Spiced Pumpkin Bagels

This morning it was cold and wet and rainy out. My kind of weather! I LOVE it!
I knew I had to bake something.
The kids love bagels for breakfast but they're a little expensive. Especially since the 3 of them could easily eat a whole package in one day.
I've never made them at home before so I thought I'd give it a shot. I found lots of recipes for plain bagels online but I had this crazy idea that PUMPKIN bagels would be good. Maybe it's the weather.
All the recipes I could find for pumpkin bagels were to be made in a bread machine. I don't own one. And most of them called for ingredients I don't have on hand.
So I improvised. And, for my first time, I'd say I did exceptionally well!

I want to call them Spiced Pumpkin Bagels because pumpkin spice bagels just sounds like plain bagels with pumpkin spice in them. No! These actually have pumpkin puree in the dough. And spices too. See my logic? LOL

Spiced Pumpkin Bagels
Makes 8
WW points per bagel: 4

2/3 cups warm water
3 Tablespoons lightly packed brown sugar
1 package dry (2 1/4 teaspoon) active yeast
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
3 cups bread flour
1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons honey

In the bowl of a stand mixer fittd with a dough hook, combine 1/4 cup warm water, 2 Tablespoons of the brown sugar and the yeast. Let stand 10 minutes.

Stir in remaining water and sugar and then pumpkin puree.

In separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt and spice. With mixer running, begin adding flour mixture into the yeast mixture.

Mix until dough forms a ball and then for another 10 minutes.

Except my mixer started making tired noises. So I gave it a break and kneaded the dough by hand after about 5 minutes. I hope I won't be asking for a new mixer for Christmas. :(

Place dough in a clean, oiled bowl. Cover and allow to rise 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

Punch dough down. Divide into 8 equal pieces. Let rest 10 minutes.

Shape each piece into a ball, flatten slightly and use your fingers to poke a hole in the center, stretching the hole to about 1 1/2 inches wide. Rest bagels, covered, for 30 minutes longer.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add the honey.

Place two bagels at a time into the water. Boil for one minute, flipping after 30 seconds.

Scoop out with a slotted spoon and place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake 25 minutes.

Cool on a rack.

SOOOO good! Chewy on the outside, softer inside. YUM!
I wanna try adding chopped craisins. Maybe dried apricots, raisins, pumpkin seeds, what else?
I see a lot of homemade bagels in our future.
And I figure it cost about 50 cents to make 8 bagels.
WHY didn't I try this sooner?