Mix all the ingredients (except molasses) in a bowl. You don't have to worry about soaking the yeast when you use instant yeast (most yeast sold these days is instant yeast). The dough should feel stiff, but add the extra water if it's really stiff, or you can't get all the dry flour incorporated.

Plop the dough down onto the counter and knead for about ten minutes, or until the dough is uniform and smooth.

Cut the dough into 8 equal sized balls, and let rest for 10-20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 425.

Now take each of the dough balls and using two hands, roll it into a little snake on the counter. When the snake is longer than the width of your two hands, wrap it around your dominant roiling hand. The dough rope should be wrapped so the overlapping ends are together at your palm, near the start of your fingers. Now take the two overlapping ends, and use your palm to squish/roll these two ends together. Once the dough is fused, you should have a perfectly circular bagel-to-be! This is the only part of the process that can take a little practice before your bagels will look really professional. Don't get discouraged if they don't look perfect, it just takes practice!

Let your bagels rest on the counter for about 20 minutes, Meanwhile, add the molasses to a large pot of water and bring to a boil, and grease a large, nonstick baking tray lightly. You can just rub a splash of vegetable oil and rub it around. (Caution: not using both a well-greased AND nonstick tray will result in the unfortunate display of comical feats of strength as you try to pry off strangely un-burnt bagels that have nonetheless cemented themselves to the tray. It will be interesting and exhausting, so please don't try it.)



After the 20 minute wait your bagels will start to look puffy, and it's time to get them boiling! Add them as many at a time as you can to your boiling water without crowding them. Boil for about a minute, turn them over, and boil for another minute. Take them out and let dry for a minute and then place them on your oiled baking tray. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled.

Add the tray to the oven and after 10 minutes, flip the bagels over. Bake for another ten minutes, and they're done!

Let them cool for at least 20 minutes, get the lox and cream cheese ready, and enjoy the goodness!

(NOTE: You can add any toppings you like to these. To make sesame, garlic, cheese, onion, poppy seed, caraway etc. bagels just have a dry plate ready with the topping spread out on it. After the bagels have come out of the boiling water, place them face down onto the seeds, and then place them seed side up onto the baking tray. Bake and flip the same as for plain bagels.)