Welcome to the Great Bagel Boom, a series celebrating the vast creative expanses of bagel culture across America—because yes, you can find truly wonderful bagels outside of New York now.
People have strong opinions on sweet bagels. Go online and you’ll find that most people think they’re not as complex as savory bagel sandwiches, that the taste of the bread “clashes with sweetness,” that bagels are simply only good at being vessels for bacon, egg, and cheese or scallion schmear. But I disagree. Sweet bagel sandwiches can be just as complex, and it’s time we give them the respect they deserve.
Sure, rainbow bagels and funfetti cream cheese gave the sweet bagel sandwich a bad name. A new set of destination bagel shops across the country, though, are churning out legit good sweet bagel sandwiches: bagels with cream cheese and house-made guava jelly in Milwaukee; bagels topped with sliced banana and peanut butter blended with coconut, maple, and toasted seeds in Maine; and open-faced bagels featuring labneh, roasted strawberries, and slivers of pickled fennel in New Orleans. And I ask you this: If you order chocolate chip pancakes or syrupy waffles, why not show the sweet bagel sandwich some love once in a while too?
One of my favorite newfangled sweet bagel sandwiches comes from Korshak Bagels in South Philly. When I first visited in April, I had every intention of ordering a savory breakfast sandwich. Then I saw the three most beautiful words: Banana Foster Wallace. One of the staffers, who saw me standing there with my mouth open down to my feet, recommended that I order the spread on a cinnamon raisin bagel. I did, and when I unwrapped it, I found layers of marshmallow fluff and warm banana tahini jam—a medley of sticky-sweet, warm, and nutty flavors—heated to caramelly perfection. It was almost as if the cinnamon raisin bagel was made for this moment (cinnamon and raisin toast pairs wonderfully with honeyed tahini and banana, after all). One bite and I had unlocked a new core memory. I was sitting on a bench with my partner, eating what was basically a Bananas Foster for breakfast.
It was a revelation, but sweet bagels are not a new phenomenon—and to me, they’ve always been worth ordering. During my summer breaks in Turkey in the early 2000s, there was no sound sweeter than the cries of the simit man. Balancing a mountain of sesame bagels on a wooden board atop his head, he would wander the streets of the neighborhood like a door-to-door salesman. Though there are countless ways to enjoy simit, I always reached for the ever-so-saccharine black cherry jam to make a treat that marries all the flavors of home I love so much: toasted, nutty sesame seeds; thick, creamy tereyağı, or butter; and sweet-tart cherries.
There's also the ultimate legend in the sweet bagel canon, at least where I grew up on Long Island: Panera Bread’s Cinnamon Crunch Bagel. It’s baked with cinnamon and vanilla flavored chips and topped with a sweet cinnamon crunch topping; I eat it with cinnamon cream cheese for a warm, chewy treat with a crackle of cinnamon sugar in every bite. I’m not alone in my nostalgic love for this sweet treat. A cursory search for “cinnamon crunch bagel” yields countless copycat recipes, as well as lengthy discussions on how to order them in bulk in the Panera subreddit.
And who can forget Cynthia Nixon’s lox, cream cheese, tomatoes, red onion, and capers on a cinnamon raisin bagel? It sounded atrocious to many, but when BA staffers tried it, many conceded that the sweet-and-savory combo worked well.
So even if you never got into the sweet bagel in the past, it may be time to revisit. Obviously you can’t go wrong with a bagel with scallion cream cheese, or perhaps topped with bacon, egg, and cheese. But the sweet bagel sandwich is unique. But the sweet bagel sandwich is unique. When done well—don't go for gimmicky flavors like an Oreo bagel—it's another enticing way to highlight the best of fruity, creamy, sweet flavors. So be unafraid, friends. Get the sweet bagel, and embrace eating dessert for breakfast.