a bit larger than the size of a quarter. Repeat with remaining 11 sections. Place the formed bagels on a bread floured work surface about 2 inches apart. Be sure there are no cool drafts directly on them.

6. Cover them with a clean dish towel and let them rise for 25 minutes. (They won't rise a lot; much of their expanding takes place during the kettling process.)

7. Meanwhile, add the remaining 2 tablespoons barley malt syrup to 3 quarts water in a large pot, and bring to a boil. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Prepare your cookie sheet or pan by lightly sprinkling it with cornmeal.

8. At the end of 25 minutes, you're ready to place your bagels in the boiling water, four bagels at a time. This stage is called kettling. The perfect bagel, when kettled, should quickly sink to the bottom of the pot of boiling water and rise immediately. Boil for about four minutes, turning the bagels over frequently with a slotted spoon. If your bagels don't sink to the bottom when you first put them in the pot, don't worry. However, if they sink to the bottom and lie there, wait till they rise to the top (and they will) before timing the 4 minutes.

9. After kettling, remove the bagels from the water with a slotted spoon, allowing any excess water to drain off. Place them close together with edges touching on your cornmeal-prepared cookie sheet or pan.

10. Place pan on rack in middle of oven and bake for 20 minutes. Check bagels by looking at their color; if necessary, continue baking until golden. Watch the bagels carefully toward the end of the baking time because every oven is different and yours may brown quickly.

After taking them out of the oven, remove the bagels from cookie sheet and let them cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Makes 12 bagels

Option: To make triple-cheese version, top each bagel with a slice of mozzarella or provolone cheese and continue baking or until cheese melts.

*Note: Barley malt syrup is a natural sweetener available at health food stores; if you've refrigerated it, let it come to room temperature before using or microwave it very briefly on low to remove the chill.*