Unicorn Rainbow Bagels

Tools: Hands, lots of free time, basic food coloring, mini bowls, toothpick for food colors, bench scraper to scrape dough. 

Baking Time/Temperature: 22 minutes at 375°F/190°C or internal temperature of 200°F

Yield 4 large bagels or 8 regular sized ones.

RECIPE FOR UNICORN RAINBOW BAGELS

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 Teaspoons Yeast (1 packet Red Star Active Dry Yeast)
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Warm Water
• 4 Cups Bread Flour (Extra for dusting)
• 2 Teaspoons Salt
• 1 Cup Warm Water
• Basic food colors
• Canola Oil

Directions

1. Prep the 2 1/2 tsp yeast by adding it into a small bowl, along with the 1 1/2 tbsp sugar and 1/2 cup warm water. Do not stir any of this and let it sit for 10 minutes until it begins to bubble
2. In a large bowl add in the 4 cups bread flour, the salt. Stir this with a whisk leaving a small hole in the center to prevent overflow, pour in our yeast mixture, and the extra 1 cup of warm water. Fold this together with a spatula, add in more water if needed for the dough to come together. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead this on the table for 10 minutes
3. Grease a clean bowl with canola oil. Coat the dough in the oil and cover this with a damp cloth letting it rise until it doubles in size. May take 1-3 hours.
4. Punch down the dough to release the gas. Divide them into 8 pieces. Keep the dough you're not working on covered with a cloth to prevent drying out. It makes it really difficult to incorporate the colors if the food colors isn’t diluted, and knead the food coloring into the dough until the colors are throughly blended. Give the dough time to rest if needed, about 10 minutes. 
5. Roll them each piece into a rectangle. I didn’t use any flour to knead any of this. It wasn’t a perfect rectangle when I rolled this out, but very gently I tugged onto the dough to make it a passable rectangle. Stack the colors into the colors of the rainbow. 
6. Cut these into four pieces. I made 4 humungous bagels, but you can always make them into 8 by cutting each piece in half. But I felt like the rainbow design stood out a lot more this way.
7. Roll the piece of dough in opposite directions and keep twisting it until you get the desired “look” the more you twist the more layers and thinner your rainbows are going to be. Form a circle with the dough, but don’t pinch together the ends, because this will just make it open up. Instead, roll it against the table until it comes together very gently
8. In boiling hot water pre cook our dough on each side for 30 seconds each. Place each of these onto a wire rack to get rid of any excess water. Lightly blot the bottom of the bagels with a paper towel otherwise. Place them on a half sheet tray lined with a silat mat or parchment paper 
9. Bake for 22 minutes in a preheated oven of 375°F or until it reaches an internal temperature of 200°F

Tips

• I was a bit worried if the tops would brown or if i needed to flip them over, but those steps were necessary and it was a perfect rainbow color with some slight browning on the bottom which I thought was fine. 
• You can serve these with whatever you’d like, I slathered on Funfetti frosting. But these actually tastes like regular bagels and you can make them into sandwiches too.
• Incorporating the colors takes a really long time. It may take up 10 minutes or so of kneading the colors. Using the stand mixer wouldn't work because the amount of dough would be too little for each color
• When you're drowning in wet dough, take a small handful of extra flour and rub your finger in them until the dough comes off.
• Using a bench scraper to scrape up wet dough on a table is very useful here. 
• I made 4 bagels that were really large from this recipe but you can cut in half the strips you cut off and make them into 2 bagels each strip rather than one, and letting them proof after shaping the dough.

STEP BY STEP VIDEO TUTORIAL 

FOR UNICORN RAINBOW BAGELS

STEP BY STEP PHOTO TUTORIAL 
FOR UNICORN RAINBOW BAGELS

Prep the 2 1/2 tsp yeast by adding it into a small bowl, along with the 1 1/2 tbsp sugar and 1/2 cup warm water. Do not stir any of this and let it sit for 10 minutes until it begins to bubble

 In a large bowl add in the 4 cups of bread flour, the 2 tsps salt. stir this with a whisk leaving a small hole in the center to prevent overflow, and pour in our yeast mixture, and remaining 1 cup of warm water. Fold this together with a spatula, add in more water if needed for the dough to come together. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead this on the table for 10 minutes

 Grease a clean bowl with canola oil. Coat the dough in the oil and cover this with a damp cloth letting it rise until it doubles in size. May take 1-3 hours.

Punch down the dough to release the gas.

 Divide them into 8 pieces.

Keep the dough you're not working on covered with a cloth to prevent drying out. It makes it really difficult to incorporate the colors if the food colors isn’t diluted, and knead the food coloring into the dough until the colors are throughly blended.

Give the dough time to rest if needed, about 10 minutes.

Roll them each piece into a rectangle. I didn’t use any flour to knead any of this. It wasn’t a perfect rectangle when I rolled this out, but very gently I tugged onto the dough to make it a passable rectangle. 

Stack the colors into the colors of the rainbow.

Cut these into four pieces. I made 4 humungous bagels, but you can always make them into 8 by cutting each piece in half. But I felt like the rainbow design stood out a lot more this way.

Roll the piece of dough in opposite directions and keep twisting it until you get the desired “look” the more you twist the more layers and thinner your rainbows are going to be. Form a circle with the dough, but don’t pinch together the ends, because this will just make it open up. Instead, roll it against the table until it comes together very gently.

In boiling hot water pre cook our dough on each side for 30 seconds each.

 Place each of these onto a wire rack to get rid of any excess water. Lightly blot the bottom of the bagels with a paper towel otherwise.

 Place them on a half sheet tray lined with a silat mat or parchment paper
Bake for 22 minutes in a preheated oven of 375°F or until it reaches an internal temperature of 200°F