Step 1

In a small bowl combine the honey, yeast and 1.25 cups warm water. Stir to dissolve and let sit for five minutes or until the surface is covered with foam.

Step 2

In a large bowl combine 2 cups of the flour and the salt. Stir to combine. Add the frothy yeast water and stir well until everything is evenly mixed. Continue adding flour 1/2 cup at a time until it is too hard to stir by hand (about one cup later). Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and continue adding flour a little bit at a time and knead in until you have reached 3.5 to 4 cups total (depending on the humidity). You can stop adding flour when it becomes fairly stiff but still pliable enough to knead. Knead the dough for 8 minutes total.

Step 3

After kneading, flatten the dough slightly and add the cinnamon and raisins down the center. Fold the dough over and knead a few more times until the raisins are even throughout the dough and the cinnamon has given the dough a swirly appearance. The raisins and cinnamon may “break out” of the dough while you knead it in but just keep going and let the dough pick it back up as you knead.

Step 4

Form the dough into a ball, loosely cover and let it rise until double (about 45 min.). Punch the down down, form it into a log and cut it into 10 pieces (for medium bagels). Form each piece into a ball by pulling the dough back and under itself. When you have a smooth ball, pinch it in the center to make the hole then carefully stretch the hole until it is a couple inches across. Make the hole about 3x larger than you think it should be because the dough will puff up quite a bit during cooking and close the hole off. Form the rest of the bagels in the same manner.

Step 5

Place the formed bagels on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and cornmeal or non-stick spray. Let rise until double in size (about 45 minutes). Preheat your broiler near the end of the rise time.

Step 6

Put a large pot of water on to boil. While you wait for it to boil, place the tray of bagels under the broiler for one minute. Pull the bagels out, carefully turn them over then place them back in to broil on the second side. Every oven is different so watch the bagels closely. You do not want them to brown just turn slightly dull on the surface.

Step 7

Once the bagels have broiled on both sides, turn the oven to 375 to preheat. When the water has come to a full, rolling boil, drop the bagels in a few at a time. Boil the bagels for one minute, flip them over and boil for another minute on the opposite side. I found that a long chopstick works well for flipping them in the boiling water.

Step 8

As the bagels come out of the water, let them drain on a wire cooling rack so the bottoms don’t get soggy. After draining for about 5 minutes, place them on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes or until the surface is golden brown.