It’s too easy to make your own everything bagel spice mix

Fall may be for pumpkin spice, but everything bagel mix knows no season.

The everything bagel — showered in an extravagant portion of seeds and spices — is the quintessential kitchen sink delicacy. Legend has it that back in 1980, a teenage Brooklyn bagel shop worker named David Gussin had a eureka moment when cleaning out the oven’s debris at the end of the day.

And just like that . . . an icon was born.

While there’s nothing quite like that bottom-of-the-oven flavor you get from a great bagel purchased at a bagel shop (the main thing that continues to tether me to New York), a homemade mix is cheap, easy to throw together and even easier to throw on everything you love to eat.

Over the past few years, the “bagel” part of the equation has become optional, as the crunchy mix has enjoyed broad crossover appeal. Like salty, oniony things? Like stubborn poppy seeds between your teeth? That experience is now as close as a Trader Joe’s spice section.

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For some reason, I find that most homemade recipes omit the caraway seeds, though I consider them to be part of the everything bagel canon. I wouldn’t make you buy a whole jar of the stuff just for a single purpose, but if you’re pro-caraway seeds, they add so much to the whole experience.

Of course, this mix was made for avocado toast and eggsquisite eggs. I also love to generously coat chicken or pork tenderloin with this stuff before it goes in the oven. And stirred into plain yogurt with chopped tomatoes, it makes for a luxurious breakfast that’s almost better than bagels themselves.

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Inspired by Minimalist Baker

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