This was one of those ideas that popped into my head at a very inconvenient moment. It was late in the day, around 6pm and the children had just eaten and were about to get ready for a bath when I suddenly thought of trying out a hot cross bagel.

I knew I would have all the ingredients for it so I set to work. I have made bagels before and they were just so good (RECIPE HERE) and yes, they are not ready in minutes nor particularly easy to make. They do involve processes, but not complicated ones. Simply a case of boiling the shaped bagels in a big pot of water before baking them. And yes, you do have to knead the bagel dough. So there is a certain amount of commitment to this process. But, it is so worth it.

This time I used the Dan Lepard “Simple Bagels” recipe as my basis and adapted it to create a hot cross flavoured delight. I also left the dough overnight in the fridge and made them the following day. I often do this with pizza dough and I do find the dough reacts well to this extra resting time. The crisp crust is something I savour and both pizza and bagel. Resting time is no bad thing with dough, in my experience.

I would recommend serving these hot cross bagels at some point over your Easter weekend. They make a welcome addition to any breakfast table but naturally the Hot Cross Bun flavourings I have chosen make an even more ideal to start the day along with your chocolate egg of choice.

Unfortunately, I will  not be posting the entire recipe here for copyright reasons but the adaptations are listed below. I am sure that most of you will have a copy of Short & Sweet at home but if you don’t then borrow a copy form a friend or visit your local library.

As you can imagine, bedtime was later than usual that evening. But those bagels just had to get made………

I am sending my bagels over to Calendar Cakes co-hosted by Laura Loves Cakes & Dolly Bakes. The theme this month is Easter Extravaganza.

I am also linking my Easter  bagels up to Easy Easter Baking over at Utterly Scrummy.

My  bagels are also going over to The KitchenMaid and her Holy Grail of Hot Cross Buns. Hot Cross Bagels count, don’t they Lucy?!

Hot Cross Bagels

Recipe adapted from SHORT & SWEET by Dan Lepard

My adaptations are as follows :-

• To the flour, yeast, salt and sugar mixture I added 1tsp nutmeg, 1tsp cinnamon and 1tsp mixed spice.

• I used 300ml of warm water instead of 275ml as the spices made the mixture require a little more water.

• After kneading the dough I added in 100g of sultanas and worked them in by hand kneading.

• Ideally, and what I thought I had in the cupboard, was a bag of mixed dried fruit. It turned out to be sultanas so that is what I used.

• Adding 50g  chopped mixed peel  and 50g mixed dried fruit would be good too.

• A few bits of chopped dark chocolate would also work.

For the Sugar Glaze Topping :-

• When the bagels came out of the oven , I drenched them in this wonderful sugary glaze which gave a beautiful shine to the bagels and some of the glaze soaks in to the bagels making them taste like a hot cross bagel doughnut.

• Measure 4tbsp of granulated sugar and 4tbsp of water into a small pan. Heat very gently until the sugar has dissolved. Keep stirring to ensure the mix does not boil. When the sugar has melted remove from the heat until the bagels are  ready to be glazed.

Notes :-

• These bagels are perfect when just baked and glazed but they also freeze well.

• The bagels were fine the next day gently toasted. After 1 day, I would recommend freezing them .

• I found the mixture gave me 12 good sized bagels.

Happy Easter Bagel Baking!