Add Zip to Your Bagels With Flavored Cream Cheese

Whether you’ll break fast on Yom Kippur next month, or simply enjoy a  bagel with your morning coffee or tea this weekend, cream cheese makes any bagel better. A plain schmear is good, but flavored cream cheese can elevate your bagel to a meal (or a dessert, depending on how you flavor it).

This is your opportunity to apply everything you’ve learned about  herbs, spices, salt, and aromatics. We’ve gathered a bunch of ideas to help you mix up a batch of specialty flavored cream cheese that will rival anything from a New York deli.

Why Bagels and Cream Cheese?

We were fascinated to learn that the tradition of eating bagels with cream cheese and lox grew out of another well-loved breakfast: Eggs Benedict. Because Eggs Benedict doesn’t comply with kosher law, Jews in New York  swapped ingredients to create their own version. Instead of ham and hollandaise sauce, lox and cream cheese are the toppings. Bagels were brought to the US by eastern European immigrants in the early 1900’s and were the ideal vehicle for lox and cream cheese.

Because Yom Kippur entails more than 24 hours of fasting, it’s no wonder observant Jews are famished when it’s time to break fast. Bagels and cream cheese are quick and easy to serve after being  prepared in advance of the holiday. Day-old bagels are not ideal, but we imagine there isn’t any complaining when breaking fast. We also learned that dairy is a staple at the Yom Kippur break fast meal because it’s easier to digest on an empty stomach than meat.

How Much Cream Cheese Is Too Much?

In our research for this post, we read several pieces expressing exasperation over the amount of cream cheese served on bagels. We’ve ordered bagels from New York to Los Angeles and dozens of places in between, and we’ve experienced the same frustration.

“It’s like all the  bagel restaurants got together one day and decided: okay everyone, let’s add approximately four inches worth of cream cheese to every bagel. Then our customers will walk around with cream cheese all over their faces and clothes and it will be hysterical.”

We expect that if you make flavored cream cheese at home, especially if you serve it with homemade bagels, you’ll be more judicious with your schmears. Better yet, serve your cream cheese in ramekins and allow your guests to decide how much cream cheese is enough.

Flavored Cream Cheese Recipes to Try

Step away from the pre-packaged varieties of flavored cream cheese and check out these recipes. There’s no shortage of delicious ideas out there, and they’re easier than you might think. We hope these recipes will inspire you to dream up your own concoctions too.

From The Kitchn

We’re on board with all the creative flavor combinations proposed by  The Kitchn. While the bacon and scallion cream cheese isn’t kosher, the rest appear to be suitable for both Yom Kippur break fast or weekend breakfast. At the top of our must-try list: Bleu cheese with rosemary, harissa with mint, and roasted garlic with black pepper. You won’t find any of those in a plastic container at the grocery store.

From What Jew Wanna Eat

Dill pickle cream cheese: Two of the best parts of a New York deli in a  single savory spread. We love this idea and can’t wait to try it on a homemade onion bagel. Simply dice up a few pickle spears and sprinkle them over a block of softened cream cheese. Add a tablespoon of pickle brine and a tablespoon of fresh dill, and mix everything together until combined. You can add salt to taste, along with red pepper flakes for a touch of heat.

From Rodelle

Rodelle is a Colorado-based food company specializing in vanilla extract, along with a variety of other flavorings and spices. Their flavored cream cheese recipes are on the sweet side, but with a depth of flavor that you can’t get from merely mixing chopped fruit with plain cream cheese. Choose from vanilla maple walnut, cocoa cinnamon, and strawberry vanilla. They’ll go perfectly with plain bagels, but we’d also spread them on croissants or fresh fruit.