Good, but not perfect, Bagel Recipe

I don't consider this recipe a total success. I need to make it a few more times, and work out some problems in the rising, but since people have been asking for it, I am delivering it as is. I received this recipe from someone on the Sonlight Homeschool Curriculum forums.

Making bagels is a lot of work, and one of the reasons I'm still making them is that I got a Bosch mixer for Christmas, which kneads the dough for me. For my family, I made a quadruple batch of this recipe, and then I made another quadruple batch the next day. The first day, I divided the dough as the recipe states, and I thought the bagels were a bit too small. The second day, I divided each batch into eight bagels, instead of twelve.

Combine:
1 Tbsp dry yeast
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup warm water

Add until kneadable: 3 cups flour

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until elastic (8-10 min). Place in greased bowl and turn over so top of dough is also greased. Cover with clean towel and let rise in warm place 30-45 min.

Punch dough down. Separate into 12 pieces. Shape into balls and work in sesame, poppy or caraway seeds, or minced onion if desired. Stick your thumb through to make 1/2 to 1 inch hole to form bagel shape. Place bagels on well floured surface, and let rise 20 minutes or until doubled. Put 2-3 bagels at a time into a large pot of boiling water with 1 tbsp oil added. Let bagels rise to top, turning over. Remove and sprinkle with salt, onion, or more seeds if desired. Bake on cookie sheet dusted with corn flour or corn meal at 450 F for 15 - 20 min until brown on bottom.

The place I am having problems is after the second rising. I need to be more careful to flour the surface upon which I put the bagels, as they have to be lifted after rising. If they stick to the table while being lifted, they often sink, and need to rise again!

Another problem is removing the bagels from the boiling water. The recipe says to turn them over when they rise to the top, but mine never sink! I also don't know how long they should be in the water. Additionally, removing the bagels from the water is a bit tricky. I've used a large spoon, but often the spoon sinks into the bagel, causing it to flatten. I've had a bit better success with a large pancake spatula, but it still isn't working as well as I'd like. My bagels were tasty, but their shape was a bit flatter then I was hoping for.

Good luck! Let me know if you try these, and how yours come out. Maybe you can help me sort out the difficulties I'm still having.