Bagel Boards Are The Fun, Creative Way To Break Your Yom Kippur Fast

Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, is coming up quickly, and while the day itself is known for a 25-hour fast, it's essential to have a plan for that first meal when the fast is over — the "break fast." The last thing you probably want to do after a fast is cook an elaborate meal from start to finish; after all, you'll be pretty hungry. One of the easiest and most traditional foods to reach for is good old bagels and cream cheese, which are easy to prepare the day before the fast so that they're ready to go when you are. But even though it's simple, your bagel break fast doesn't have to be boring. Take a cue from the butter board trend and make a fancy spread of bagels, cream cheese, lox or smoked salmon, and other fixings for your family and friends.

It only takes about an hour to prep the perfect bagel board, and when it's time to eat, you'll thank yourself for preparing your post-fast feast. All you need is a large wooden cutting board or a platter, some small dishes for assorted cream cheese flavors and condiments, and a selection of your favorite bagels and toppings.

If you're hosting for Yom Kippur, you probably know that no matter what, you have to have bagels. Chef and cookbook author Jamie Geller said to NPR, "It's almost sacrilegious to break that fast without bagels." Whether you're hosting the meal or tasked with bagel duty, one of the easiest ways to make a bagel board a little fancy is to pre-mix some fun cream cheese flavors. All you need to do is whip a package of cream cheese in your stand mixer or food processor with whatever flavor you want to create, plus a little spritz of seltzer to make it spreadable. You'll, of course, want to have plenty of plain on hand for the traditionalists, but depending on how big of a crowd you're feeding, it's nice to have several choices of cream cheese flavors, with a few that are sweet and others that are savory — just like you can get at your favorite bagel shop.

Some classic savory herbs include scallion, dill, chive, and caper; you can even combine any of those. You'll probably be serving sliced lox or smoked salmon with your bagels, but having some lox cream cheese is also nice. If you want less traditional savory flavors, add chopped-up dill pickle, sun-dried tomatoes, wasabi, and sriracha, or use any of your favorite spice blends and a pinch or two of kosher salt.

For sweet cream cheese flavors, add a few tablespoons of jam or preserves to make strawberry, blueberry, or mixed berry flavors. You could also add some pumpkin puree and nutmeg for PSL vibes, and you can never go wrong with cinnamon and sugar. Also, be sure to have plenty of regular whipped butter, and a little cinnamon sugar butter is an excellent option, too.

In addition to the cream cheese, you'll need some extra toppings, which will elevate the bagels and fill out your bagel board. Sliced red onions, cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, and pickles are must-haves, as well as smoked salmon and capers. It's also nice to have arugula, caramelized onions, pickled jalapeños, and sprouts.

Once you have all your fixings, scoop everything spreadable into the dishes you'll use for serving, cover them on a sheet pan in the refrigerator, and put any of your sliced veggies in containers so they're ready to arrange in a hurry. If you have everything prepped before the big day, all you'll need to do is lay it out on the board when it's time to eat.

When it's time to break fast, get out your big cutting board, arrange the bowls of spreads, and then artfully lay out the veggies and salmon in groupings. Be sure to pile the board high with extras to fill in all the space, make it look bountiful, and let everyone dig in.