bagels + what to do with them

So I made these bagels and it was the first time I'd ever tried making anything even remotely similar to this. Yes the picture is crappy but I am an amateur at a lot of things.

Anyway it was actually kind of fun and they even turned out slightly bagel-like! They tasted pretty good, too. I had to convert the recipe from metric measurements, so these amounts are as close as I could figure.

Ingredients:

a little less than 1 c. rice flour

appx 1 1/4 c. tapioca flour

2 T. dry milk powder

1 3/4 t. xanthan gum

1 t. salt

1 T. sugar

2T. butter or margarine (other butter substitutes worked fine)

3 T. hot water

2 large egg whites

1 t. sugar for later

For yeast:

appx 6T. warm water

1 t. sugar

1 T. yeast

(the particular packet that I used was 2 1/4 t. yeast and called for 1/4 c. warm water but it still worked this way. I think next time I'll try it the way it is on the packet and see how it turns out)

Mix the flours, milk powder, xanthan gum, salt and sugar.

Dissolve the butter in the hot water. (I thought this was pretty dumb wording since oil does not dissolve in water and lo and behold-- it didn't! I combined the butter and water, then microwaved it at about 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each blast, until the butter was melted.)

Add the sugar to the warm water, then sprinkle the yeast on top. Let it sit for a few minutes until it's foamy.

Add the hot water/ butter mixture to the dry ingredients. They won't combine that well but do the best you can.

Add the egg whites, then the yeast mixture.

If you're using one of those fancy mixer things, set it at high for about 4-5 minutes. If you're like me and using a wooden spoon, mix it all real good for about 4-5 minutes. You will see a definite change in the texture as the lumps go away and it starts to look like bagel batter.

At this point, check the consistency and make sure it's not too runny or too dry. Add small amounts of rice flour or water until it's good.

Shape the dough into 6 or 8 bagel-shaped blobs of dough onto oiled and [rice] floured or parchment-covered cookie sheets. You will probably need liberal dustings of rice flour on your hands and the dough to keep everything from sticking. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and a dish towel and let them double in size (about an hour).

When they're ready, boil a saucepan full of water and add 1 t. sugar.

Boil the bagels for about 30 seconds on each side, place them on a cooling rack until they've dried a little, then put them back on the cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for 20-22 minutes.

I made one bagel into a pizza bagel by adding pasta sauce, some cheese and pepperoni and stuck it under the broiler for a few minutes. This morning I cooked up an egg, fried some ham and stuck that on a halved and toasted (very slightly or it will dry out) bagel with some cheese. You could always smear some cream cheese & jelly or that stuff called "lox" that I've heard is good on bagels. Quick and delicious.