Haruan-Style Easy Bagels (Mugwort, Cranberry, Basil)

Weigh the bread flour into a bowl. One batch is 250g and makes 4 bagels. For the mugwort version, put 2 batches (500g) into a large bowl; for the basil version, put 1 batch (250g) into a separate bowl.

Add sugar and salt to each bowl. Since one batch uses 15g sugar and 4g salt, add 30g sugar and 8g salt to the 2-batch bowl.

Add the mix-ins to the flour. Put dried basil into the basil bowl, dried cranberries into another, and all of the mugwort powder into the mugwort bowl.

Pour in the water. The base is 140ml per batch, but the 2-batch mugwort dough absorbs water, so add about 300ml and mix while letting the mugwort powder hydrate.

Mix with a rubber spatula at first, and once no dry flour remains, press the dough together firmly with your hands a few times. The dough is on the stiff side, but about 1 minute of kneading is enough. If it does not come together well, add a little water.

Wrap the gathered dough in plastic wrap and let it rise for the first proof until it is puffed up tight.

Divide the risen dough, roll it out into a long strip with a rolling pin, and fold it into thirds. For dough with mix-ins such as cranberries, roll it so the side with the mix-ins showing on the surface ends up inside for a cleaner finish (surface mix-ins come off easily during boiling).

Seal the seam of the folded dough and twist it into a rope. Bring one end of the twisted dough around into a ring to meet the base, and push one end into the other to join it into a ring shape. Twist softer dough a bit more.

Let the shaped dough rise for a second proof for 30 minutes. During proofing, preheat the oven to 210°C, bring a pot of water to a boil, and dissolve 2 tablespoons of sugar in it.

Place the bagels seam side down into the sugar water and boil for 50 seconds (kettling). Rather than waiting exactly 50 seconds, start removing them about 5 seconds early.

As soon as they are boiled, transfer them to a baking sheet. Sprinkle black sesame seeds on the mugwort bagels. Leaving them out on the counter makes the surface wrinkled, so put them into the oven without delay.

Bake at 210°C for 15 minutes. Once baked, place one slice of melting cheese on each basil bagel and let the residual heat melt it. Serve the mugwort bagels with anko and butter once cooled, and spread cream cheese on the cranberry bagels.