I haven't made a breakfast grilled cheese in a while and to tell you the truth, I'm quite sad about it. We all hear how breakfast is the most important meal of the day so why the heck have I neglected this lovely mealtime for so long? In order to end this cycle of negligence I've created a super yummy and easy to eat-on-the-go breakfast themed grilled cheese! Forget about your typical breakfast and switch it up by rooting for team cream! chhhaaaaayeaahhhh!!!!!!
Here's what I used to switch it up:
Ingredients
-1 everything bagel
-1 handful of baby hierloom tomatoes (sliced in half)
-2 pads of real salted butter
-1 teaspoon of fresh thyme
-2 heaping tbs of organic cream cheese (or less if you're not obsessed with it like me)
So my beef with bagel sandwiches is that everything falls out all over the place when you try to cram it in your mouth. Every time I eat one of these I find myself with food all over my face, hands, and clothes, and quite frankly it stresses me out. So when I started to think about how I was going to build the perfect bagel grilled cheese I knew this was going to be the first and most important thing I had to address.
I finally solved this problem by hollowing out my bagel! I found that it kept everything nice and neat and afterward, my clothes didn't reflect the image of one of the regulars of Tompkins Square Park. To do this, I cut the bagel in half and placed it on my cutting board flat side down. From there, I took a serrated grapefruit spoon and started scooping out the top and bottom of the bagel.
Once I removed all the excess bits of bagel, I smeared a ton of cream cheese into the crevices. I am absolutely obsessed with cream cheese and I completely admit that I'm one of those gross people that pile it on super thick and then lick the rest off the knife. Gross, i know. But anyways, if you're still reading this and not on the same page as me, put on as much cream cheese as you can handle and start slicing your tomatoes in half.
Now gently push the halved baby tomatoes into the crevices of one side of the bagel. The more snug you can get them, the better. You don't want the front of your shirt covered in tomato seeds, now do you?!
For the other half of the bagel, evenly sprinkle on 1 teaspoon of the thyme leaves.
Since the cream cheese acts like a glue onto the other ingredients, basically just pick up both halves of the bagel and mash them together!
At this point you'll want to put a pad of butter into the pan and turn the heat to medium high. Once the butter starts to melt and spread out, lay your bagel in and sort of rub it around in the pan. This will help the butter to spread evenly onto your bagel.
After about 2 minutes on each side the bagel should start to form a golden brown crust. Once it's like this take it off the stove-top and eat it! If you're in a rush, simply wrap this guy in some tinfoil and take off. It actually keeps pretty well for a grilled cheese. YAY!
So do yourself a favor and start your day by enjoying a wonderful breakfast. And remember, mornings suck less if you involve some tasty food. If you start your day like this (as Midlake put it) "Mornings will be better to you!". Go team cream!
xoxo,
GCS
Samm
That looks amazing... I bet Basil would be amazing instead of thyme too... a play on the caprese. But this looks delish!
MacKenzie Smith
aww thank you guys! <3 <3
Alicia
this looks delicious! every time i tune into your blog you surprise me. keep up the good work. 🙂
Autumn McCarthy
I was thinking the same thing Sheila. We dont have the delicious NYC bagels down in Fl. And I am just like you Kenzie when it come to cream cheese- bring it on. I made the buffalo chicken sandwhich a couple weeks ago and Jeremy and I both loved it. Keep the recipes coming 🙂
Sandra
Fantastic idea! Love everything about this..but on the end I love all your posts!
{FLOURISH}
Just wanted to let you know that I am in LOVE with your blog. Grilled cheese is one of my ultimate favorite foods - so this blog is just...genius. I've tweeted about it, as well posted your site on my facebook.
PS. I'm trying the buffalo chicken sandwhich this weekend!
Jara
omg, this looks divine. I adore bagels with cream cheese and tomatoes which is such a classic meal. I never thought to grill them or hollow them out. definitely going to need to try this out soon! 🙂
Sheila
we do not have the great nyc bagels that you have nor do we have the tomatoes! But we have bagel world and the rest we can find!! I want to make this as soon as the I can!!! Girl do you just sit up all night and think up these creations???? Well keep it up. WE LOVE THEM!!!!
Chelsea
YUM! I love that you carved the inside of the bagel out. This looks freaking AMAZING. Breakfast? I'm eating it NOW.
Megan
Oh my goodness, that looks sooo damn good.
I don't understand how you can refrain from taking a bite until after the photos. That's some extreme skill. In addition, of course, to your amazing grilled cheese making skills.
I have to go try this now...