To make the starter:

1. The day before (12-14 hours) you intend to bake the bagels, make the starter. Combine the flour, salt, yeast and water in a stand mixer bowl and stir with a stiff spatula to create a shaggy dough. Turn the starter out onto the countertop (don’t use any additional flour) and knead for a few minutes to bring everything together. The starter will be tacky.
2. Place the starter back into the mixer bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and allow to rest at room temperature for 12-14 hours. 

Make the dough:

1. Add the water, vanilla, brown sugar, yeast, salt, cinnamon and bread flour to the starter in the stand mixer bowl. Do not add the cinnamon bits yet.
2. Use a stiff spatula or wooden spoon to scrape the starter off of the bottom of the bowl and mix it in with everything else, just until a somewhat shaggy dough begins to form.
3. Use the dough hook on medium low speed to knead the dough until it’s smooth, elastic and slightly tacky. This will take anywhere from 8-10 minutes, depending on your mixer. The minimum time will be 8 minutes to properly form the gluten structure in the dough.
4. After 6 minutes, add the cinnamon bits and finish the kneading time.
5. Add the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm, draft free place until doubled, about 2 1/2 hours.
6. After the dough has doubled, deflate it by turning it out onto a very lightly floured surface. Divide into 6 equal pieces.
7. Create a ball by folding in the edges to the center of a piece of dough. Pinch the seam shut and set aside. The seam side will be tacky. Repeat with the remaining pieces. (See in post visual aid for help)
8. Place the dough ball on the counter with the tacky seam side down, and make a “C” shape with your palm so that the inside cup of the “C” faces the dough. Rest your hand on the counter so that your hand just touches the dough. The pinky side of your hand should be against the dough ball and the rest of your hand should angle just slightly away from it.
9. Applying slight pressure, use your cupped hand to draw the dough ball across the counter, towards your body in a circular motion. The dough will be tacky where you pinched the folds together, which will cause the tension when the ball moves over the counter, creating the tight, smooth surface. The shape and position of your hand helps by holding that underside mostly in place while also pushing the ball.
10. If the dough is so sticky that it won’t tighten, use a very light dusting of flour and continue trying. Just be careful not to add too much, or the dough will just slide without tightening. If that happens, use a damp kitchen towel to clean the flour from the counter. You may go back and forth a few times until you find the right balance of flour to clean countertop.
11. Place the pre shaped dough balls to a lightly floured or greased baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
12. After 15 minutes, create the holes in each bagel by poking a floured finger into the center of a dough ball. Stretch each ball into a ring shape, creating a hole between 3-4 inches wide. Set the shaped bagel back onto the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining bagels. 
13. After the bagels have all been shaped, cover them again and allow them to rest for 30 minutes. During this resting time, preheat the oven to 450 degrees, prepare the water bath and get the toppings ready.

To boil, top and bake:

1. Add the 4 cups of water and 2 TB honey to a large, wide pot and bring to a boil over high heat. I used a 5 quart Dutch oven and it worked perfectly. As the water warms up, stir occasionally to dissolve the honey. 
2. Beat the egg and water together in a small bowl, making sure most of the white has been blended in. Set aside.
3. Add 1 TB of the coarse sparkling sugar, all of the brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour and cinnamon to a small bowl and stir to combine. Mix the melted butter and vanilla together and stir into the sugar mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Separate the remaining 2 TB coarse sugar and 1/2 cup cinnamon bits into small bowls.
5. Keep the small bowls of egg wash, cinnamon crumble topping, sparkling sugar and cinnamon bits grouped close together and within reach for easy grabbing.
6. After the shaped bagels have rested for 30 minutes and the water bath is boiling, add two or three bagels at a time to the bath and boil for 1 minute. Flip the bagels and boil for another minute before removing from the bath to a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat for the remaining bagels and carefully remove the water bath from the heat.
7. Brush the boiled bagels with egg wash and sprinkle the cinnamon crumble evenly over the tops. Follow with some of the cinnamon bits, and finally a generous sprinkle of the coarse sugar. Do your best to divide all of the toppings (except the egg wash) evenly among the bagels to use it all up. Some of it will get onto the parchment, that’s ok.
8. Bake the bagels in the preheated oven for 20-22 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 20 minutes before serving warm.

Reheating instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and wrap each bagel in foil. Warm wrapped bagels in the oven for 20-25 minutes until hot and soft.
2. Use up leftover bagels within 2 days. Do not freeze baked bagels, or the crunchy topping will get gummy when they thaw.