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13 Eccentric Bagel Flavors You’ve Probably Never Heard Of – The Daily Meal

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It’s hard to think of anything better than a bagel and cream cheese when hunger strikes. It’s one of the more simple meals or snacks that anyone can make, and it has more variations than you can count. You can go with a plain bagel and plain cream cheese, opt for flavored cream cheese, choose a different kind of bagel, or pair a flavored bagel with flavored cream cheese. 

Everyone knows about the classic types of bagels and cream cheese bagels. Wheat, jalapeño, and everything bagels are paired with cream cheese spreads flavored with garden vegetables, sun-dried tomato, and strawberry to name a few. However, there are always going to be new combinations because people are always eager to create new types of bagels. 

As individuals and businesses continuously experiment with bagel styles, the outcome can be increasingly unique. If you’re curious about the craziest bagel inventions, read on for a list of the 13 most eccentric bagels.

1. Black and white truffles

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Bagels are good for any kind of meal or snack, but one popular use for bagels is the bagel sandwich. Be it a breakfast egg and bacon sandwich, a lunchtime turkey sandwich, or even a burger, the bagel makes for a great substitute for other kinds of bread that sandwiches are normally made on. A great bagel type for a bagel sandwich would be the black and white truffle bagel. The core element of taste here is the truffles, which have a savory, broth-like, almost meaty taste to them with a musky aroma. The salty nature of the truffles make for a great savory bagel.

Though you can opt for the typical cream cheese topping with this bagel, a better option would be to use it to make a sandwich. Many restaurants offer some sort of variation on a truffle burger, so a bagel made with black and white truffles is the perfect bun for a burger. Add cheese and any other toppings you would like, and you instantly have a gourmet bagel burger.

Originating from the bagel shop Black Tap, the Black and White Truffle Bagel gained so much publicity that it was featured in several publications, including Nylon. Though it is not available there anymore, you can still find dupes or make it yourself at home.

2. Kalamata Olive

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Olives in general have a divisive taste, and that’s especially true about Kalamata olives. If the taste does not trip you out, the texture might be the problem. The salty, vinegary flavor is a great counter to the more subtle flavors of cream cheese and can be a great addition to your menu when paired with complementary dishes. 

Since the olive bagel flavor is already so strong, your best bet is to pair it with plain cream cheese, though you could easily use garden vegetable cream cheese to build on the veggie taste, or herb and garlic cream cheese to bring out the savory notes. Other solo toppings like pimento cheese work well on this bagel, or any type of sandwich toppings like turkey, cheese, or mayonnaise, to help complement the olives.

Regarding Kalamata olive bagels, one happy customer from New Yorker Bagels noted, “A little weird for breakfast maybe, but I found they’re great for lunch! […] If you do toast [it] for breakfast, top with olive oil or cheese — not butter.”

3. Beet

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Everyone is familiar with sun-dried tomato or jalapeño bagels, but beet bagels are a truly underrated and eccentric style. Beet bagels contain small chunks of beets and are enveloped in the flavor of the root vegetable; they also provide a lovely color to otherwise plain-looking bagels. Though beets are recognized for their vibrant purple color, they are also known for their strong, earthy, and sweet flavor. Beet bagels can be found made with cooked beets as well as pickled beets, which provide an extra kick to your breakfast or lunch.

Whipped cream cheese and garden vegetable cream cheese work very well on beet bagels, but for something more unique opt for goat cheese or hummus as a spread. The buttery and tart flavors of the goat cheese provide the perfect balance against the earthy flavors of the beets. For an extra kick of savory flavor, sprinkle a little rosemary on top.

4. Pumpkin pie

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One of the most popular dishes during the holidays, particularly Thanksgiving, is pumpkin pie. The texture is smooth with a slight crunch, and the taste is overwhelmingly pumpkin with some delectable spices. With such a distinct taste, pumpkin pie flavoring makes for a unique style of bagel.

Because the pumpkin pie bagels are sweet, look for more sugary cream cheeses to pair with them. Cinnamon sugar cream cheese is likely your best bet, but you can also double down on the pumpkin flavor and add pumpkin cream cheese. 

While you can find this variety in bakeries, Trader Joe’s also offers a pumpkin bagel that keeps customers coming back for more. One reviewer said, “Really good! […] Not too sweet and not too spicy. It’s just right.” Another commenter noted that they, “…smear them with the pumpkin cream cheese.” Additionally, Thomas offers a seasonal pumpkin bagel. When reviewing it, one customer gave them four stars and noted, “Some of my favorite.”

5. Grilled banana

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Vegetable bagels are perfect for those who favor savory style bagels, however, fruit-based bagels are a great option for the sweeter side without such an intense dessert-tasting flavor. Banana lovers will appreciate the taste of grilled banana bagels, which have all the sweetness of the banana with the thick texture of a bagel. Bananas have a distinct taste, giving off honey and vanilla notes in addition to their fresh sugary nature. When you grill the bananas, the flavor becomes all the more present.

A simple method of topping this bagel would be with extra sliced bananas and peanut butter. However, if this combination is too basic for you and you want to mix it up a bit, opt for fruity cream cheeses. Strawberry cream cheese complements the banana taste nicely, as does cinnamon cream cheese. However, plain cream cheese or whipped cream cheese both work just as well if the banana is enough experimenting for you.

6. Sweet potato

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Sweet potatoes are a different variation of the already versatile regular potato, but stray more in the dessert arena. A sweet potato on its own has a mildly sweet, but overwhelming starchy flavor that gives off an earthy tone. When cooked, though, the sweet, cinnamon-like, honey notes shine through and give it a deliciously sweet taste that is hard to hate.

While you can certainly top your sweet potato bagel with plain cream cheese to keep the flavors pure, adding a few spices to the mix really elevate it. Sprinkle cinnamon on the bagel, whip it into your cream cheese before spreading, or take the easy route and simply buy cinnamon cream cheese ready to go. For something truly unique, grab a jar of marshmallow fluff to spread on your bagel, or top it with marshmallows and pop it under the broiler for a minute to make them nice and toasty.

7. Oreo

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To really lean into the dessert bagel type, a great option is to try an Oreo bagel. Oreos have a distinct chocolate cookie wafer taste on the outside with a sweet, grainy creme filling on the inside. In bagel form, the texture varies, but the core taste elements are still there, making it divine.

Oreo bagels typically have crushed cookies included in the bagel itself, but the best part is on top. Here, you’ll find the white creme — some would say the best part — of the Oreo in glaze form spread over the bagel. Then crumbled Oreos are sprinkled on top, which provides the perfect crunchy balance to the soft and chewy bagel.

The Bagel Nook in New Jersey offers an Oreo bagel called the Oreo Overload that has customers raving. The bagel is swirled with Oreo fillings, giving it a beautiful marbled look. One reviewer said, “Oreo bagel with Oreo cream cheese with Oreos in it. That’s the ultimate Oreo overload.”

8. Doritos

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When you eat a bagel sandwich, odds are you will have a side of chips to go with it. The soft texture of the bagel when matched with the crunch of the chips go well together. However, why have get both the bagel and chips when you could save yourself time with a chip-based bagel? One great example of this would be the Doritos bagel. This beloved chip comes in many different flavors, but the two preferred flavors would be the Nacho Cheese and the Cool Ranch varieties. Nacho Cheese Doritos have a strong, cheesy flavor, per the name, with a slight hint of spice. Cool Ranch Doritos also have this hint of spice, but with more of a ranch flavored base than a cheese base.

The Doritos bagel has the Doritos of your choice crushed down and kneaded into the dough, but it also can be topped with extra Doritos. Because Doritos are often a viable side to a bagel sandwich, it only makes sense that the best use for the Doritos bagel would be as the bread for a sandwich. You can take whatever sandwich toppings you love, like turkey, cheese, and lettuce, and make a delicious bagel sandwich. However, they work well with regular cream cheese, too. Here it is shown with an even more eccentric styling of a taco bagel, with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and a sour cream drizzle, making it resemble a Taco Bell Doritos Locos taco. Here, instead of a taco shell, the pillowy goodness of bagel bread is the vessel for the delicious filling. 

9. Flaming Hot Cheetos

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Though Doritos make a great combination ingredient for a bagel, they are not the only chip that can be easily blended into the dough. For those who want to try combining their chips with their bagels for the ultimate homemade sandwich, and are a fan of spicy food, the Flaming Hot Cheetos Bagel is the way to go. Flaming Hot Cheetos have all the cheesy goodness and crisp, light crunch of regular Cheetos, but have an exorbitantly high amount of spice.

The Cheetos will have a bit of a chunky presence in the bagel dough, but that will just enhance the flavors even more. The Flaming Hot Cheetos can be a topper on the bagel dough, too, to add more chunks. Because the Flaming Hot Cheetos bagel is definitely spicier than some of the other bagel options, plain cream cheese is a good way to go, because the cream cheese will help offset the spice. However, the option that most people would go for would likely be a sandwich, because the Flaming Hot Cheetos taste makes for a very savory sandwich base. However, if you are a fan of spice, you can easily incorporate some extra spice with a jalapeño cream cheese, as shown here. Many Twitter users talk about how creative this bagel is, and how much they crave it.

10. Fruity Pebbles

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Chips are not the only crunchy snack that can be made into a bagel, though. Some people might not want a savory bagel and instead seek a sweeter variation. A good option for this case is to take some of your favorite cereal brands and create bagels out of them. Fruity Pebbles might be the best option for a bagel, especially because the vibrant colors make the bread look even more fun. Fruity Pebbles is the fruit version of the chocolate tasting Cocoa Pebbles, so its tastes include natural orange, lemon, and tangerine flavors, along with artificial lemon and cherry.

You are better off keeping this bagel as a sweet creation with fruity cream cheese like strawberry or blueberry. You could also make it more dessert-like, and do a frosting or cinnamon cream cheese on top. However, if you really want to mix it up, you could always use the bagel as a base for a chicken sandwich, almost like a chicken and waffles type dish but with the cereal bagel as the base. One Twitter user even suggested to put birthday cake cream cheese on top of the bagel. Despite the name, it’s a very versatile baes for both sweet and savory type dishes. 

11. Cannoli French toast

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If sweet bagels are your aim, then a french toast bagel is the game. These bagels are a really great way to mix up a classic breakfast dish and make it more on the go. French toast, in and of itself, tastes like a cinnamon, vanilla, egg concoction that, when complemented with syrup, makes for a sticky sweet breakfast option.

The texture will be more closely linked to French toast, but with the thick, stable feel of a bagel. There are ways to spice up the dough base, too, like adding in chocolate chips or fresh fruit to the mix. Point being, this is a versatile bagel. You could rip chunks of it and dip it in syrup, or into frosting. It can be enjoyed with the fruity flavors of cream cheese and fresh fruit as well, if you are looking for a more refreshing take on the meal. Any sweet topping like jam, honey, or powdered sugar would also make for a good addition to this bagel. Plus, you could also use this to capitalize on the chicken and waffles sandwich idea from before, but with a French toast bagel instead of waffles.

This bagel is met with rave reviews from users who buy it, and can be found at a number of bagel shops. One Twitter user reviewed it, saying, “I just had a French toast bagel and my life is forever changed.”

12. Chocolate-covered Strawberry

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Another great dessert bagel option for those who have a sweet tooth is the chocolate covered strawberry bagel. The chocolate covered strawberry as a dessert is one of the best confections around, so it stands to reason that when put into bagel form, it would be extremely delicious. The sweet taste of the chocolate and the fruity taste of the strawberry effortlessly combine, and that flavor is not lost in translation when made into a bagel. Combining this popular snack with this popular dessert makes for a unique twist on classic treats.

Typically, the bagel is made by adding in cocoa powder and freeze-dried strawberries to the mix. The chocolate makes the bagel rich and creamy, while the strawberry gives the bread a refreshing sweet taste. One Twitter user was so baffled by the delicious combination that they wrote, “Chocolate-covered strawberries in bagel form. Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” 

The chocolate covered strawberry bagel can be predictably topped with strawberry cream cheese, chocolate frosting, or additional cut up strawberries. However, you can get creative with the flavorings by adding different chocolates to the top, or different fruity cream cheeses like raspberry or blueberry. Chocolate chips and whipped cream are always good choices for this dessert bagel, too. Frankly, this bagel has so much flavor that you could realistically eat it on its own. But, toppings always make bagels more exciting than just their enjoyable base components.

13. Tie dye

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The last eccentric bagel on our list is the tie dye bagel. Though there are many unique ways to flavor a bagel, the bonus item on this list is not technically a bagel flavor. Instead, the tie dye bagel is an artistic way to make a regular tasting bagel that much more exciting to the eye. Tie dye bagels taste like regular bagels, salty with a hint of sweetness, but mostly a typical bread-like taste. However, the coloring of the bagel is multicolored with whatever mix you want, making it look like you tie dyed a bagel.

The bagel dough is separated and stained with different colors, and then combined together haphazardly to make a multicolored dough ball. One Twitter user posted about their bagel, saying, “I know it’s been like 12 hours but I can’t stop thinking about my tie dye bagel still.” The Bagel Nook in New Jersey offers a tie dye bagel, but there are many other places to find it or ways to make your own since you ultimately just need bagel dough and food coloring. 

As far as toppings go, the sky is the limit. Because this bagel is regular tasting, you could virtually do anything with it. You could make it sweet with some decadent toppings or fruity cream cheese. Additionally, you could make it savory by using it as the base for a sandwich. Finally, you could even go back to the bagel’s roots by just using plain cream cheese. However you want to top the tie dye bagel, it will taste great.