Honey Lavender Bagels

Why This Honey Lavender Bagels Works

Warm water and honey wake up the yeast and give it something to eat, so the yeast starts bubbling and filling the liquid with tiny gas pockets. Once that bubbly mix goes into the flour and salt, those gas pockets spread through the dough. As the dough is kneaded, the flour soaks up the water and the gluten strands stretch and line up. That stretchy network is what lets the dough trap the gas and rise instead of falling flat.

When the lavender is kneaded in, the small pieces spread through the dough instead of sitting in one spot. During the rise, the dough slowly puffs up as more gas builds inside those gluten strands. Shaping the dough into rings keeps that gas mostly in the thick part of each bagel, so they bake up chewy instead of bready.

During boiling, the outside of each bagel tightens and starts to set, so it holds its shape and gets that dense, bagel-style bite. In the oven, the egg wash dries into a shiny, golden crust while the inside finishes cooking and stays soft and chewy.

Mistakes To Avoid

Letting the water get too hot for the yeast turns into a big problem fast. The yeast gets killed instead of waking up, the mixture never gets foamy, and the dough stays dense and heavy. The bagels then bake up flat and tough instead of puffed and chewy.

Skipping the rise or cutting it short keeps the dough from filling with enough air. The dough feels tight and hard to shape, the holes close up, and the bagels come out small and bready instead of light inside.

Boiling the bagels at a hard rolling boil instead of a gentle simmer makes them bash around in the pot. The surface can tear, the shape gets uneven, and the crust bakes up rough and chewy in a bad way.

Adding a lot more lavender than listed quickly throws things off. The dough takes on a strong, almost soapy smell, and after baking the bagels can taste bitter and leave a dry feeling in the mouth.