Blueberry and Tart Cherry Bagels

     It's time for another bagel recipe. I just love making them because I really want people to know that it's absolutely worth it to make your own. Once you learn the basic recipe and method, it's very easy to invent a bunch of new flavors. You can even make them in bulk, freeze them, and save a lot of money on breakfasts.  But although I've made hundreds of bagels before, these were a little different. This is the first time I've used fresh fruit in them, and with the added moisture, I didn't know exactly what to expect. I half expected my kitchen to turn purple from exploded blueberries. Luckily, I thought of a way to prevent this. Start with fresh blueberries, but freeze them an hour or two before use. Also, these require a little more flour than usual. The dough will still eventually turn a pretty shade of lavender. Some breakage is inevitable, but pre-freeing buys you a little extra work time before that starts to happen. And because I never make a bagel variety that I could easily find at a Dunkin Donuts, I threw in some dried tart cherries just for fun. They add an extra fruity pop, but of course you can just make classic blueberry if you want. Also, this was the first time I made bagels with an electric mixer in a long time. Both ways are completely doable, but I forgot how easy the machine makes it, especially with the blueberries.

INGREDIENTS: (makes 8 bagels)
1 packet quick-rise yeast
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 1/2 - 4 cups bread flour
1 cup fresh blueberries, frozen for 1-2 hours (Don't just buy frozen blueberries.)
1/3 cup dried tart cherries

DIRECTIONS:
1. Make the dough in a mixer or by hand. Stir warm water into the yeast and sugar and let sit for 5 minutes.
2. Add salt and flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Stop after adding 3 1/2 cups of flour. Save the rest for later.
3. Knead the dough until everything is well combined. Now, knead in the cherries and blueberries. Here is where the machine will be your best friend. This should requite 6-8 minutes of kneading.
4. After adding the blueberries, the dough will be stickier than bagel dough usually is. To compensate, gradually add more bread flour until the consistency is normal. If this is your first bagel recipe, that should be about another 1/2 cup, bringing the total amount of bread flour to 4 cups.

5. Knead the dough into a big ball, place it in a new, greased bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise for an hour.
6. Transfer the risen dough to a floured surface and gently press it into a slightly flattened circle. Cut it into 8 wedges.

7. To form the bagels, roll each wedge into a ball, push your thumb through the middle of it, and stretch/twirl it until the hole is 1/3 of the diameter.
8. Cover the formed bagels and let them rise for another 30 minutes. During that time, boil a large pot of water, and preheat the oven to 425.
9. After the second rise, boil the bagels for one minute per side. Don't worry, they will float.

10. Finally, bake the bagels on a lightly greased baking sheet at 425 for about 20 minutes.

They're best to eat fresh, so freeze any that won't be eaten within 24 hours. To revive them, microwave them on defrost for one minute, slice, then toast on low.

Enjoy, and look out for new posts throughout the week!