Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Rolls Recipe

Lovers of the everything bagel, rejoice. This recipe for everything bagel cream cheese rolls is a cross between soft dinner rolls and your favorite old-school bagel, and is as easy as they come to prepare. It feels ever so complicated, with layers of herby seasoned cream cheese filling in soft, tender rolls and with a perfectly flavorful everything bagel crunch on top. No one will suspect it all comes together with less than 30 minutes of work. 

Why have your bagel with a side of cream cheese when you can make easy work of the whole thing and combine them into one dish?  That was the thinking behind our "stroke of genius" dinner roll. According to Ksenia Prints of At the Immigrant's Table, the secret to getting these buns to taste just a bit extra is in the filling. Instead of a boring cream cheese filling, we went with a mix of green onions, dill, and chives to give the cream cheese a green hue and a herbaceous flavor profile. A touch of garlic powder, and our cream cheese and herb filling is worthy of its own entry into the pantheon of dinner roll heaven. 

So mix your own everything bagel topping, crack open a couple of cans of our favorite kitchen shortcut,  Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, and find out why cream cheese and bagels are a match made in heaven. Especially when it's garlic and herb cream cheese.

For the cream cheese and herb filling, you'll need cream cheese, green onions, fresh dill, fresh chives, black pepper, and garlic powder. For the everything bagel topping, we will mix sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried minced garlic, dried minced onion, and flaky sea salt. And finally, for the rolls themselves, some prepped and chilled Pillsbury Crescent Rolls cans, and a beaten egg, for the egg wash.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a food processor, blend the cream cheese, green onions, dill, chives, black pepper, and garlic powder until uniform.

Refrigerate until firm enough to handle.

Mix the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic, onion, and salt in small bowl.

Separate each can of Pillsbury dough into 6 individual parts.

Roll out each part into a 3-inch disc.

Place 2 teaspoons of cream cheese mixture in the center of each disc.

Fold the dough over the filling, pinch the edges to seal, and shape into a ball.

Arrange the buns on the baking sheet with 1 inch between them.

To make the egg wash, whisk together the egg with a touch of water.

Brush the rolls with the beaten egg.

Coat them generously with the everything bagel mixture.

Bake for 22-25 minutes until golden brown, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

Serve warm.

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You can certainly prepare these rolls ahead of time, and still pretend like they just came out of the oven with that intoxicating smell. The easiest method is to prepare the rolls completely through (and including) the step of adding the everything bagel topping, and then place them on a baking sheet and freeze them until solid, about 2-3 hours. 

Once they are frozen, transfer the rolls to a freezer bag or a well-sealed container, separating the layers with parchment paper, and return to the freezer. When ready to bake, place the frozen rolls straight from the freezer onto a baking sheet and bake for the specified time, plus 5 more minutes. They'll still get the same golden brown color and will smell amazing, and no one will be the wiser.

Alternatively, you can freeze fully-baked rolls too, though the texture of reheated rolls won't be as perfect. To reheat them from frozen, thaw them in the fridge overnight and bake them in a 300 F oven for 10 minutes.

If you don't feel like heading to the store for the Pillsbury rolls or prefer to make your own dough, we salute you for going the extra mile. The homemade version will have a more bread-like texture, with a much more prominent and poofy rise.

If making from scratch, we recommend going with a basic enriched dough recipe, similar to what you'd use for dinner rolls or brioche. To make that, combine 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast in a large bowl. Warm ¾ cup milk and 4 tablespoons butter until the butter melts, then cool slightly before adding to the dry ingredients along with 1 beaten egg. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes by hand or 5-6 minutes in a stand mixer. Cover and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, or approximately 1 hour, then punch down and divide into 12 equal portions. 

From there, follow the original recipe instructions for filling and shaping. After shaping, let the rolls rise again for about 30-45 minutes until puffy, before applying the egg wash and everything bagel topping. The baking time should be pretty similar, though this type of dough may need another five minutes in the oven. 

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