Bagels - Golden Bagels and Coffee

Golden Bagels and Coffee is a new venue, having opened in January of 2018 on White Oak Boulevard in the Heights. The bagels are excellent and are highly recommended. Living near the Heights it has already become one of my favorite destinations, when the urge for a freshly made bagel hits me.

Bagels are an interesting creature. There is a bit of complexity to them in that you are going to be creating a bread dough, then shaping the bread into the standard bagel shape, dipping it in a solution of baking soda or lye (similar to what one does for a pretzel), BOILING the dough, and then proceeding with the baking process. That boiling phase does some interesting things to the yeast risen dough, changing the internal structure to a dense, chewy bread.

Here is a link to an article on bagels:
Slate Magazine : A Short History on the Bagel

Cheap Eats Houston - Awesome Bagels on the Cheap

The Schott-Sunbeam Bakery on Washington Avenue features one of those factory stores where "day old" breads are sold at deep discounts. What makes this one so terrific is that they carry the Dave's Bread line and sell loaves, priced at 2 for $5, pretty much half of what you would pay in the grocery store. The loaves freeze beautifully, so you can plan to stock up.

But, what I love the most are the delicious Dave's Epic Everyting Bagels. I keep them frozen and (here's my trick) bring them back to life by steaming them for a few minutes. They plump up soft and fluffy and are just the most delicious thing that you can imagine. Incredible bargain. And, you can also steam the regular bread if you prefer that to toasting it.