I was prepared after reading other reviews. I cut this in half to use with homemade brownies. I included cornstarch, switched to brown sugar and toasted the coconut but not the pecans. I would just warn everyone to use UNSWEETENED coconut. With the brown sugar the flavor is caramel-like and it has the darker more appetizing brown color.

Reviewed On: Oct. 10, 2009

I have a practical alternative for this recipe that makes 1-2 loaves of flavorful bread without the bagel forming/boiling step. For each cup of flour use 1 tblsp + 1 tsp sugar. After the last machine rise form the dough into 1-2 french bread shaped loaves and lay them out on a non-stick sheet sprinkled with corn meal. Let rise 1 hr. Wet crust with spooned water. Oven bake at 375 for 25-30 min. No bagel shaping or boiling. The add'l sugar makes up for the sugar that was in the boiling water. I cool, slice up then freeze the loaves. Earlier observations 7/2009: I am on my fourth batch. First time, followed recipe exactly. Came out good. The bagel flavor is great. The gnarly form is better because the crust has more surface to brown and this is where the flavor and chewy texture is. For the 2nd batch I used half wheat flour and it took over the great bagel flavor. It became a tough wheat bread not at all what I choose bagels for. The third batch I used milk instead of water. This also adversely changed the texture and flavor. All future batches are going back to following the recipe. I have noticed most people saying anything bad about this recipe are not actually following it. If you alter the ingredients don't ding the recipe for your experiments. The only change I would recommend is lightly coating the bagels with an oil or original PAM while they rise before boiling. This enhances the crust. Otherwise follow this recipe exactly and you will have a batch of delicious bagels.

Reviewed On: Jul. 19, 2009

I have used a slightly different version of this recipe for years. The baking soda/powder has been the difference. I usually split the flour with half wheat plus half white and sometimes use some water with the milk. Sometimes I use a small amount of oil and use a skillet so the edges get crunchy. Why do so many people like vanilla in their pancakes? Perhaps people have blown out their taste buds. Vanilla changes the flavor from a pancake to a birthday cake. Mine smell like pancakes not eggs.

Reviewed On: Jul. 8, 2009