Today's baking

So, it is a dreary day and I can't think of anything much better than baking! Since I LOVED the bagels I made the other day and since I also can't leave a good recipe alone, I decided to alter the recipe to include whole wheat goodness!

Today's revamped recipe is:

Whole Wheat Sunflower Bagels
3 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. white bread flour
2 tsp. yeast
1 Tbs. oil
1½ tsp. salt
2 Tbs. roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds
1¼ - 1½ c. warm water

(Mix all together to make a stiff dough. Knead about 10 minutes. Divide dough into 8 or 16 balls. Let rest 10-20 minutes. Preheat oven to 425º. Make dough balls into bagels, either by poking a hole in the middle of the ball or rolling each ball into a snake and then create a circle, being sure to pinch the ends together well! Let bagels sit another 20 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 1 gallon of water to boil. Add bagels to boiling water, enough so they aren't crowded. Boil 1 minute or so and then turn the bagel over, boiling another minute. Allow bagel to dry about 1 minute and then place on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake bagels for 10 minutes and turn over, baking another 10 minutes.)
I again made 16 bagels so that they don't kill me so bad calorie wise!! After they came out of their water bath but before they were too dry, I also sprinkled them with some dry oats! Gotta look professional you know!
I'm also trying my hand at English muffins. They are about to hit the griddle! We'll see how THEY turn out! And then I better think about dinner! Pictures to come!

And about those English muffins!! THEY ARE A HIT!! Kent really likes them and Tiana ate a full one, too! They don't have the big holes in them like store bought muffins, but they are very tasty. Actually, if you've ever had Australian Toaster Biscuits, they are more like that. Anyway, that recipe is courtesy of Allrecipes.

English Muffins
1 c. milk
2 Tbs. white sugar
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 c. warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/4 c. melted shortening
6 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt

Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Let cool until lukewarm. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the milk, yeast mixture, shortening and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add salt and rest of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise.
Punch down. (Do not knead or work the dough any more than necessary at this point!) Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with biscuit cutter, drinking glass, or empty tuna can. Sprinkle waxed paper with cornmeal (make sure you use a lot!!) and set the rounds on this to rise. Dust tops of muffins with cornmeal also. Cover and let rise 1/2 hour.
Heat greased griddle. Cook muffins on griddle about 10 minutes on each side on medium heat (350º). Keep baked muffins in a warm oven until all have been cooked. Allow to cool and place in plastic bags for storage. (I followed the advice of others on Allrecipes and baked my muffins for another 5 minutes in a 350º oven, just to be sure they were thoroughly baked through!)