Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

I hosted a bridal shower for my dear friend’s daughter this weekend. Cucumber Tea Sandwiches are one of my favorite things to make for fancy brunches. They are super simple to make but taste delicious and look super fancy.

What is in a cucumber sandwich?

This is an open-faced cucumber sandwich made of extra-thin bread, cream cheese spread, and cucumbers sprinkled with cracked pepper.

How do you keep cucumber sandwiches from getting soggy?

Cucumbers have a lot of water, so to keep the sandwiches from getting soggy, make sure the bread is covered with the cream cheese mixture to make a barrier between the cucumber and the bread. I do not recommend making cucumber sandwiches the night before. 

What kind of bread do you use for cucumber sandwiches?

My favorite bread for tea sandwiches is pumpernickel or rye tea bread. You can often find it near the deli or cheese section of the grocery store during the holidays. 

Tea sandwiches are best on very thin bread. Pepperidge Farm makes and extra-thin sliced bread that works well.  I have even made tea sandwiches with gluten-free bread sliced very thinly. 

If I am not using pumpernickel tea bread, I like to cut off the crusts to make sandwiches that are about three inches square. 

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

Yield: 24

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Print

Ingredients

• 4 oz Cream Cheese at room temperature
• 2 Tablespoons Italian Salad Dressing
• 24 pieces of extra-thin bread or tea sandwich bread (see note)
• 1 English Cucumber 
• Black Pepper

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese and Italian dressing until combined. You can do this with a whisk, or an electric mixer.
2. Prepare the bread by cutting off crusts if you are not using tea sandwich bread. (see note) You want the bread to be in about 3 inch squares.
3. Slice the English cucumber into very thin slices. I like to use the slices from the meddle of the cucumber because they are a little larger. You will not need the entire cucumber for the sandwiches.
4. Spread the cream cheese mixture on each slice of the bread, the top with a cucumber slice.
5. Arrange the sandwiches on a platter and sprinkle a little black pepper on top of each of the cucumbers.
6. Serve.

Notes

Tea Sandwich Bread is usually a type of rye or pumpernickel bread that is already sliced very thin and each slice is about 3 inches square. If you cannot find tea sandwich bread, look for extra-thin sliced bread in white or wheat. Pepperidge Farm makes extra-thin sliced bread.

I have made this with gluten-free bread from Trader Joes and it worked very well.

You can substitute regular cucumbers for English Cucumbers, but if you substitute, I recommend peeling the regular cucumbers because the skin is tougher and not delicate enough for these sandwiches.

To make these dairy-free, you can substitute hummus for the cream cheese.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 28Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 40mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 1g

Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and may not be completely accurate.

Marie Fiebach is a married mother of four active kids. She helps busy families plan and execute weeknight dinner so they can recapture a little calm in the crazy. You can see her every week on KAKE TV’s Good Morning Kakeland or listen to the Feed Your Family Tonight Podcast.