Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the cornmeal evenly over the paper. Put aside.
Strain the filled raisins, reserving the liquid. Pat the raisins dry and place in a small bowl. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, cocoa powder and nutmeg.
Add enough water to the reserved raisin water to measure 1 cup.
Place the bowl of a stand mixer on a kitchen scale and tare the weight to zero. Measure in the flour, raisin water, barley malt syrup, salt and yeast.
Place the bowl back on the mixer and secure it with the dough hook. Mix the ingredients on low speed until no dry spots of flour appear, about 4 minutes.
Pause to scrape down the sides of the bowl and increase the speed to medium. Blend until sides of bowl are almost clean, 2 to 3 minutes. The dough may appear dry and ragged, like cookie dough.
Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and let the dough rest for 20 minutes to allow the flour to hydrate evenly.
Cover the bowl and remove it from the blender. Add the raisin mixture and fold into the batter a few times using a stiff spatula or wooden spoon. Place the bowl back on the base of the blender and turn the speed on low for 2 to 3 minutes to further incorporate the raisins. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl and slide the dough off the hook.
The dough is very firm. If your mixer isn’t powerful enough, you can also knead the dough by hand.
Scrape the dough onto a clean, unfloured work surface and give it five or six kneads. Divide the dough into six equal pieces, each weighing 125g. Shape bagels and place on prepared baking sheet.
Cover the baking sheet tightly with plastic wrap lightly coated with cooking spray and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to cook and bake, remove the bagels from the refrigerator and uncover to allow them to come to room temperature while the oven heats up and the water boils. Your bagels may be slightly bloated at this point or may not show a significant rise, and that’s okay.
Place a pizza stone, baking sheet, or inverted baking sheet on the center rack of the oven and set the oven to its highest setting, 450°F to 500°F (230°C to 260°C) for most appliances. Preheat the oven for at least 30 minutes.
Fill a 5 quart (4.7 liters) or larger pot with water and bring it to a boil. Place a 9″ x 13″ piece of parchment on a pizza peel, large cutting board, or inverted baking sheet. (You’ll need to be able to easily slide the parchment paper loaded with bagels into the oven from this surface.)
One by one, gently lift, brush away excess cornmeal and drop into the boiling water. Repeat with another bagel or two only if they fit in the pot without crowding. Using a slotted spoon or spider, turn the bagels over and over in the water until they are very slightly puffy and shiny and appear drenched for 60 to 90 seconds. Small bubbles may appear on the surface.
Remove the bagels one at a time and place them on the parchment paper on the pizza peel, cornmeal side down. Repeat with the remaining bagels; Six bagels fit snugly on the parchment paper without touching.
Lower the oven temperature to 230°C (450°F). Slide the parchment paper with the bagels directly onto the hot surface of the oven and bake until deep golden and glossy, 12 to 16 minutes.
To remove the bagels from the oven, slide the parchment paper directly onto the shell. Set the bagels on their paper on a wire rack to cool.
As tempting as it is to grab those hot bagels right away, let them cool before eating.