Bagels! bagels bagels bagels.

I would suggest putting them in the fridge earlier. I know that recipe quite well. In warmer temperatures when I followed his steps (20 minutes after shaping put in the fridge is what he instructs, if I'm not mistaken), they came out flatter. I would say right after shaping (in warm weather or a warm kitchen), put them in the fridge.

Autolyse: (pronounced ah-toh-leez) Yeasted recipes - A short rest called an autolyse comes right after mixing the flour, yeast, oil, and water. It cuts down on your kneading time and allow the dough to bake into a lighter bread with a more open crumb. Here's how an autolyse  works. It allows the flour time to fully absorb the water, so the dough is less sticky when you knead it; It helps the gluten to both bond and break down, resulting in a dough that's quicker to knead and easier to shape; It gives the yeast time to rehydrate fully so you don't end up with yeast bits in the dough. You'll notice in the recipe that the salt goes in after the autolyse. This is because salt causes gluten to contract and toughen, preventing the gluten from absorbing as much water and thus fully benefiting from the autolyse."

Good day Murphy...For the first time, dont beat yourself up too bad, you did pretty good.  I was wondering, did you have parchment on your baking pan when you popped them into the oven?  I use the same recipe you are using and I'm doing a couple dozen per weekend for a while now.  My bagels really dont have any rise to speak of until they boil.  Once the dough is kneaded, I go right into cutting and making balls.  I do follow the 20min rest followed by shaping, then another 20 then into the cold storage.  And when I'm shaping if there was any rise it would be gone by the time Im done shaping.  But I place my bagels on parchment on a half sheet pan, cover tightly with plastic wrap, then when they come out of cold storage overnight the seams from my shaping are gone and I put them right into the boil.  I do 2 minutes each side, boiling 5-6 at a time (big alum. stock pot). Then put them on a new sheet of parchment on a half sheet pan and into the oven 500'f for 5 min. rotate pan 180 then I do another 4 minutes at 500.  I do not change my oven temp, because I'm usually trying to time boiling the next batch so they are done and ready to go in oven when first comes out.  Im interested as to why yours are deflating and browning if you are using parchment.  If your not I would suggest it.  If you are I might suggest a little cornmeal on the parchment under the bagels to help lift them a bit, and they add a little to the looks.  I stopped using meal a while ago though (just cause Im lazy, not for taste reasons).  Good luck, sorry I was so long winded.

TT