Transform Boring Plain Bagels Into Crispy, Flavorful Garlic Bagel Bites
Bagels. They're good for a slather of leftover cream cheese with lox on top or a dollop of scrambled eggs and melted cheese. And believe it or not, they're even good if they're a day or two old and a smidgen dry on the outside, provided you know what to do with them.
To get started, slice your bagels into thin, round rings until you have basically quarter-sized slices that are a couple of centimeters thick. (They'll look like misshapen, thick bread quarters if you've cut them to the right size.)
These go into a serving bowl, where you'll doctor them up with some generous squirts of olive oil, plus the seasonings of your choice. Parmesan, oregano, rosemary, garlic powder, smoked paprika, white pepper, and of course, McCormick Culinary Everything Bagel Seasoning offer good options here.
It's also possible to make dessert bagel chips by tossing your cut bagel slices into a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Once you settle on the seasonings, you'll coat each bagel piece thoroughly with the olive oil and the herbs or seasonings of choice by giving them a stir with a wooden spoon.
Heating them up and serving them
Your air fryer offers the simplest way to cook the bagel bites. Toss them into the basket and allow them to cook for five to eight minutes. They should come out of the fryer a golden brown color. If you've cut up a couple of bagels, you may need to break up the big batch of bites into a couple of smaller batches, since putting too many of them into the air fryer will prevent them from cooking properly.
If you have no air fryer, you can toast your stale bagel slices in the oven. Set it to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Your freshly-dressed bagel bites go onto a baking sheet, which finds a snuggle spot on the oven's middle rack. Lay the bagel bites out flat on the baking sheet, so that there's not too much overlap. Bake them for up to 20 minutes, giving them a good stir every five minutes or so.
Finally, once they're done, you'll want to find some tasty dips for them. Start with the usual suspects — dips like nacho cheese, spinach, hummus, blue cheese, spicy mayo, or caramel and chocolate if you're satisfying your sweet tooth. These little dippers also work with cheese balls or as the cracker option when you're building a charcuterie board, too. Just position an assortment of dips in the middle and surround them on all sides with piles and piles of these little bites.