Our 9 Flavors
Nine house-made cream cheese flavors, all developed and overseen by Jen Hilbert. Real ingredients, no shortcuts, made fresh in-house. The way cream cheese is supposed to be.
The Jen Hilbert Difference
Every cream cheese on our menu is a Jen Hilbert creation. She develops all the recipes, sources the ingredients, and oversees every single batch. This is not a situation where someone in a corporate office designed a formula and handed it to a factory. Jen makes these spreads in-house, by hand, with real ingredients that she personally selects.
That personal involvement is what separates our cream cheese from anything you will find in a grocery store or at a chain bagel shop. When Jen says the Strawberry cream cheese uses real strawberries, she means she picked the supplier, tested multiple varieties, and settled on the one that had the best balance of sweetness and tartness. When she says the Garlic & Herb uses roasted garlic, she means garlic that was roasted in-house until it reached exactly the right level of sweetness and caramelization.
The result is a lineup of nine flavors where each one tells a story and each one is made with the kind of care that you can taste. We have had customers tell us they drive past other bagel shops specifically for our cream cheese, and that is entirely because of the standard Jen has set and the standard she refuses to compromise on.
“If I would not eat it on my own bagel, it does not go in the case.”— Jen Hilbert
Every Flavor, Every Story
Nine flavors, each with its own character, its own ingredient story, and its own perfect pairing. Here is the complete lineup.
Plain
Pure cream cheese, a touch of salt
Clean, tangy, smooth. Let the bagel talk. Our Plain cream cheese is the one that everything else is measured against. Jen starts with high-quality cream cheese and does not mask it with unnecessary additions. The result is a spread that is rich without being heavy, tangy without being sour, and smooth enough to spread evenly on a warm bagel without tearing the surface. It is the choice for purists who want to taste the bagel first and the cream cheese second.
Best on: Plain Bagel, Everything Bagel
Strawberry
Real strawberries, cream cheese, touch of honey
Real strawberry, not the neon-pink, artificially flavored spread you have had at chain shops. Jen uses actual strawberries that are folded into the cream cheese in a way that preserves their texture and tartness. You can see and taste the fruit — little pieces of real berry that burst with juice when you bite through them. The sweetness comes from the fruit itself and a whisper of honey, not from a pile of refined sugar. This is what strawberry cream cheese is supposed to taste like.
Best on: Plain Bagel, Cinnamon Raisin, Blueberry Pie
Blueberry
Wild blueberries, cream cheese, hint of lemon
Made with wild blueberries — the same small, intensely flavored berries we use in our Blueberry Pie bagel. Wild blueberries have a deeper, more complex flavor than cultivated ones, with a tartness that plays beautifully against the richness of cream cheese. A subtle hint of lemon brightens the whole thing without making it taste citrusy. Spread it on a Plain bagel for a simple fruit-and-cream experience, or go all-in on a Cinnamon Raisin for a warm-spice-and-berry combination.
Best on: Plain Bagel, Cinnamon Raisin
Garlic & Herb
Roasted garlic, chives, dill, parsley, cream cheese
Roasted garlic, chives, dill. Incredible on Everything. The garlic is roasted until it is sweet and mellow, then folded into the cream cheese along with fresh herbs that add brightness and color. This is not the aggressive, raw-garlic spread that burns your throat. It is a sophisticated, layered combination where each herb plays a distinct role — the chives add a gentle onion note, the dill brings a grassy freshness, and the parsley ties it all together with a clean, green finish.
Best on: Everything Bagel, Asiago Bagel
Scallion
Fresh scallions, cream cheese
The classic NYC schmear. If there is one cream cheese that defines the New York bagel experience, this is it. Fresh scallions — both the white and green parts — are chopped and folded into our cream cheese base, adding a mild onion bite that is savory without being sharp. The scallion cream cheese on an everything bagel is the combination that built the New York bagel industry, and it is the one we serve more of than any other. There is a reason it has endured for over a century.
Best on: Everything Bagel
Vegetable
Carrot, celery, bell pepper, onion, cream cheese
Carrot, celery, bell pepper, onion. Crunchy and fresh. The Vegetable cream cheese is for people who want texture along with flavor. Finely diced vegetables are folded into the cream cheese, adding a satisfying crunch and a freshness that no other flavor can match. The carrots bring sweetness, the celery adds a clean snap, the bell pepper contributes color and a mild sweetness, and the onion provides a savory backbone. It is like a garden in a schmear.
Best on: Everything Bagel, Plain Bagel
Cinnamon Brown Sugar
Real brown sugar, Ceylon cinnamon, cream cheese, vanilla
Like a cinnamon roll in spread form. This is the flavor that converts people who think they do not like cream cheese on bagels. Jen uses real brown sugar — not white sugar, not artificial sweetener — for a deep, molasses-tinged sweetness that pairs with Ceylon cinnamon to create something that tastes like dessert but is perfectly appropriate for breakfast. A touch of vanilla rounds out the flavor. Spread it on a toasted Cinnamon Raisin bagel and you have the sweetest start any morning can offer.
Best on: Cinnamon Raisin, Plain Bagel
Lox Spread
Smoked salmon, cream cheese, dill, capers, lemon
Smoked salmon blended in. All the flavor in every bite. The Lox Spread is for people who love lox but want the convenience and the value of having it already mixed into their cream cheese. Jen folds real smoked salmon into the base along with a touch of dill, tiny capers, and a squeeze of lemon. The result is a spread that delivers that smoky, briny, luxurious lox experience in every single bite — you do not have to chase a piece of salmon across the bagel. It is lox, democratized.
Best on: Plain Bagel, Everything Bagel
Seasonal
Changes throughout the year
Rotating specials throughout the year. The Seasonal flavor is where Jen gets to experiment. Past specials have included Pumpkin Spice in the fall, Honey Walnut in the winter, and Fresh Herb in the spring. These limited-time flavors give our regulars something new to look forward to and give Jen a creative outlet to test ideas that might eventually become permanent menu items. Ask in-store what the current seasonal flavor is — it changes when Jen decides it is time for something new.
Best on: Ask in-store for the best pairing
Take Your Favorites Home
Every cream cheese flavor is available in half-pound tubs to take home. Pick up a tub of your favorite — or a few — along with a half-dozen or a baker's dozen of bagels, and you have breakfast sorted for the entire week. Our cream cheeses stay fresh for up to seven days in the refrigerator, which means Saturday's purchase is still delicious on Wednesday morning.
The take-home tubs are especially popular for gatherings. Hosting brunch? Pick up a variety of cream cheeses and let your guests build their own bagel experience. We have had customers buy the entire nine-flavor lineup for parties, setting up a cream cheese tasting bar that becomes the centerpiece of the table. It is a conversation starter, a crowd-pleaser, and a way to show your guests something they have never experienced before — especially the Lox Spread, which always surprises people who have never had it.