I promise I am not obsessed with candy canes. Really, I promise.
I just happened to be obsessed with Christmas, that’s all.
Before we moved to Colorado, we lived in a normal civilized town were kids go to school (like all day 7:45-3:15), malls within 15 miles, and Einstein Bagels. The last Christmas we were in Ohio we discovered the ‘Holiday Candy Cane Bagels”. We ordered a whole 3 dozen for our big Christmas Eve party…….. OMG, covered in butter and salt these things were good! Not to mention adorable and so festive!
My family loves bagels. My younger brother Kai, who is 17 could survive of Einsteins Sesame Seed Bagels. No seriously, he eats them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, he LOVES his bagels! So we’d order those cuties up and eat them with our annual beef tenderloin dinner on Christmas Eve.
They were a hit! I mean how could they not be? Bagels, butter, salt, candy canes, what is not to love? I am pretty sure the bagels were the best food at the party!
So, the next Christmas we were in Colorado. The closest Einsteins was in Denver……2 hours away. We. Were. Sad.
I got on the internet found a simple bagel recipe, changed a few things, added some red to the dough and twisted them up into candy canes! Fit for our Christmas Eve feast! Man they are good! Dare I say better than Einsteins? They definitely put a smile on my face!
And even though we do now have an Einsteins up here in our mountain town (Yay! Kai is back to eating more than his weight in bagels!) I will still be making these this Christmas Eve! It has become a tradition and I have a jolly old-time doing it anyway! Plus, they really are just so good! Homemade is always better. Smear them with cream cheese for breakfast, top with some cheese and egg, make a candy cane bagel sandwich or just slab on some butter and eat them with dinner!
Christmas time bagels for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or whenever!
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 packets active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 15-20 drops red food coloring
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar (for the water bath)
- 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter, melted
- Kosher salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- In the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine water, yeast and honey, stir to combine, then let sit until foamy, about 10-15 minutes. Once foamy, gradually add in salt, 2 cups of all-purpose flour and 2 cups of bread flour with the mixer on low speed. After 5 minutes or so, if the dough is still sticky, add the remaining bread flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and mix until combined. Remove the dough from the bowl (it should be thick and stiffer than most yeast breads) and knead a few times with your hands, forming it into a ball. Add the remaining all purpose flour if the dough is still sticky.
- Brush 2 large bowls with oil. Divide the dough in half (about 20 ounces) and place half the dough inside, turning to coat. Cover. Return the other half of the dough to the mixer and add the red food coloring. Kneed the dough until the red is mixed throughout and there are no streaks. Place in the second greased bowl and cover. Allow both doughs to rise in a warm place until they are double in size – about 1 hour.
- Once doubled, punch down both dough's and place them on your counter, using a little more flour if needed to prevent them from sticking. Divide each dough into 14-15 pieces that are about 1.3 ounces each. A kitchen scale is very helpful here. Roll both the red and white dough into ropes (about 8 inches each). Take one white and one red rop and twist around each other. Shape the twist into a candy cane and place on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining ropes. Do not over crowd you pans. The bagels will rise and you do not want then to be touching. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, fill a large pot with water and add brown sugar, letting it come to a boil.
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Grease another baking sheet to place the bagels on once they are boiled.
- Once boiling, add 2 bagels at a time. Let cook for 2 minutes on one side, then using the end of a wooden spoon, flip the bagel and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove bagels one at a time and place one the greased baking sheet. Repeat.You may need to reshape the bagels back into a candy cane. Once all the bagels are finished, brush each bagel with butter and then sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven and bake for 5 minutes at 500 degrees and then turn the oven down to 400 degrees and bake for another 20-30 minutes.
- Let bagels cool completely before serving, then toast or eat as desired.
Another option? Straight out the oven, because everything taste better right out of the oven!
*I am entering these Candy Cane Bagels in the Creative Holiday Recipe Contest hosted by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen and Cookies and Cups!“
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We love bagels but I’ve never made them. These are so cute and would be perfect for Christmas morning. Thanks for linking them up.
What a cute idea! My son would love this. Thanks for sharing at Church Supper. Have a blessed week & come back soon!
Thank you, everyone loves them around here!
Now I like this, even more than doing this for sugar cookies. Savoury treats are welcome in our house! Pinning this
YAY! Thanks for pinning!
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an very long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say great blog!
Okay, I’ve been wanting to try a bagel recipe lately. This sound perfect. My daughters will love this. Thanks for sharing! I’d love to have you link this us to Titus 2 Tuesday this week on Cornerstone Confessions.. I hope to see you there.
Kathy
This is so great! I have always been a little scared of trying bagels… you make it look so easy!
Thanks so much for entering in the contest!
I love how you said when we lived in a normal civilized town! When we lived in California we were in the STICKS!! I didn’t even know Cali had Sticks until we moved there! It was awful. We don’t live there anymore. I am glad that you have your Einstein Bagels back! Although these look better! Thanks for Linking up at Show Me Your Plaid Monday’s!
How fun, may have to attempt making these!
You really have to give them a try!
Pinning – I love making bagels and omg my boys would LOVE LOVE LOVE this! Found you at Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Homemade bagels are the best!
I’ve never made my own bagels before but these are so cute looking I’m going to have to give them a try!
They are a must make!
O my goodness! These are too cute! I LOVE bagels too! Eat ‘em all the time! Thanks so much for sharing at our Countdown to Christmas link party! Hope you’ll continue to link up with us! Have a great week!
http://dixie-n-dottie.blogspot.com/2012_12_11_archive.html
Tieghan,
These are amazing! I love how well they held there shape! I’m going to have to set aside some time from cookie baking and try my hand at bagel making. Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Thursday. Can’t wait to see what you share next week! Have a wonderful weekend.
Michelle
Just wonderful! I’ve pinned these and plan to make for Christmas breakfast. (And maybe baking these will keep me from baking so many cookies!) Love your blog and will follow by email.
Thank you so much for pinning! I am so happy you like these and a going to continue to follow me! Merry Christmas!
These are super cute! I’ve never made my own bagels, but will try these with the kids this weekend. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve never made bagels before, but these wonderful looking candy canes make me want to try! Thanks for bringing them to Tuesday’s Table – hope you come back next week!
This is genius! I love the idea and I love how it looks! Christmas breakfast here I come!
Thanks! Let me know how yours turn out!
That is really cute. Never made bagels before. This is something I ought to try! Thank you for linking it up at the linky party at http://www.finecraftguild.com
We have made homemade bagels and they were really good, better than the store definitely. I’ve never considered making anything as festive and fun as these, though! They would be so great for breakfast on Christmas!
Thank you for sharing this. What a wonderful idea! They look great and I bet they are very yummy. I love Christmas!!!
Merry Christmas.
I love Christmas too! These are really fun and delicious! Merry Christmas!
How do you get your recipes to print via Zip List? I went to the site and can not figure it out . . . unless I have to add the recipe first.
I would so appreciate your help . . this recipe, by the way, looks fantastic.
I went to your site and it looks like you need to install the Zip List plugin. Good luck and Merry Christmas!