Servings: 8 Prep: 5 min Cook: 0 min Total: 5 min
When I was younger, I briefly worked at a bagel shop, in Vail, CO. I’d never really thought much about bagels. If I wanted bread with a hole in it, donuts always seemed like better choice. However, when I started working at this bagel shop, the whole concept for the bagel really started to sink in!
(Here’s where I’ll avoid the continued romanticization of bagels and start talking about schmear, which … is what we’re here to discuss, anyway …)
In addition to the wide variety of bagels, there was also a massive selection of schmears. Schmear, as I understand it, is Yiddish for “Spread” (usually cream cheese), which … is one of those fantastic little ingredients that this way of life is so quick to embrace!
Sweet Fruity Schmear is little more than fruit, jam, jelly and/or marmalade mixed with cream cheese. That’s it! I tend to add a little bit of salt and occasionally a touch of sugar equivalent, but that depends on you and your sweet tooth. Obviously, fresh, local and seasonal fruits are the way to go, but (Warning: pure rationalization ahead …) sometimes I think about the amount of sugar (fructose) in fresh fruit, then think about the flavored jams and jellies in my cupboard. Then I think about how little time I’ve got and what a fuss pureeing and straining blackberries can be. So, I reach for the lower carb, brightly colored, full flavored, slightly synthetic and easy to use jams, jellies and marmalades!
This is great on low carb bagels, as a filling for crepes, delightful on top of French Toast or blended with coconut oil for a healthy and filling late night snack! Pick and choose your flavors and enjoy the taste sensations!
Important Note: Read the labels for these jams and pay close attention to the sweetener being used. I tend to find the lowest carb jams are made with sucralose (Code Name: Splenda … However, because it’s what I can easily find in the stores in Mexico, I use Fifty50 brand). There are other, better flavored jams made with xylitol, but I’m still not convinced that xylitol has as low a blood sugar impact as I’d like to wish it did … Point being, this is deep into sugar equivalent land. Know your sugar equivelants. The best (in my opinion) are erythritol and stevia for natural, then pure sucralose for synthetic. Other than that, you start to get into some impact on the blood sugars …
Ingredients
- 8 ounces full fat cream cheese preferably warmed
- 1/2 cup sugar free jam jelly or marmalade
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- (optional step) I tend to find cream cheese to be a little easier to mix, if it's warm. You can leave on the counter, on a warm day, for an hour. Or, probably better ... use the defrost setting on your microwave for a minute.
- Add your ingredients to a bowl and mix.
- EAT!
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …