Yeast Breads: Caramel Crunch Bagels

These sweet bagels are flavored with a caramel syrup that you make yourself. The crunch comes from granola cereal and chopped walnuts. Caramel crunch bagels are perfect for a Sunday morning brunch, especially with a sweet cream cheese spread.


Ingredients


½ cup powdered sugar
¼ cup butter (do no substitute margarine)
3 tbsp dark corn syrup
1¼ tsp bread machine or quick rise yeast
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup water
½ cup granola cereal
½ cup walnuts, chopped
2 tbsp honey


Preparation


Before you make the bagels, you have to make the syrup that will flavor the bagels. In a small saucepan, combine powdered sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil, let boil for 1 minute while stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Set aside for the moment. The syrup needs to cool at least 5 minutes.


Place yeast, flour, salt, and brown sugar in a large bowl. Toss to combine. Add water and mix. Carefully add syrup, granola, and walnuts. Mix until you have a loose dough. Turn the loose dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until you have a dough that is soft and elastic. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Set aside to rise in a warm location until dough is doubled in size, about 1 hour.


Punch down the dough to remove the air bubbles. Shape into 12 bagels either by hand or using a bagel cutter. Place shaped bagels on a prepared baking sheet. Cover and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes.


Heat oven to 375°F. Fill a small saucepan with water and add honey. Bring to a boil. One at a time, boil bagels for 30 seconds to 2 minutes. The longer you boil them the chewier they'll be. Place boiled bagels back on the baking sheet.


Bake for 22 minutes, until bagels are browned. Remove immediately from baking sheet and cool on wire racks.


These bagels will keep for up to 4 days if stored in an airtight container.