Christmas morning is always so hectic and no one really wants to waste any time making a huge breakfast when there are so many presents and candies to eat. Make these super simple whole wheat Christmas bagels the night before and have the perfect and on theme breakfast ready to grab and go.
Weather you are pending the holiday at home or traveling to visit family this will be the perfect tradition to add to your annual celebrations. Especially if you need something to grab and head out the door as you drive to grandmas house.
Ingredients you will need
- Yeast – active dry
- Sugar- to feed the yeast
- Warm water- if you have even had to test the water to bathe a baby or a warm bottle to feed them, that is the warmth we are looking for. if you can feel the warmth on your hands or wrist and hold it there without feeling like the water is turning your skin red you have the right idea.
- Whole wheat flour- You can of course use all purpose if that is wat you prefer. Most of my bagel recipes actually do use all purpose.
- Salt- to give it some flavour
- gel food colouring- red and green for obvious reasons, here is where you can get creative and use any colour you want. Stick to gel food dyes. they don’t leave a taste like the liquid ones do and have a higher concentration of colour payoff.
How to make Whole Wheat Christmas Bagels
1. Proof your yeast
add warm water, yeast and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and let rest until you see the bubbles begin to form. This will let you know that the yeast you are using is still active and you can proceed to the next step.
some people might say that with active dry yeast, you don’t need to prove it and those people would be right. for me, I like to make sure that the yeast is active and working before wasting any other ingredients for bread that won’t rise.
If your yeast is not foaming or bubbling you may not have fresh yeast or you may have burned the yeast with water that is too hot.
2. add the flour
add flour and salt then using the dough hook attachment mix the dough until it begins to form a ball and pulls away from the side of the bowl.
3. add colour
remove dough from the bowl and using a bench scraper divide the dough into 2 equal pieces.
add desired food colouring to each piece. for the sake of this recipe, I used a green and red food dye. have some fun with this, if you have a specific celebration that needs some different colours be creative and have fun.
Wear gloves and be careful not to stain your counter knead the dough until the colouring has been mixed evenly into the dough. it might look a bit splotchy but that is ok. As it rises and bakes it will get darker and more even.
4. let it rise
place both colours of dough into a bowl prepared with a bit of cooking spray. one colour on top of the other.
cover with a towel and place in a warm spot in your kitchen to rise for 1 hour
5. Shape the bagels
once dough has risen and doubled in size remove from the bowl and divide into 8 equal parts.
roll and twist the dough to create a twisted candy cane effect to the bagel
6. Rest
place on a baking sheet and allow to rest for 10 min.
preheat the oven to 425℉
7. Boil
in a large and shallow pot, fill with water and bring to a rolling boil then ass salt
carefully float each bagel into the pot of boiling water. add only as many as will fit without overcrowding and leaving room for the bagels to grow and expand.
boil the bagels for 1.5 – 3 minutes. Boiling for a longer amount of time will result in a chewier bagel. This is personal preference.
using a slotted spoon remove each bagel from the pot of water ad place on a lined baking pan.
continue to boil the remaining bagels until you have finished them all
8. Bake your whole Wheat Christmas Bagels
bake the boiled bagels in the oven for 20 min
remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool completely before cutting them open and serving with your favourite bagel toppings.
*Note for Whole Wheat Christmas Bagels
Using gel food colouring is ideal as you will end up with a richer colour and will not have that food dye taste
allowing bagels to cool completely may be the hardest part because they smell so damn good, but wait! Trust me. the bagels are still baking even out of the oven. The outside will be done but the inside still needs time.
mix some festive sprinkles with some plain cream cheese for a beautiful spread.
Whole Wheat Christmas Bagels
Ingredients
- 2 tsp yeast
- 1½ tsp sugar
- 1¼ cup warm water
- 3½ cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp salt
- gel food colouring red and green
Instructions
- add warm water, yeast and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and let rest until you see the bubbles begin to form. This will let you know that the yeast you are using is still active and you can proceed to the next step.
- add flour and salt then using the dough hook attachment mix the dough until it begins to form a ball and pulls away from the side of the bowl.
- remove dough from the bowl and using a bench scraper divide the dough into 2 equal pieces.
- add desired food colouring to each piece. for the sake of this recipe, I used a green and red food dye.
- Wear gloves and be careful not to stain your counter knead the dough until the colouring has been mixed evenly into the dough. it might look a bit splotchy but that is ok. As it rises and bakes it will get darker and more even.
- place both colours of dough into a bowl prepared with a bit of cooking spray. one colour on top of the other.
- cover with a towel and place in a warm spot in your kitchen to rise for 1 hour
- once dough has risen and doubled in size remove from the bowl and divide into 8 equal parts.
- roll and twist the dough to create a twisted candy cane effect to the bagel
- place on a baking sheet and allow to rest for 10 min.
- preheat the oven to 425℉
- in a large and shallow pot, fill with water and bring to a rolling boil then ass salt
- carefully float each bagel into the pot of boiling water. add only as many as will fit without overcrowding and leaving room for the bagels to grow and expand.
- boil the bagels for 1.5 – 3 minutes. Boiling for a longer amount of time will result in a chewier bagel. This is personal preference.
- using a slotted spoon remove each bagel from the pot of water ad place on a lined baking pan.
- continue to boil the remaining bagels until you have finished them all
- bake the boiled bagels in the oven for 20 min
- remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool completely before cutting them open and serving with your favourite bagel toppings.
