"I watched Rachel Allen make bagels on the Cooking Channel, so I actually knew what to do with the mysterious cornmeal - sprinkle it on the baking sheets before letting the shaped bagels rise so they don't stick to the pan.

I did have a problem with the boiling of the bagels - my first attempt turned my dough into mush. I ended up sprinkling each bagel with the sugar water before baking them.

I also kneaded some of my toppings into each individual ball of dough, then added more after the five minutes in the oven. I used onions, poppy seeds, cinnamon, and chocolate chips with ground hazelnuts. (I was a big fan of the chocolate hazelnut bagels at Panera Bread, so I had to try some.)