#Secret Recipe Club: Peanut Butter Banana Bagels

So.
It's time for another episode of the regular Secret Recipe Club!  Once a month, a group of bloggers get together, are given another blog to peruse in secret, choose a recipe and make something from their assigned blog.  I so enjoy doing this every month, and look forward to seeing whose blog I will be looking through for something delicious.
This month, I was thrilled to be paired with Erin of the The Spiffy Cookie.  I've enjoyed working with Erin in the past on multiblogger events, and enjoy drooling over her pictures of food on Instagram.  Erin, like myself, isn't a fan of mushrooms; but she does love all things peanut butter and chocolate (also like myself) and bakes...a lot.  How could I not make something peanut buttery after looking through her blog?
I seem to be on a breakfast kick at the moment, so I considered her Pumpkin Pecan Waffles and even something somewhat healthy with her Carrot Cake Oatmeal, but then I found this.
I have been intrigued by recipes containing PB2, but have never tried it.  I also decided to challenge myself and make something that I hadn't made successfully before:  bagels.  With bananas in the freezer, I was ready to go!
I present to you now The Spiffy Cookie's Peanut Butter Banana Bagels:

Ingredients:
3 c all purpose flour
1/4 c Powdered Peanut Butter (I used PB2 Chocolate Peanut Butter)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 c warm water
2-1/4 tsp yeast
2 Tbsp sugar, divided
1 large ripe banana

Method:
1.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine water, yeast and 1-1/2 Tbsp sugar.  Let stand until foamy, 3-5 minutes.  In a medium bowl, stir together 2-1/2 c flour, PB2, salt and cinnamon.
2.   Add mashed banana to yeast mixture.  Start mixer with dough hook attachment on low, slowly adding flour mixture.  Alternate between low and medium speed, kneading until dough forms a ball on the hook and pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.  If the dough is sticky, continue to add small amounts of flour until the dough is slightly tacky.
3.  Form dough into a ball and lightly grease a bowl.  Return dough to bowl, cover and leave to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
4.  Punch down dough and divide into 8 equal pieces.  Form each piece of dough into a bagel shape by pressing a finger through the centre.  Arrange bagels on parchment lined baking sheet and let rest for 20-30 minutes.  The hole in each bagel needs to be larger than a quarter, or it will fill in as they bagels rise while resting.
5.  Bring 12 c of water to a boil in a Dutch oven with the remaining 1/2 Tbsp of sugar.  Preheat oven to 400F.  Boil bagels in batches, for about 20-30 seconds per side.  Return to parchment lined baking tray until all 8 bagels are done.
6.  Bake bagels at 400F for 20-25 minutes, until golden.  Cool completely before freezing.

From The Spiffy Cookie

I have to admit, dough on a dough hook isn't all that exciting.  When you use a ripe banana that you froze a while ago, you don't even need to mash it - just break off the stem and squeeze it into the bowl.  This made the most delicious smelling dough from beginning to end.

The bagels also rose beautifully.  I used a scale to weigh out my portions, but you could eyeball it.  There's less math if you eyeball it.  The day before school starts, I'm all about not thinking.  I'm saving my brainpower for getting through Tuesday.  It's been a challenge to get my head around teaching kindergarten music again.

They get kinda funny looking in the boiling water, but the bagels become fluffy, for lack of a better work.  I used 2 slotted serving spoons to turn the bagels and remove them from the boiling water.

But they were beautiful coming out of the oven, and they were delicious with chocolate cream cheese the following morning for breakfast.  The peanut butter and banana flavours weren't overwhelming, but were deliciously present.  They'll be great for breakfast out of the toaster.  Thanks Erin!

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