The Trick To Make Your Breakfast Bagels Even Better

Bagels and cream cheese are a classic breakfast combo. But people take their bagels in a variety of ways and battles over food preferences are notoriously hard-fought. Do you want a big, salty New York bagel or would you rather have a smaller, sweeter Montreal bagel? Do you prefer the bread toasted or not?

Toasting bread is a common culinary trick to boost flavor, but to some, toasting bagels is anathema. However, if you are partial to a toasted breakfast bagel, consider putting the cream cheese on first, before your bread meets the heat.

It should go without saying that this breakfast trick is inadvisable in a pop-up toaster. The cream cheese will stick to the metal grates that hold your bread vertically in place which would be a nightmare to clean. Don't try it on a conveyor belt toaster oven at a hotel's free breakfast, either. But with an air fryer — yes, an air fryer can toast bread — toasting the cream cheese may be the bagel switch-up you didn't know you needed.

This breakfast hack is as simple as it sounds. Cut your bagel and spread an appropriate (or not) amount of cream cheese on the bread. Put your open bagel in the air fryer at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about four minutes (a toaster oven will also work). Power levels can vary among air fryers, so your ideal cook time may be a little different. Let the bagel rest, and enjoy the beautifully-browned cream cheese on your crisp, toasty bagel.

You don't have to do this plain, either. A bagel can take a wide range of toppings and add-ons, and the same is true of a toasted cream cheese bagel. The toasty cheese of a crisp pizza bagel, for instance, hints at the potential promised by this breakfast hack. And like the bottomless possibility of a pizza bagel, feel free to get creative with other toppings for your toasted cream cheese bagel. Consider a dusting of cinnamon sugar or a few slices of bacon to tie it all together..