Measure warm water into a glass measuring cup or bowl. Stir in the yeast and about 1 tablespoon of the sugar, allow to stand for 10 minutes – it should get very bubbly.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, remaining sugar, instant tea, salt, and spices. Pour in yeast mixture and vanilla extract, stir well to combine.

Dump dough out onto a floured surface, knead until soft and elastic, 5-10 minutes. Alternatively, use a stand mixer with a dough hook for about 7 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.

Once dough is fully kneaded, place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Once dough has doubled, punch it down, and divide it out.

We divided the mixture into 8 equally sized balls, for medium-large bagels – but you can make them smaller or larger by dividing into 12, 10, or 6 equal sized pieces.

There are two main ways of forming bagels – with roll each lump of dough into a thick “snake” and secure the ends together, or roll each lump into a smooth ball before poking a finger though.

Once you have a hole made, stretch the ring of dough out a bit to enlarge the hole. Personally, I prefer the latter.

Once you have all of your bagels formed, set them on the baking sheets to rise for another 10 minutes.

As your bagels are resting, preheat oven to 350

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the remaining sugar, stir well, turn heat down a little, allowing water to simmer rather than boil.

2 or 3 at a time, drop your bagels into the simmering water, allow to cook for 1 minute, then flip each and allow to cook for another minute.

Drain well, place on lined baking sheets.

Whisk egg together with 1 tablespoon of water, brush over the tops and sides of each bagel.

Bake for 35-37 minutes if you made 8 bagels. Otherwise, aim for 32-35 minutes (small) or 37-40 minutes (large), until golden brown.

Allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting and serving.