Spicy Eggs in a Cloud and Whole Wheat Bagels

I saw a recipe for this eggs in a cloud and immediately upon seeing it, I knew I would make it – and Sunday morning is the perfect morning to try new things when not in a hurry.  I don’t remember where I got the recipe though!  It was a bed and breakfast recipe blog – so if its yours, let me know!

I decided to use pumpernickel bread, bacon, muenster cheese and 1 egg for mine.  Cook bacon until crisp.  Lay bread on cookie sheet lined with foil.  Put 2 slices of cooked bacon on each piece of bread, followed by the cheese.  Make sure to cover the whole bread with cheese – mine was about 1.5 ounces.

Separate three eggs, trying not to break the yolks (I broke 2 out of 3!).  Mix egg whites until it forms a meringue, until stiff peaks form.  Spoon the meringue on top of the bread, and make a well – place a yolk in the well and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, until the yolk is set and the egg whites are browned.

Here’s how they looked before going in the oven – I broke all but one egg, but I didn’t mind because I don’t like runny yolks, so my yolk was really well cooked.

See how my yolk cooked on the side – it was perfect!  Of course, I doused my clouds with Tabasco!  I gave Tony the whole yolk, because he likes runny eggs.

The egg whites were light and fluffy, but Tony and I agreed that we thought cheese added to the yolks would have tasted good – not sure I would have been able to get stiff peaks though if I added anything to the egg whites – does anyone know?

I haven’t made bagels in ages, and thought it was about time.  They are really quite simple, just need time to let them rise.

Whole Wheat Bagels

• 2 cups water
• 2 packages active dry yeast (I have loose yeast, so 2.25 teaspoons is the equivalent to 1 package of yeast)
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 2.5 cups white whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur)
• 2.5 cups bread flour (King Arthur(
• water for boiling bagels
• cornmeal to sprinkle on cookie sheet
• egg wash of 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon water
• any topping you want

Combine water with yeast in stand mixer and let sit for 5 minutes.  Add the salt and mix.  Gradually stir in the 5 cups of combined flour – add more water if its a bit floury, 1 tablespoon at a time.  You’ll know you have it right when you bowl is nice and clean!  I let the machine knead the dough for 10 minutes.

Then put in a bowl and put a damp paper towel on top for 40 minutes, until its doubled in size.

At this point, I weighed the whole dough to figure out how big each bagel should be – it came out to 3.2 ounces each for a bakers dozen: 13

Roll each bagel in a ball, then stick your thumb in the middle and move it around your thumb.  Let rest for 20 minutes while you boil the water.

Boil the bagels, 4 at a time for 2 minutes on each side.  I used a slotted spoon to remove, then used a paper towel to quickly drain and placed on the cookie sheet.  Brush with egg wash and put desired toppings on.  I did garlic garlic seasoning (Tastefully Simple) on some, sesame seeds and sliced jalapeno peppers. 😀

And while good straight out of the oven, they become great after you toast them!  But the best part is the nutritional value!

Each bagel comes in at:

• 177 calories
• .9 fat
• 36 carbs
• 3.3 fiber
• 6.8 protein

Not bad for a generous size bagel!  I could only fit 8 bagels on the tray at once, so 5 sat on the counter for an extra 30 minutes.  These of course rose more and are bigger!  So I think the next time I make this recipe, I’ll let the bagels rest for 60 minutes.

I am off to make my menu for next week – see you later! 😀