How to form a bread loaf and bagels

Bread and Bagel dough rising. The bigger bowl is bread and it a tasty recipe.

The bagels are just fun to make add that they are tasty and you have a major winner.

This is how I roll out my dough and make my loaves. It is relatively easy and since I was making bread yesterday I thought I would share what I do when making these items. 

First I dump the finished rising dough on a greasy counter top. I use a Kitchen Aid mixer , I have gone thru 2 bread machines and this baby I just love. I let it rest for a minute or 2 and then divide it in half.

This is half the dough and looks alot neater than usual since I am going slower than is my normal pace. I push it down and get the air bubbles out, since cutting into a nice loaf of bread with a big pocket in it from an air bubble kinda breaks the perfect look you invisioned.

I then roll the dough up like a log. Seam side down.

This looks funny for some reason kinda squished. Its the photo I promise! With the seam side down I then fold the ends under and then place it in a greased pan.

Here it is in the pan again a squished picture.

Our bagel dough divided up. While the bread was rising I dumped out the bagel dough and divided up and started a big pot of water to boil. These are on a greased counter I usually put flour down but wanted to try something different and I liked the way they turned out and it wasn't so messy.

With bread I spray oil on the counter when I forming the loaf since flour drys it out and in the end you have a loaf of floury bread not good.

Forming a bagel. After I form the bagel, they aren't perfect like the store but that doesn't affect the taste. :0) I form all of them while the water is heating up to a rolling boil.

Here they are boiling. We do three at a time. This is where the kids help they help with all the stages. But with this one most of the time I make 2 or 3 batches, plain, onion, and sometimes pizza and we have 2 pots boiling one for each kiddo. Makes it all go faster.

You only boil them for about 30 seconds on each side. If you boil them to long you have a bloated mess. :0)

Drain the water off. We put them on this rack to drain and right before we pull the next batch out we transfer these to a greased baking pan.

Here are the bagels all done and the bread, such homemade goodness.


A trick to see if your dough has doubled in size on the first rise is to push your finger in slightly and pull it out quickly. If the indention puffs back out quickly the dough is done. If the indention just stays there you need to let it rise a little longer. I start checking the dough at about 30 minutes and then every 10 minutes after that.
but mine doubles in size in about 30 to 40 minutes.

We also baked banana bread. I found bananas marked down big time and had to make some of these. They look like Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear Loaves don't they?







I hoped you enjoyed out baking day and learned something from our try at showing you what we do. If you would like the recipes just post a comment and will gladly share them.

Have a blessed day!