Cream Cheese Stuffed Mini Bagel Bombs

When it comes to a portable breakfast you can eat on the go, bite-sized cream cheese stuffed bagel bombs are hard to beat. Learn how to make your own cream cheese stuffed bagels and you can customize them however you like, changing up the flavors of the cream cheese (this 10-minute scallion cream cheese is a fave!) and any toppings.

Bagel bombs are a fun beginner baking project, and I've got step-by-step photo instructions to guide you through it. There's also a video at the end of the post if you need it!

If you're looking for a homemade recipe for the Shark Tank famous Bantam Bagels you can find in the freezer aisle (and at Starbucks) or for Dunkin' Donuts Stuffed Bagel Minis, you're in the right place!

These bite-sized cream cheese stuffed bagel bombs are freezer-friendly and super quick to reheat in the microwave or toaster oven. Perfect for breakfast or snack time!

About This Recipe

As a practically-minded baking blogger, I'm always looking for ways to use my existing recipes in new ways. So for these homemade bagel bombs, I started with the dough for my homemade mini bagels. No changes needed — it's a great simple bagel dough that holds its shape well.

I did test a version of my traditional new york-style bagel dough with this recipe by adding barley malt syrup to the dough and boiling water. But the flavor was hardly noticeable — the flavor really only shows up if you do a long, overnight rise. And for a quick and snackable recipe like this, I wanted to keep things quick!

I've tried other recipes for cream cheese stuffed bagel bombs before but generally found they turned out a lot bigger than I wanted them to.

The thing I like about the Bantam Bagels and the Dunkin' Donuts Stuffed Bagel Minis is that they're easy to eat in two or three bites. At the same time, I often wish those were more filling. So I was aiming for something just a little bigger. The Goldilocks of cream cheese stuffed bagels, if you will.

My recipe testing for these mostly came down to testing different ratios of cream cheese to bagel dough. I wanted to stuff as much cream cheese into each bagel bomb as possible without causing them to explode during baking.

I started with 1 teaspoon (10 grams) of cream cheese per bagel bomb, but the final recipe ended up with a little more than 1 tablespoon (18 grams) in each one. Super satisfying! Very filling! And really fun to make.

Ingredient Notes

Here are the ingredients you'll need to make these bite-sized cream cheese stuffed bagel bombs. Pay special attention to the type of cream cheese! See recipe card (at the end of the bblg post) for ingredient quantities.

• All-Purpose Flour - I use King Arthur Baking's all-purpose flour which has a relatively high protein content for an all-purpose flour. If you're using another brand of flour with a lower protein content you may have better results with bread flour.
• Instant Yeast - Sometimes called "rapid rise" yeast. This yeast does not need to be bloomed in water and can be added directly to the dry ingredients. (See Practical Tips & Recipe Notes below for what to do if you only have Active Dry yeast).
• Salt - I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt which is half as salty as other brands of salt by volume. If measuring salt by weight, it doesn't matter what brand of salt you use. But if you're measuring by volume (teaspoons) and using a different brand of salt, even a different brand of kosher salt (e.g. Morton's), cut the amount of salt in half.
• Sugar - Plain granulated sugar is all you need here. You can also use brown sugar if you prefer.
• Water - Lukewarm to the touch. Not hot. If you want to be precise, it should be between 100-110°F.
• Egg - For the egg wash! The egg wash gives these bagel bombs their shiny crusts. If you're adding any toppings, the egg wash will also help them stick.
• Cream Cheese - Use brick-style cream cheese or my easy homemade cream cheese to fill these bagel bombs. The whipped cream cheeses or "cream cheese spreads" tend to melt a bit funny during the baking process. You can also, use a creamy goat cheese (like my homemade goat cheese) or brick-style Neufchâtel cheese instead of cream cheese if you prefer.

Portion the Cream Cheese

Before you do anything else, start by portioning the cream cheese and popping it in the freezer. Frozen cream cheese is easier and less messy to handle. And by doing it before you make the dough, you won't forget to do it later.

If you're going to add any flavors or mix-ins to your cream cheese filling, microwave the cream cheese beforehand just slightly to make it easier to mix.

Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat and place it on a kitchen scale. Make sure you can see the display screen of your scale.

A standard brick of cream cheese is 226 grams (8 ounces / 1 cup) which you're going to divide into 12 equal portions of approximately 18 grams each. If they're off by a gram or two here or there, don't sweat it.

Each portion is slightly more than a tablespoon which is a nightmare to try to measure with actual tablespoons, so you're better off weighing it out. I do use a tablespoon scoop to divide it up, but cream cheese is sticky and unwieldy, so I usually have to even the scoops out as I go.

Pop the sheet pan in the freezer, covered or uncovered, and move on to making the dough.

Making Bagel Dough

You can make this bagel dough in a stand mixer with a dough hook or knead it by hand. It's a very easy dough and really fun to work with.

Ready? Here's what you do: Mix the dry ingredients together in your mixing bowl, then add the water. Easy!

If you live somewhere humid, hold back about ⅛ cup of water to start, and add it gradually if the dough seems dry. You may not need all of the water. If you live somewhere dry (like I do), you likely will need all the water!

Use a dough hook if you're using your mixer, or use a stiff spatula or dough whisk if mixing by hand and mix the dough together just until there's no dry bits in the bowl and all the water has been absorbed.

Once the dough comes together in a messy ball, start kneading. Increase the mixer speed and knead the dough for 3-5 minutes until it is smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky to the touch. If you're kneading by hand, knead on a clean countertop dusting in flour as needed to prevent sticking, for about 8-10 minutes.

If the dough is sticking to the walls or bottom of the bowl, dust in more flour one teaspoon at a time, giving it plenty of time to incorporate before adding more.

Bagel dough is a low-hydration dough, meaning it has a relatively small amount of water relative to the flour. You'll know it needs more water if it looks like it's tearing instead of stretching, if it doesn't smooth out after a few minutes of kneading, or if you can still see dry bits in the bowl that aren't incorporating.

If the bagel dough does need more water, the best way to add it is by dipping your fingers in water and flicking droplets onto the dough, focusing on the parts that look dry. This will keep you from adding too much water.

Next, shape the bagel dough into a ball, place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and let it rise for one hour or until doubled in size.

The temperature of the water and the temperature of the room the dough is rising in will affect how quickly it rises. Cool temperatures slow yeast activity, warm temperatures speed it up. The ideal room temperature for dough rising is somewhere around 72°F.

How to Shape Cream Cheese Stuffed Bagel Bombs

The first step in shaping these mini cream cheese stuffed bagels is to preshape the dough into nice round dough balls. This helps the dough get used to the round shape and makes it easier to stretch it around the cream cheese later.

Turn the dough out onto a clean countertop and gently deflate it with your fingers. Then, divide the dough into twelve equal portions using a kitchen scale.

Just like in my mini bagel recipe, each dough ball should weigh around 50-52 grams. (If you've never shaped dough balls before, head to that blog post for more detail, the process is the same!)

Once you have twelve nice round dough balls, cover them with a damp paper towel and let them rest for 15-20 minutes. This gives the gluten network time to relax.

Cup your hand around it the dough ball with your pinkie flush against the counter and scoot the ball in tight circles to tighten up the seam at the bottom. Pinch any remaining visible seams shut if needed.

It's really important to get all the seams and edges underneath the bagel bomb and pinched together here. Any visible creases, cracks, or fissures will expand when you boil them so you want to make sure the bagel bombs are as smooth as possible.

When you put the dough ball down on the counter with the seam side down, you should see a perfectly smooth ball all the way around with all the edges hidden underneath.

Arrange the bagel bombs on a parchment-lined sheet pan, cover them with a damp paper towel, and let them rest for another 15-20 minutes while you preheat the oven and bring a pot of water to a boil.

Do NOT rush this final resting step — it is super important to give the dough time to seal shut so your bagel bombs don't open during boiling or baking! You can let them sit for up to 30 minutes before boiling if needed.

Boiling and Baking Bagel Bombs

Boiling is a crucial step in any bagel or bagel-adjacent baking process. It gelatinizes the starches in the outer crust, giving it that characteristic shiny bagel chewiness. It also sets the crust in place, preventing it from expanding too much in the oven during baking.

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: If they're not boiled, they're not bagels!

And yes, that applies to cream cheese stuffed bagel bombs too. Luckily these bagel bombs only need to be boiled for about 25-30 seconds. Just enough time to set the crust, but not enough time for them to fully expand and spill cream cheese everywhere.

You can work in batches for this step — depending on how wide your pot is you should be able to do two batches of six bagel bombs each or four batches of three bagel bombs each.

The bagel dough expands slightly in the water, which means the seams at the bottom are at risk of coming apart. Keep a close eye on them in the pot — if the bottom seam is expanding too much, you'll want to remove those bagel bombs first!

You can add any toppings you like to your mini bagels. These are great with my homemade everything bagel seasoning!

Bagel bombs bake for 20-22 minutes at 400°F. You're looking for a light golden brown color here.

Storage & Freezing Notes

Due to the cream cheese filling, these bagel bombs cannot be stored at room temperature.

Once cool, refrigerate cream cheese stuffed bagel bombs in an airtight bag with as much air pressed out as possible for 4-5 days. To reheat, microwave for 10-15 seconds or in the oven at 350°F for 5-7 minutes.

Mini bagel bombs can also be frozen and stored in an airtight bag with as much air pressed out as possible for up to 1 month. Reheat in the microwave for 30-40 seconds or in the oven at 350°F for 10-15 minutes.

Customizing Cream Cheese Flavors

You can add up to 36 grams of ~other flavors~ to the cream cheese before scooping and freezing it. That means you'll have 21 grams of cream cheese per bagel bomb instead of 18 grams.

Practical Tips and Recipe Notes

• I used this 1 tablespoon scoop to portion out my cream cheese. It's not a perfect scoop and cream cheese is thick and prone to air bubbles which is why I weigh each scoop for accuracy. But I find using the scoop is easier than a spoon or knife in terms of controlling mess. You decide what's right for you.
• The only reason to bloom yeast in warm water before adding it to your dough is if you're using active dry yeast (see next bullet point) and/or to check that it's still alive. Store your yeast in the freezer and you'll never have to worry about this step.
• If using active dry yeast, mix it with the warm water and sugar from the recipe and let it sit for 5 minutes before adding the water/sugar/yeast mixture to the flour and salt. You can also just add it to the dry ingredients as the recipe says; with active dry yeast your dough just make take a little longer to rise.
• I've been recipe testing in a very cold kitchen and have found that using a cheap (less than $15) seed-starting heat mat is a great way to keep my dough warm so it rises properly. Super important especially after you've stuffed the bagel bombs — the warmth helps the bottoms seal back up!
• You can use any of my other bagel recipes to make the dough for these bagel bombs. Those doughs will make 16 bagel bombs instead of 12, so you'll need an additional 54 grams of cream cheese for the filling.

📖 Recipe