I can't attest to the Bronx-ness of the bagels myself, but I certainly think that these have a delicous chewy outside and soft inside that makes for a great bagel. I didn't have high-gluten bread flour (just regular bread flour) and this made them slightly less chewy than they could have been. I also totally forgot about trying to find the malt syrup called for in the Smitten Kitchen Recipe.
The bagels are pretty easy to make and shaping them was simpler than I was expecting. The dough is quite stiff, much more so than a bread loaf so I ended up kneading by hand for the last several minutes because my mixer was really straining. The biggest challenge with this recipe is that you have to plan ahead. One to two days before you want bagels, the sponge takes about 2 hours to rise, then the dough is made, allowed to rise, transformed to bagel shapes, and proofed before being refrigerated overnight. So don't start these at 10pm is what I am saying (I was up until 2am). The next day, however, they are quick and easy to finish, just what I like in a breakfast recipe.
I haven't found a good bagel place in San Antonio, yet, so I think I will try these again with the malt syrup to see if I can get a crispier crust. Does it seem like bagel shops are less popular than they used to be? I still love bagels - so much so that I had one for breakfast. And another for lunch. Having these for breakfast all week almost makes me want to go to work!
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