Rainbow Bagel

Rainbow Bagel

Serves: 8 people
Cooking Time: 4 hours
Rainbow Bagel

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1-1/2 cups warm water, divided
  • 4 cups bread flour (for the dough)
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 teaspoons canola oil (to coat bowl)
  • 1 teaspoon each magenta, orange, yellow, green, light blue, teal and purple food coloring or gel*
  • 1 cup bread flour (for use when working with the dough)
  • 1 cup water (for use when working with the dough)
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup colored jimmies candy sprinkles (for the cream cheese)
  • 2 tablespoons colored jimmies candy sprinkles (for garnish)

Instructions

Print This Recipe
  1. To a small bowl or glass measuring cup, add 1/2 cup of the warm water and sugar. Don’t stir.
  2. Add the yeast, and don’t stir. Set aside until the mixture starts to bubble (about 10 minutes).To a large mixing bowl, add the flour and salt. Stir, and make a “well” in the middle.
  3. Add the yeast mixture to the well of the bowl with the flour. Use the hook attachment of a stand mixer, and mix on the slow setting.
  4. Add the remaining 1 cup of warm water to the mixer, and continue to mix until a dough forms.
  5. Sprinkle flour on the rolling surface. Transfer the dough to the rolling surface. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes.
  6. Lightly coat the bottom and sides of a large bowl with canola oil, and add the dough.
  7. Cover with a damp towel, and set aside for 1 hour to let the dough rise.
  8. Punch the dough, and let it rise again for about 10 minutes.
  9. Cut the dough into 8 pieces. Take some of the dough from the larger pieces to put on the smaller pieces until there are just 7 pieces of dough fairly equal in size. Put the pieces of dough back into the oil-coated bowl, and cover with a damp towel.
  10. In 1 of the pieces of dough, make a well, and add the food coloring to it. Using food-grade plastic gloves, knead the piece of dough with your hands until the coloring is evenly spread throughout the piece of dough. Try rubbing a little water on the dough to spread the color while kneading it. Then add a little flour to tighten up the dough so it’s not sticky.
  11. Form the colored dough into the shape of a large patty, and lay it on a large plate. Cover with a damp paper towel so the dough doesn’t dry out.
  12. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough and food coloring. Stack each colored dough patty on top of the other. Keep the damp paper towel on top of the stack.
  13. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  14. Fill a large pot with water, and warm it up on the stove (on low heat for now).
  15. Slice the stack of dough lengthwise into 4 slices.
  16. Twist each slice so that it’s like a rope. Form a bagel with the twisted dough in the desired size, and firmly roll the ends of the bagel together so that it’s a continuous ring shape. Don’t pinch the ends together, or they’ll come undone. Make sure to firmly roll the ends together.
  17. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and spray a light coating of cooking spray on it. Lay each formed bagel on the cookie sheet. Set aside, and let the dough rise for about 5 minutes.
  18. Turn up the heat on the water so it’s lightly boiling. In batches, add the bagels to the water.
  19. Let the bagels boil for 30 seconds on each side, and then transfer them to a wire rack for a couple of minutes to drain.
  20. Transfer the bagels back onto the parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, and bake until the bagels are slightly soft to the touch (about 20 – 25 minutes).
  21. Serve warm with Funfetti cream cheese, and garnish with jimmies candy sprinkles.
  22. To a medium-size bowl, add the cream cheese and powdered sugar.
  23. Whisk together until light and creamy.
  24. In conclusion, Stir in the jimmies candies, and set them aside.