Puff pastry and lox

This is a sponsored post by Challenge Butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

I love eating bagels and lox for breakfast on special occasions, and recently on a trip to Trader Joe's, I noticed they had Everything But the Bagel Seasoned Smoked Salmon. The product was practically shouting at me to use it for a bagels and lox brunch.

Sometimes I think bagels are too heavy, and they overpower the thinly sliced salmon and light, whipped cream cheese. As I thought about it, I realized serving it on puff pastry would be a good solution.

Before baking the puff pastry, I brushed egg wash on top, poked it with a fork a few times to prevent it from puffing up too much, and sprinkled Everything But the Bagel Seasoning from, you guessed it, Trader Joe's on top. If you don't live near a Trader Joe's, you can purchase the seasoning on Amazon., or the Food Netwok has a recipe for it here.

Since puff pastry is pretty delicate and flaky after it's baked, I wanted to make sure the cream cheese spread onto it smoothly. Using a mixer, I beat together my favorite Challenge cream cheese with a little bit of sour cream so it was less dense. I also added a little chopped dill and garlic powder to the mixture to jazz it up.

Once I spread the cream cheese mixture onto the puff pastry, I topped it with Everything But the Bagel Seasoned Smoked Salmon, red onion, thinly sliced lemon, capers, dill, and chives. You can customize this dish with whatever toppings you desire. Avocado, cucumber, arugula, and other pickled vegetables might be good additions, too!

I used Challenge cream cheese for this recipe because I appreciate that the company uses hormone-free milk from local dairies, resulting in all-natural and high-quality products. 

Side note: I recently found out that smoke salmon and lox are actually not the same. Essentially, smoked salmon is smoked after it is cured, whereas lox is cured but not smoked. Technically, this recipe should be named "Puff pastry and smoked salmon," but I wanted the title to be a play on "bagels and lox."

Puff pastry and lox

Ingredients
For the dill cream cheese spread

• 8 ounces Challenge cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 ounces sour cream
• 4 Tablespoons dill, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

For the pastry

• 1 sheet puff pastry (Wewalka is my favorite because it's refrigerated, not frozen)
• Egg wash (1 egg, 1 Tablespoon water, mixed together)
• 2 Tablespoons Everything But the Bagel Seasoning
• 4 ounces smoked salmon, or lox
• 1/4 cup red onion, sliced
• 3 Tablespoons capers
• 1/4 lemon, very thinly sliced
• 2 Tablespoons chives, chopped

Directions
For the dill cream cheese spread

1. Beat the cream cheese at high speed for about 3 minutes or until it's light and whipped.
2. Add sour cream and beat until smooth
3. Add dill and garlic powder and beat until combined.
4. Let sit in refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the dish.

For the pastry

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Unroll puff pastry and brush with egg wash. 
3. Use a fork to poke it a few times to prevent it from puffing too much.
4. Sprinkle Everything But the Bagel Seasoning on top.
5. Bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it starts to puff up and turns golden brown.
6. Remove from oven—you may need to poke it in the center if it puffed up too much.
7. Allow it to cool for about 10 minutes before spreading the cream cheese mixture on top.
8. Slice the smoked salmon into small pieces and evenly spread them out on top of the cream cheese mixture.
9. Add the rest of your toppings and cut into rectangular pieces. Serve immediately.