What you’ll need
Equipment: outdoor smoker, small heatproof dish or foil tray, brush, knife and heatproof gloves.
How to make it
- Preheat an outdoor smoker to 225°F (107°C). Follow its manufacturer’s lighting and operating instructions. Set it up for indirect heat, and use a mild food-smoking wood such as apple or cherry.
- Place each cold block of cream cheese in its own small, shallow heatproof dish or foil tray. Brush each with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Keeping the blocks separate stops the sweet and savoury seasonings mixing.
- Make shallow diagonal cuts across the top of each block, then cross them in the other direction. Cut roughly ¼ inch (5 mm) deep; leave the base intact so the block stays together.
- Press the everything bagel seasoning onto the top and sides of one block. Mix the sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle that mixture over the other. Add the honey after cooking so you can control the sweetness and keep it from catching.
- Set both dishes in the smoker away from direct flame. Close the lid and cook for about 2 hours. Check from 90 minutes: the cuts should open slightly, the surface should pick up colour and the centre should be soft enough to spread. Timing varies with the smoker and block size.
- Lift the dishes out with heatproof gloves. Drizzle the cinnamon block with honey, let both stand for 5 minutes, then serve warm with a clean spreading knife for each flavour.
Choose your flavour
The everything-bagel block works well with plain crackers, cucumber and celery. Taste your seasoning first: some blends are mostly salt, so start lightly and add more at the table if needed.
For the sweet block, tart apple slices balance the honey. Keep the cinnamon modest; you want the cream cheese and smoke to come through. Serve the honey separately if guests prefer different levels of sweetness.
Getting the texture right
Use a firm, full-fat block rather than whipped cream cheese or a spread from a tub. The block softens as it heats but should still be spoonable from its dish. Avoid direct flame, which can burn the seasoning before the middle warms.
No smoker? An oven at 225°F (107°C) can warm and soften the seasoned blocks, but it will not provide the wood-smoked flavour. Use oven-safe dishes and check the texture from 90 minutes.
Store and serve with care
Keep the cream cheese chilled until preparation. Refrigerate leftovers promptly in a shallow covered container, within 2 hours of serving, or within 1 hour if the temperature is above 90°F (32°C). Keep the refrigerator at 40°F (4°C) or colder, and use leftovers within 3 days. Discard food left out beyond those limits; reheating does not make it safe again.
Use clean serving utensils and put out small portions at a time for a long gathering. See FoodSafety.gov’s food-handling guidance.
A simpler kitchen clean-up
Line the dish before you start if its manufacturer allows it, and keep the honey bottle on a small plate while serving. After the dish has cooled enough to handle, scrape cheese residue into the bin and soften what remains with warm water and washing-up liquid. Avoid tipping oily residue down the sink.
For the rest of the room, follow Simply Maid’s step-by-step kitchen cleaning guide.
Recipe notes & sources
Original Lowcountry Kings page, preserved by the Internet Archive · Traeger’s guide to smoking cream cheese · FoodSafety.gov serving and storage advice.