Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Biscuits

Name: Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Biscuits
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1/4 cup poppy seeds; 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds; 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds; 3 tablespoons dried minced garlic; 3 tablespoons dried minced onion; 2 tablespoons flaky sea salt; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1/4 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 4 tablespoons butter; 4 ounces cream cheese (half a block); 4 tablespoons everything bagel seasoning; 3/4 cup buttermilk; 1 large egg; 1 tablespoon water

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These Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Biscuits are ultra fluffy and delicious. The mix of cream cheese and butter makes them super soft and flaky and the everything seasoning will remind you of your favorite bagel.

Everything bagel cream cheese biscuits on a parchment paper lined sheet pan.

This recipe is a result of my absolute disaster of an attempt to turn my no-knead rolls into bagels. After realizing I couldn't turn a very loose dough into a very dense bagel I needed to pivot. I instead turned my efforts to transforming my buttermilk biscuits into these amazing Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Biscuits.

If you love everything bagels, you're going to lose your mind over these cream cheese biscuits with everything bagel seasoning both in the dough and sprinkled on top. They are as flaky as you would want a biscuit to be and the cream cheese makes a biscuit so tender that it practically melts in your mouth. The everything seasoning and the cream cheese, along with the flakiness of my biscuits, brings all flavor and texture you could dream of!

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❤️ What you'll love about this recipe
Ingredients
Substitutions
Instructions
Food processor instructions
Expert tip
Recipe FAQ's
More biscuit recipes you'll love
Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Biscuits

❤️ What you'll love about this recipe

Texture - Thanks to the butter and the cream cheese, these biscuits are both flaky and fluffy. The everything bagel seasoning gives pops of texture and flavor both inside and out!
Flavor - The garlic and onion flavor of the everything bagel seasoning, along with the cream cheese biscuit, bring you the best of an everything bagel.
Easy - Don't believe the hype. Making biscuits is so easy and gets easier every time you do it!
Quick - From beginning to end, including chill time, these Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Biscuits can be in your mouth in about 45 minutes.
Make ahead - You can make these biscuits and freeze them to bake up to 3 months ahead! Perfect for busy nights and holidays.

Ingredients

If you don't have a permanent biscuit ready pantry, you will after you make these Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Biscuits!

See recipe card below for quantities.

Substitutions

I really want you to make these cream cheese biscuits, so here are a few substitutions you can make if you need them:

Everything bagel seasoning - If you can't consume salt, there are salt free everything bagel seasonings available instead. If you just don't like everything seasoning, you can replace it with something you like or leave it out entirely.
Buttermilk - If you don't have buttermilk you can use yogurt in its place. If using Greek yogurt you may need to thin it out a bit with milk. In a pinch, you can also use milk, but leave out the baking soda.
All-purpose flour - I haven't tried it in this particular recipe, but I have used King Arthur Flour's gluten free flour in my other biscuits with great results.
Cream cheese - Because of the flavor, I am always in the "full fat" dairy camp, but you can use low fat or Neufchatel cream cheese. Only use cream cheese that comes in the rectangular bricks though. The tub type of cream cheese has additives that make it more easily spreadable, which is not what you want in a biscuit.

Instructions

These biscuits come together quicker, and more easily, than you might imagine. The first couple of times that you make biscuits you might be nervous, but soon enough you're going to be an expert!

Step 1: In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

Rubbing butter and cream cheese into flour with fingers for biscuits.

Step 2: Toss cold butter and cream cheese cubes into the dry ingredients and, using a pastry cutter or your fingers, mix in the cold butter until you have a mixture of flat pieces and crumbly, pea sized bits of butter mixed into the flour.

Tossing everything bagel seasoning into flour and butter mixture for biscuits.

Step 3: Add 3 tablespoons of everything bagel seasoning and mix in.

Adding buttermilk to everything bagel biscuit dough.

Step 4: Add cold buttermilk.

Step 5: Gently mix the buttermilk and the dry ingredients together until you have a fairly uniform, loose dough. The flour won't look all mixed in and that's okay. It will come together.

Using a bench scraper to shape biscuit dough into a square.

Step 6: Dump the shaggy dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Using your hands, gently bring it everything together into a rough square.

Using a bench scraper to cut biscuit dough into four pieces and stack them.

Step 7: With a bench scraper or knife, cut into four smaller squares. Stack the pieces of biscuit dough on top of each other. Smush it all down into a square again. Repeat this cutting and stacking procedure 2 more times.

Rolling out everything bagel cream cheese biscuit dough.

Step 8: Pat or roll the dough into a rectangle about ½ inch thick.

Cutting out a square everything cream cheese biscuit.

Step 9: Use a biscuit cutter or sharp knife to cut out biscuits. Place on a parchment paper lined large sheet pan and place in the freezer to chill while you preheat the oven to 425°F.

Egg washed biscuits sprinkled with everything seasoning.

Step 10: When the oven reaches 425°F, remove biscuits from the freezer and brush with an egg wash made of one egg whisked with a tablespoon of water. Sprinkle everything bagel seasoning on each biscuit.

Bake at 425°F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown. Allow to cool on the pan for about 10 minutes before devouring.

Everything cream cheese biscuits on a sheet pan with more cream cheese, smoked salmon and capers on the side.

Finish: Top with anything you like, from just a schmear of butter to an entire bagels and lox vibe with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and capers.

Food processor instructions

Food processor - I sometimes have mobility issues (pain and stiffness) in my hands, making cutting the butter in with my fingers difficult. On those days I utilize my food processor to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. Here's how I do it:

Measure all of the dry ingredients into the bowl of your food processor. Pulse a few times to mix it all together. Add cold, cubed butter to the dry ingredients and pulse 5 to 6 times, or until most of the butter is in pea sized or smaller pieces. Pour into a mixing bowl and proceed with the rest of the biscuit recipe.

Expert tip

I've read some articles that suggest that you can cut biscuits with any old round thing you find laying around your kitchen. I disagree wholeheartedly. The technique I use to build flaky layers is amazing. Using a rounded-edge drinking glass to cut out the biscuits would ruin that. The dull edge would seal the biscuit edges, keeping them from rising to their full potential.

For best results, use a sharp metal edge, like a biscuit cutter, or a even a knife, to cut clear, sharp edges to your biscuits. To avoid sealing the edges, do not twist your cutter. Press straight down and lift straight up.

Recipe FAQ's

Instead of using cream cheese, can I make these with all butter?

Yes you can! Just like in my original buttermilk biscuits, instead of using cream cheese, you would substitute with an additional ¼ cup, or 4 tablespoons of butter.

How should I store leftover biscuits?

Store leftover biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. I do not recommend refrigerating biscuits as that can change the texture.

How do I reheat my leftover biscuits?

I recommend wrapping the desired number of biscuits in aluminum foil, and reheating in a 400°F oven for 5 to 8 minutes. Unwrap and heat another 3 to 4 minutes. You can also microwave them for about 20 seconds on high.