For Maine Spice Shop’s Fall Blends, we have a limited edition Pumpkin Pie Blend.   I’ve had a two decades long love affair with pumpkin pie spice –  here is a recipe for my pumpkin bagels published Jan 2009 on my other blog.

Pumpkin Bagel Recipe (NO BREAD MACHINE) Ingredients:

2 peeled potatoes cut into quarters.
About 2 quarts of water (enough to cover the potatoes)
one package of fast rising yeast.
4 tbs brown sugar, honey, or agave nectar.
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups white flour (may need more).
1 cup pumpkin puree.
2 tbs pumpkin butter (if you don’t have this put at least 1 tbs of oil).
1 tbs of pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
Glaze (don’t mix this in with the bagel ingredients)
1 egg white
1 tbs honey or agave nectar

Boil the potatoes in the water until they are soft and the water is cloudy. Remove the potatoes. Let the water cool to about 100 degrees (too hot and it will kill the yeast). Mix about 3/4 cup of the 100 degree water with the yeast and the 4 tbs of sugar. Save the remaining water. Wait until the yeast gets bubbly (this is called “proofing” the yeast). If after 5 minutes the mixture does not bubble, you have bad yeast. Get some new yeast and start again. Mix the remaining ingredients into the proofed yeast. If the mixture is sticky, keep adding flour until it is not sticky and somewhat elastic. If you are using a big mixer, you are essentially kneading the dough. If you are not, you knead the dough by hand continuing to add white flour until the dough is elastic and not sticky.

Let the dough rise until about double in size. To create a nice warm, moist environment for the dough to rise, I boil a small pan of water and put that and the dough (loosely covered) in an oven that is NOT turned on. With the fast rising yeast, it takes about an hour for the dough to double in size.

Pull the dough out, and shape it into bagels of whatever size you’d like. I made mine about three inches across. I made about 20 mini bagels with this amount of dough. Put the bagels on a cookie sheet covered in corn meal to prevent sticking. Let rise again for about a half hour.

Boil the potato water again – adding more water to get more water to fill the pot. Drop the bagels into the boiling water – only put as many bagels into the pot as can fit on the surface. Boil on each side for 30 seconds. Take out and put on cookie sheet – lightly brush each one on top with the egg white and honey glaze.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees (AFTER YOU REMOVE THE RISING BAGEL DOUGH). Cook the bagels for 15 minutes or until top is a bit hard.