This breakfast sandwich is a perfect mix of a bagel and cream cheese and a ham and cheese sandwich. The melty cheese, salty ham and unique tang of the cream cheese create a flavor explosion in every bite!
Unpopular Opinion: I’m not a huge fan of breakfast. Scandalous, I know. I mean, I’ve been known to enjoy a pancake every once in a while. I like Honey Bunches of Oats. I can even eat an omelet now and then. But, generally, if I’m going to eat breakfast food, I am one of those Breakfast for Dinner kind of people more than someone who wants to go get breakfast. Oh, and don’t get me started on Brunch because that’s another unpopular opinion – I’m not into it. Lunch is my favorite meal, so don’t even come at me with eggs at lunch. Barf. Nothankyou. 🙅🏻♀️
With all of that said, I do love a breakfast sandwich. Sometimes, there really isn’t anything better than my extra hot no foam extra caramel caramel macchiato in one hand and this perfect breakfast sandwich in the other, and then just stuffing my face with both. It’s the little things, right?
So, this is basically my take on a Bragel. For those of you not in Michigan, or those of you in Michigan who live under a rock and never go to Biggby Coffee (buy local!), I’m basically ripping off their breakfast sandwich. The first time I had it, I thought I was just going to get ham and cheese on a plain bagel. Not anything special, but it would do the trick in a pinch. But then when I bit into it, I was like, uhhhh wtf is that tangy taste in my mouth? Like, I couldn’t figure out why I detected another taste other than bagel, cheese, and ham. I was blown away to find cream cheese. I’m not kidding you, I was blown away… and to be honest, a little pissed off because I wasn’t expecting it and it was weird. But then I took another bite and was like, wait a second, this is actually great. And then I ate the whole thing and now I’ve never looked back. All the Bragels, I say!
But then I wanted to try to figure out how to make it at home. Because that’s what I do. When I eat something at a restaurant and I love it, I immediately have to ruin it for my husband and figure out how to make it at home, which really ruins it for me in the long run because once I make it at home, he has no more interest in paying for it at a restaurant. Such is life.
Anyhow, when I actually watched one of the baristas make my Bragel, I saw they were doing this entirely with a toaster oven. And while I don’t have one of those, I do have a toaster, so I started experimenting. The thing about another breakfast sandwich I make, it involves using a pan and the stove, and I’m not trying to do that every morning, especially when I was going to work, and I was way, way less inclined once I had a baby. I know I could just buy one when I stop for coffee in the morning or I could buy the pre-made ones that are in the frozen aisle in the grocery store, but that’s just really not my style.
So what I found out was that they package their ham in these little foil packets and then they run them and the bagel through the toaster. Once the ham is warmed up and the bagel is toasted, it’s time to then spread on the cream cheese, throw a slice of cheese on and then smoosh it all together, then wrap the whole thing in foil so it’s roasty toasty and has a minute to melt together. I’m salivating just thinking about it. Yum. The roasty toasty part is the best part.
Because the ham has to get warmed up, the aluminum foil packets are really important, and I found that it’s just easier to do it all at once instead of having to do it one at a time. So, beyond the unique, every-bite-is-a-perfect-bite taste, this is also meal-prep friendly. In fact, when I went back to work after maternity leave (hey, I was back for two months, so it totally counts!), I packed the components for this sandwich in my lunchbox every day and pulled it out right when I got to work to get going on breakfast. And every day I was so happy and excited to assemble and eat this bad boy. I would prep them and package them every Sunday and keep them in the fridge and pull one out at a time. It worked because I had a work toaster. I mean, it wasn’t mine, it was a communal work toaster; the breakrooms each had toasters and it was perfect for the assembly part. Even now, though I don’t have a communal work toaster, I have our home toaster, which I suppose you could say is communal because I have to share with Jeff sometimes.
This sandwich is totally riffable too! I know that Biggby also does one that is turkey and Havarti, but you could really turn this into whatever kind of sandwich you want. I just tend to be a plain-jane-traditionalist, so the ham and cheese works for me. But, if you’re still thinking about how weird it is to put cream cheese on this sandwich and eat it like you’re totally fine combining the experience of a regular bagel-and-cream-cheese with a ham-and-cheese morning snack, you’re just going to have to trust me that it’s awesome.
The Perfect Breakfast Sandwich
Ingredients
- 1 Bagel (I use Bagel Thins)
- 1-2 tbsp cream cheese
- 2 slices thin sliced deli ham
- 1 slice American cheese
Instructions
- Create the foil packet you’ll use to warm your deli ham. With one rectangular piece of aluminum foil, place ham in top half portion, leaving enough room on each side and the top to fold over. Fold the bottom half of the rectangle up so it covers up the ham. Fold over each side (I usually fold at least twice) so that the side is closed and sealed and finish up with sealing the top. Your packet should be small enough to fit inside your toaster.
- Place foil packet into one opening of your toaster and allow the toaster to heat the ham within the foil packet. I usually let it go for about 2-3 minutes, just so I can tell it’s warm. The foil packet will be warmer than the ham, so be careful when taking it out! I’ve used tongs before.
- Depending on how many slices your toaster can handle (2 or 4), you can toast your bagel at the same time or just put your bagel in once your ham is warmed up. My bagel is usually done before my ham is at the optimal temperature, so I use that time to smear cream cheese on my bagel.
- Once all components are at your desired level of roasty toasty, smear cream cheese on your bagel. (Biggby usually only does one side, but I like cream cheese, so I do both sides. Your call.)
- Add your slice of cheese to one side of your bagel.
- Open up your foil packet and layer ham on top of your cheese.
- Add the top half of your bagel to the top of your sandwich.
- Enjoy your breakfast sandwich! (I usually wrap it up in another piece of aluminum foil for just a minute to let the heat of the bagel and ham melt the cheese and warm up, but you can totally just eat it once you’ve assembled it!)
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to see how it turned out!
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