How to Create a Bagel Bar – printable labels

A bagel bar is a perfect idea for any brunch! It’s little prep work, a crowd pleaser, and with these helpful tips and free printable labels it couldn’t be easier! Post may contain affiliate links at no extra cost to you.

My eldest son was recently chose to follow Christ and be baptized. After the baptism, it’s customary to serve a few refreshments for folks to munch on while they mingle.

His would be ending shortly before lunchtime, so I didn’t want to serve an array of sweets (I didn’t think the parents would appreciate that!). But I also didn’t want to provide a full meal either. I wanted the focus to be on the baptism itself, not the feast guests would receive afterwards!

So I decided to create a bagel bar.

It really was the perfect option. Mainly because the prep work was so minimal that my attention wasn’t distracted from the baptism by all the food prep I needed to do! And of course everyone loved the bagels and the kids weren’t hocked up on sugar! 😉

How to Create a Bagel Bar

What I love about a bagel bar is the versatility of it. It can be as extravagant or as simple as you would like. Keep it minimal with a few varieties of spreads and bagels, or go crazy with LOTS of toppings, spreads, and bagel choices. It’s really up to you!

We kept our bagel bar simple, but I most definitely would enjoy creating a more lavish one for a baby shower, bridal shower, or fun get-together in the future! There are just so many options and with the variety of toppings, everyone is bound to find a bagel combo they love.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when setting up your bagel bar.

1st: The Bagels

Variety. It wouldn’t be a bagel bar without them! Even if you are going simple, it’s nice to serve a variety of bagels to please everyone’s taste buds. Some popular bagel choices include asiago, blueberry, cinnamon raisin, whole wheat, plain, everything… cinnamon has always been one of my favorites.

Small sizes. You can serve mini bagels or regular size bagels cut in half or quarters. This lets guests sample a few different combinations before getting their fill.

Fresh. Whether you decide to bake your own or purchase them, nothing beats fresh! We bought our bagels earlier that morning to ensure they tasted great. Another idea would be to have a toaster available for guests to use to give a little crunch to their bagel.

2nd: The Spreads

Variety. Cream cheese is a must, but feel free to branch out from just plain cream cheese! It’s nice to have a few different flavors of cream cheese be it savory or sweet along with the plain cream cheese. Try mixing in a few herbs like chives and garlic or blend in maple syrup and cinnamon for some delicious combinations.

You’ll want to make the cream cheese blends the day before so the flavors have time to incorporate. Which works out well because that means one less task for you to complete the day of! And it’s also a good idea to remove the cream cheese from the refrigerator a little before guests arrive to allow it to soften.

Non-Cream Cheese. And don’t stop at cream cheese when you think of spreads! Nut butters, hummus, pesto, jam, Nutella, are also delicious options on a fresh baked bagel.

3rd: The Toppings

Assortment. You could stop at the bagels and cream cheese if you want to keep it simple. But if you are in the mood to go elaborate, it’s all in the toppings! From meats and veggies to fruit and sliced cheese, there are a slew of options because really, what doesn’t go with bread?! Basically think of creating a cheese board and you’ll have the general gist of everything you can have!

We served fresh raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. Some other tasty choices are smoked salmon, prosciutto, turkey, cheeses, tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, red onion, capers, and lemon wedges. These toppings easily take any bagel to first class for sure!

4th: Make it Classy

Dress it up. Now comes the fun part of styling your bagel buffet bar! Use cutting boards, platters, cute butter knives, spoons, and mismatched bowls to arrange and serve your bagels, spreads, and toppings. Your guests will be so impressed and will have no clue how easy it was for you to put together!

A little added height here and there can also make your bagel setup more visually appealing. We used a small piece of wood to slightly elevate and set apart the mini white bowls of cream cheese. And I loved the height our 3 tier tray of fruit gave our bagel bar.

Label it. Sometimes we seem to go overboard with our food labeling (*guilty). But with bagels looking so similar and also not always knowing what the spreads are, it’s a good idea to have them labeled. Obvious items like fruit and vegetables can speak for themselves. 🙂

For the bagels, I created mini flag labels and wrapped them around a small wood stick that I then secured with a little glue. I then inserted the flags into the last bagel on the tray.

For the spreads, I printed my matching tent cards on cardstock and placed them in front of each bowl. Links to all the labels are below!

Okay so I really didn’t need to label the water, but since it was for a baptism I couldn’t help myself with the little play on words! 😉

Bagel Bar Printable Labels

I’ve added several more spread labels and bagel labels for you than just the ones I used for the baptism. Also included are the drink labels which are on the same download as the bagel labels.

Hope you have a blast creating your crowd pleaser bagel bar and that you enjoy using these Bagel Bar printable labels to pull it all together!

Have you any added tips to share? Any toppings that you would definitely recommend? Let us all know in the comments below! And be sure to tag @aspenjaydesigns on Instagram with pics of your bagel bar, I would love to see them!

Download the free Bagel Label Tags by clicking HERE!

To download your free Bagel Spread Labels click HERE!

All designs are for PERSONAL USE ONLY. You may not forward, share, sell or re-distribute the file. Ownership and copyright over all designs & graphics contained in the files are property of AspenJay.