Measure warm milk into a glass measuring cup or bowl, stir in 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar until well combined.

Stir in yeast, allow to stand for 10 minutes – it should get very bubbly.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, remaining brown sugar, raisins and/or currants, orange zest, spices, and salt.

Pour in yeast mixture, juice, 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.

Note: If the dough is really sticky - sticking to the bowl, rather that coming together in a ball - add a small amount of flour. It should be slightly sticky, but still able to ball.

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.

Once dough has doubled, dump it out on a clean work surface, and divide it out.

We divided the mixture into 10 equal sized balls

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 baking sheets to rise for another 10 minutes. As your bagels are resting, preheat oven to 350 F.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the brown sugar, and stir well to combine. 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 yolk together with 1 tablespoon of water, brush over the tops and sides of each bagel, set aside.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the ¼ cup flour with about half of the water. Add more water, a little bit at a time, to form a smooth, pipable paste.

Spoon the flour mixture into a pastry bag, and pipe an X across each bagel. Trim the ends of each X to clean up the edges, if desired.

Bake for about 35-37 minutes, until golden brown.