Bagels Again!

Since I couldn't make bagels when I was last home, I wanted to make a batch for myself.  And this time I had all of the necessary ingredients, like milk powder and yeast.  (Using yeast is probably "cheating" a little, but I'm not really pretending to be a sourdough expert here.)
And it was a success!  Only one small problem - I discovered after I had mixed up the dough that I used AP flour instead of bread flour!  That could explain why it took so long to get good gluten development.  I think they still turned out okay though.
This time I made some everything, some cinnamon sugar, some sesame seed, and some plain.  I ate a cinnamon sugar one this morning and it was delicious :)
I think I may have discovered what caused my troubles with rising last time.  At first I thought it was maybe since I used only sourdough starter, and no additional yeast.  And I thought that was confirmed when my first batch (shown below) turned out fine, with actual holes.  But then when I made a second batch just now, and had the same problems.  I think it may be related to how long the dough sits out before you boil the bagels.  This morning, I had the bagels sitting out for a while, while I was letting the water boil and the oven preheat.  When I made the second batch, I took the bagels out of the fridge right before boiling.  Maybe the bagels need some time to rest first?  The next time I make them, I'll test boil a few straight from the fridge and see if that is the problem.  And maybe I'll remember to use bread flour!

My 12 little dough balls

This time I made the holes bigger so I wouldn't have the same problem as last time

After being boiled

 A perfectly retained hole, post-baking!

These were sticky and sweet!