Place the raisins in a small bowl and cover them with ½ cup boiling water. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and allow them to sit for at least 5 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

The raisins must cool to at least 110°F before being added to the dough. Hot liquid can damage your starter.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the active starter, flour, salt, warm water, brown sugar, and raisin soak. (Be sure it has cooled down and is not too hot.)

Using the dough hook, mix on low speed (number 2 on a KitchenAid mixer) for about 10 minutes, or until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is no longer sticky. The dough should feel soft and smooth, not stiff.

Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise at room temperature for 8–12 hours, or until doubled in size. Because cinnamon can slow fermentation, this dough may rise more slowly than other sourdough recipes. That’s normal, just be patient.

After the first rise, your dough should have doubled. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and divide into 8 equal portions using a bench scraper.

My total dough weighed about 1030 grams, and each dough ball weighed between 126–129 grams. Using a kitchen scale here makes all the bagels bake evenly.

Take each portion and gather the edges inward, pinching tightly to form a ball. Flip it over so the seam is on the bottom.

Using your hand and the work surface, gently pull the dough toward you while rotating slightly to create surface tension. Repeat until the top is smooth and tight.

Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let them rest for 5 minutes. This relaxes the gluten and makes shaping much easier.

Use your fingers or thumbs to poke a hole through the center of each dough ball. Gently stretch into a bagel shape.

Spinning the dough around your two pointer fingers in a circular motion helps stretch it evenly and keeps the bagel round.

Place the shaped bagels onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow the bagels to rise for 1–3 hours, until slightly puffy.

Do not overproof. They will puff up more during boiling and baking.

Carefully transfer the bagels into the boiling water using parchment paper squares. As soon as the parchment hits the water, it will release the bagel easily and help prevent collapse.

As soon as the bagel is in the water, use a chopstick to gently swirl inside the hole to keep it from closing.

Boil 3 bagels at a time for about 1 minute per side. Remove with a slotted spoon and place back onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Once all the bagels are boiled (they may look slightly wrinkled), transfer the baking sheet to the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 190°F or bagels sound hollow when tapped on the bottom

Allow to cool on a wire rack before slicing.