Stretch Your Budget, Not Your Pants
I tested a new holiday snack recipe on my family last night (good thing they have adventuresome taste buds.) We Nicer Slicer aficionados love the way this slicer can make great food even tastier without filling you up.
Recently, I saw a friend of mine eating a Cinnamon Crunch bagel from Panera, topped with a flavored cream cheese. It looked so good that I went to find one for myself. In the store, I noticed that each bagel contained a whopping 400 calories. I bought several and went home to experiment.
As you can see from the Bagel Diagram below, I knew that I could get 4 slicered pieces from 1 bagel. So here’s what I did:
• Slicered bagel in half and toasted it
• Slicered each of the pieces in half and lightly buttered all four pieces
• Baked in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes
• Turned on broiler and kept a close eye so the buttered tops got golden crispy
• Removed slices from oven and allowed them to cool a bit
• Cut each slice into 8 bagel crisps
•Topped each crisp with flavored cream cheese spread
Rough estimate: I got 32 bagel chips from 1 bagel, about 13 calories apiece, plus a dab of butter and cream cheese for an approximate 17 calories each - less than a saltine cracker. And at $1.29 per bagel, I was able to serve 4 people 8 crisps apiece for 33 cents per person! I call this the intersection of good taste and good sense. This is a great snack that’s fun to make with your kids. Wishing you and yours happy and healthy holidays.
