Cream Cheese Brunch Board with Garlic-Toasted Bagels

This Cream Cheese Brunch Board with Garlic-Toasted Bagels is easy to put together but is sure to impress your brunch guests. This post is sponsored by Toufayan Bakeries.

Video: Making A Cream Cheese Board

Ingredients

Any variety of Toufayan Bagels works well for this brunch board. In this recipe, I’ve used the Plain and Everything.

Toufayan Bagels are packaged pre-sliced for easy toasting and eating, and for this recipe, it saves a step. The bagels only need to be sliced in half once to create four pieces per bagel. You’ll find their bagels, along with pita, wraps, Smart Pockets, and more in the deli section of the grocery store, or you can visit their Amazon Store, where they ship directly to your from their bakery.

Any variety of smoked salmon is perfect with this recipe, but look for a package that is pre-sliced thin, and one with the fewest added ingredients. Smoked salmon really should just be salmon, maybe some salt, and that’s it. 

Capers are the immature, green flower buds of the caper bush, a prickly plant that grows in Italy, Morocco, Spain, Asia, and Australia. After being picked, buds are dried and then preserved by curing in salt or pickling in a brine. Salt-cured capers need to be well-rinsed before using and are not recommended for this recipe. Look for capers in a liquid brine. You’ll find capers most often in the pickle aisle in the grocery store, usually on the top shelf in small glass jars.

Caper buds come in a variety of sizes, and for this recipe, you’ll want the small-sized buds. We want it so they’re easy to scoop up with the cream cheese and other toppings.

The onions need to be sliced paper thin, so if you have a mandoline, this is the perfect time to use it. If you don’t have a mandoline and can’t get the slices thin enough by hand, the onion can instead be finely minced and sprinkled evenly over the cream cheese.

I like to finish up my cream cheese board with some brightness from fresh chives and dill.

Making Garlic-Toasted Bagels

Toasting the bagels with a little olive oil and seasoning gives this cream cheese board so much extra flavor and texture.

To make the garlic toasted Toufayan Bagels, preheat the oven to 400°F. Slice the bagels in half so each bagel is in 4 pieces (these bagels are packaged pre-sliced, so convenient!). Place the bagels cut side up on a large sheet pan. Then spray the bagels generously with olive oil spray or lightly spread with softened butter. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, and garlic evenly over each bagel, then place the pan in the oven.

How To Make A Cream Cheese Brunch Board

While the bagels are toasting, spread the room-temperature cream cheese onto a food board, platter, or plate. You’ll be spreading the cream cheese out to about a 6-7 inch diapmeter so start with a surface that is bigger than that.

Then, using your hands, break the smoked salmon into bite-sized pieces and scatter them evenly over the cream cheese. Top the salmon with the thinly sliced red onion, capers, chive, and dill.

Complete Your Easy Brunch

Now, if you wanted to go the extra mile with your brunch, I’ve got some ideas. First off, my Bloody Mary Brunch Board allows guests to make their own fancy Bloody Mary garnishes as elaborate as they would like. Or they can just just snack from the board because it’s full of tasty fixings.

You could also pair one of my delicious Butter Boards with this. They can be made in minutes with so many different flavor combinations. Set out some additional fresh fruit and some pita wedges, and brunch is ready to go!

Podcast Episode: Making A Brunch Board

This post and recipe are sponsored by Toufayan Bakeries. Thank you, Toufayan!