Bageltaschen!

There are many classic Jewish foods like kugel and matza balls, but another Jewish classic is a bagel with lox and cream cheese. I decided to do some research as to why this brunch favorite is connected to Judaism. It's not like Moshe came down from Har Sinai carrying the luchot and a bagel so what's the connection? I came across this page from chabad.com that is very much worth the read to have a better understanding of this connection.

An interesting thing that was written in this article is that the combination of a the boiled bagel, smoked salmon, and cream cheese was created as a kosher substitution for the non-kosher Eggs Benedict (english muffin, bacon, poached egg and hollandaise) "Gil Marks, a specialist in Jewish culinary history, explains that the very unkosher American classic brunch food Eggs Benedict became popular in New York City in the 1930s. Of course, kosher-keeping Jewish people couldn’t eat it. So they substituted lox slices for the ham, cream cheese for the hollandaise sauce, and bagels for the muffins. Thus, the Jews created a new Jewish-American classic, bagels with cream cheese and lox." 

So how do we put a Purim twist on an already perfect dish? Enter the bageltaschen!
Instead of shaping the bagel dough into a round ring just form them into a triangle, boil, bake and eat with copious amounts of homemade cream cheese and lox!

Bageltaschen with Homemade Cream Cheese 

I use the boiled bagel recipe from allrecipes.com

4 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 Tbs + 2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs salt
Water
1 Tbs sugar

Seed topping of your choice - I like everything bagel topping mix

In a large bowl mix together 1 1/2 cups flour and yeast. Mix together the warm water, sugar and salt and add to the flour yeast mixture. Slowly add flour until you have a firm dough. Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Cover the dough with a towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Cut the dough into 12 pieces. Poke a hole in the middle of the dough stretching the hole as you shape the dough into a triangle. Repeat with remaining pieces. Cover the formed bagels with a towel and let them rest for about 20 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil add the sugar then reduce to a simmer.
Preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C spray a sheet pan with non-stick spray or line with parchment paper.
After the bagels have rested place 3-5 in the water (depending on the size of the pot) cook for 3 minutes then flip. Drain them well.

Place your seed topping on a flat plate and place the boiled and drained bagel on the plate pressing the seeds into the bagel.

Place the topped bagels on the prepared sheet pan and bake for 25-35 minutes.

Serve with your favorite spreads or some homemade cream cheese (recipe below)

Homemade Cream Cheese 

I got this recipe from my cousin when I moved to Israel and saw the price of store bought cream cheese. This cream cheese is everything cream cheese should be, rich, creamy, and downright decadent.

16 oz. full fat sour cream
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Mix together the sour cream, sugar and salt.
Place a strainer in a bowl making sure that the strainer isn't touching the bottom of the bowl. Line the strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth or a clean dish towel.
Pour the sour cream mixture into the towel. Bring up the corners of the towel and tie with a rubber band.
Place the bowl in the fridge and let the sour cream drain overnight.
Remove the rubber band and stare in awe of the beauty of homemade cream cheese. Place the cream cheese in another bowl and enjoy just like this or mix in any of your favorite cream cheese mix ins like dill, chives, scallions, chopped lox...

Purim Sameach!