Place the yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Or, if you do not own a stand mixer, a regular large mixing bowl. Heat the milk on the stove or in the microwave until warm to touch, about 110°F (43°C). Pour warm milk on top of yeast/sugar. Whisk gently to combine, then loosely cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes. The mixture will be frothy after 5-10 minutes.

Add the butter, egg, flour, and salt. Beat on low speed for 3 minutes. Dough will be soft.

Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.

Place the dough in a greased bowl (I use nonstick spray to grease) and cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Place in a slightly warm environment to rise until doubled in size, around 60-90 minutes. (If desired, use my warm oven trick for rising. See my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)

As the dough rises, prepare the filling and topping in the next steps and grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat all of the filling ingredients together until combined. Cover tightly and set aside until ready to use. (Don’t refrigerate unless making well in advance. It’s easiest to spread on the dough when at room temperature. If refrigerated, let it come to room temperature before spreading on dough in step 7.)

Combine the poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried minced onion, dried garlic flakes, and coarse salt together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Punch down the dough to release the air. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and with a floured rolling pin, roll out until the dough is about 1/4 inch thick. The dough can be any shape, just as long as it’s around 1/4 inch thick. Spread cream cheese filling on top. Using a 3.5 – 4 inch circle cookie cutter, cut into circles. I get about 12 circles. Fold circles in half and line in prepared baking pan, round side up. See photos above for a visual.

Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and allow to rise once again in a slightly warm environment until puffy, about 45 minutes.

Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position then preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).

Brush dough with the 2 Tablespoons of melted butter and sprinkle everything bagel seasoning on top. (Use as much of the seasoning as you want; extras can be used for any of the suggestions listed in the post above.)

Bake until golden brown, about 40-45 minutes. If you find the top of the loaf is browning too quickly, tent with aluminum foil. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from the pan and serve warm.

Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.