Who says good bagels are dead?

I have been reading death notices for the upper West Side H&H Bagels in New York City. When I lived at 86th & Broadway at Bretton Hall, it was across the street. It was open 24 hours, and something was always coming out of the oven. We felt the front of the Plexiglas display to see which one was warm.
My Sunday ritual involved a couple of H&H bagels, a small container of their pre-mixed cream cheese and lox or herbs and cream cheese, and a Sunday New York Times. If I was feeling particularly affluent, I went to Zabar's or Fairway down Broadway and got lox sliced so thinly you could read the Times through it.
Here on the West Coast, I have had very few bagels that fill the bill. I also understand H&H went downhill after I left.
My brother got me into the bagel-making mode about a decade ago, even showing me a finger-twirling trick. Once I had good sourdough going, it was a matter of experimenting to get a proper facsimile of a real pumpernickel bagel. These days, I use agave syrup in place of malt syrup, add spelt flour, throw in leftover sourdough pancake batter, etc. In other words, I play fast and loose, but as long as I adhere to the basics, they are infinitely better than anything available here.

My Pumpernickel Bagels

To 1 pint sourdough starter, add:
1 pint lukewarm water (105-110 degrees F. max)
2 tsp. of British malt syrup (1 tsp. sugar, or 2 tsp. honey or agave syrup)
2 cups unbleached flour
1/4 tsp. salt
Put the ingredients one at a time in a large mixing bowl, beating after each addition.
Add one cup of flour at a time and beat, adding flour and/or water until it's the consistency of thick pancake batter. Put 2 cups of starter back in a jar, let sit on counter for a couple of hours, then refrigerate until the next use (try to use it once a week. If you can't, stir in 1/2 tsp. sugar and a little water and flour to feed the yeast every 10 days).

In a small saucepan on the stove, briefly cook 1 cup bulghur or cracked wheat in 2 cups lightly salted water, adding 1/4 c. dark molasses after it boils and the cereal absorbs most of the water. It should be the consistency of gruel---add a little water if it thickens too much. Cool.
Add the following ingredients to the remainder of the starter in the bowl:
2 cups lukewarm water
1 tsp. salt
2 T. oil
1-1/2 teaspoons granulated yeast (SAP is best), or one packet, stirred into 1/4 cup lukewarm water + 1 tsp. sugar
1/3 cup gluten flour (if you don't have it, just use additional unbleached)
1-1/2 cups dark rye flour (I prefer Bob's Red Mill)
1 cup whole wheat flour
Cooled 'gruel' of bulghur or cracked wheat
2 tsp. caraway seeds

To top the bagels, 1 tsp. each poppy, flax, and sesame seeds
Optional - dried garlic bits, dried onion

Beat the batter well with a wooden spoon to get the gluten working; stir in the cooked, cooled bulghur/cracked wheat, then gradually keep adding flour to make a good stiff dough, working it with a spoon until it forms a ball in bowl. Sprinkle flour on the ball, then knead, adding flour a little at a time. When the dough is cohesive and doesn't take any more flour readily (knead it about 5 minutes), form a smoothly rounded ball in bowl, spray it with Pam, and cover it with a non-fuzzy towel in a warm place. Let it double. Grease your hands with salad or olive oil. Pinch off apricot-sized balls of dough, roll a round ball, and pierce center all the way through with your index finger. Twirl the dough like a hula hoop, keeping your index finger in the air, until the hole in the center is at least 1-1/2 inches across. It's fun, and you'll get the knack in no time.

Put the bagels on a greased cookie sheets; let rise 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees, and put a large cake pan half full of water in the bottom of the oven. Fill a large, wide kettle 3/4 full with warm water + 3 T. malt syrup, sugar, or agave syrup and bring to a boil on top of the stove (some people also add 1/2 tsp. baking soda). Carefully slide a few bagels at a time into the water until the surface is covered but they don't touch, 4 or so at a time, depending on the size of the kettle. After one or more minutes in the boiling water, flip them to cook the other side one more minute. Respray the cookie sheets, sprinkle with cornmeal and sprinkle the top of the bagels with poppy or sesame seeds, and/or onion or garlic bits, if desired. Bake each pan in very hot oven (425-450) until golden, about 10-12 minutes --- watch 'em. Have a pan or water in the oven, or spray them a couple of times (not with an electric oven with a light bulb --- don't ask.)
Serve with lox and cream cheese, or nosh 'em plain, if you wish.
These freeze well; bag half-dozens and thaw and toast as needed.
Have fun, and it's really not as hard as this recipe may sound.