A toasted bagel with butter and a cup of hot coffee. These are the building blocks of a good morning. But there's a time and a place to break from routine and experiment with different butters and spreads. That time and place is here and now.

The nice thing about all of these recipes is that they certainly don't have to stop with bagels. Many of them are wonderful sandwich spreads and are great on simple toast, too (some of them I've been guilty of eating by the spoonful, truth be told). And many of them keep beautifully in the fridge, so you can make a few and keep them in small jars or air-tight containers to have throughout the week.

Try a Recipe:
• Homemade Cream Cheese - The Jew and the Carrot
• Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese - Pinch My Salt
• Lemon Herb Schmear - SBS Food
• Salmon, Dill and Cream Cheese Spread - Epicurious
• Tumeric Mustard Seed Butter - Bon Appetit
• Homemade Honey Butter - Over the Hill and on a Roll
• Fresh Herb Compound Butter - The Hungry Moose
• Chocolate Peanut Spread - Smitten Kitchen
• Homemade Almond Butter - A Cozy Kitchen
• Sundried Tomato and Feta Spread - In Good Taste

Related: Quick Tip: Use Compound Butters in Baked Goods

(Image: Pinch My Salt)