Cream Cheese Cucumber Sandwiches with Jalapeno up the flavor quotient on the tea-time classic with fresh jalapeno, a squeeze of lime juice, and garlic powder.
If you're growing cucumbers like I am, you're probably being driven cucumber-crazy right about now trying to figure out what to do with them all. Sure you can slice 'em up and toss them into salads, snack on them solo, or pickle 'em, but that gets to be a bit mundane.
Enter the cucumber cream cheese sandwich to break up the monotony! And prepared with jalapeno to add some spice to this dainty sandwich.
A dainty sandwich once reserved for aristocrats at tea time, the cucumber tea sandwich makes for a refreshingly delicious snack all cucumber lovers can enjoy. My Cream Cheese Cucumber Sandwich strays from recipes of yesteryear by adding a non-traditional zing - from jalapenos!
Cucumbers play well here with the flavors of jalapeno, lime juice, and garlic powder. These Jalapeno Cucumber Sandwiches are super easy to make, and can even be made up to 24 hours ahead of time (though I'd recommend only making them up to 4 hours ahead for optimal freshness and crunch).
How to Make Cucumber Cream Cheese Sandwiches - Ingredients
To make these zesty cream cheese cucumber sandwiches you will need the following ingredients:
- 1 (8-ounce) block of cream cheese (softened)
- 1 jalapeno, finely diced
- ½ - ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- 8 pieces of wheat bread (I used Brownberry Natural Wheat bread)
- 1-2 cucumbers*, peeled and thinly sliced with a mandolin
- A squeeze of lime juice
- Salted butter
How to Make Cucumber Cream Cheese Sandwiches - Directions
Combine softened cream cheese, diced jalapeno, garlic powder, and lime juice in a bowl, and mix vigorously until smooth and creamy.
Spread a super thin layer of butter on each slice of bread (leave the crust on or remove it - dealer's choice).
Slather a thin layer of cream cheese onto each slice of bread.
Arrange a layer of thinly sliced cucumbers onto half of the pieces of bread.
Assemble! By plopping the cream cheese slices of bread onto the cucumber-laden slices.
I like to cut each sandwich into 4 mini-sandwiches, by cutting diagonally across the sandwich.
Serve and enjoy.
This cucumber cream cheese sandwich recipe makes 4 full-size sandwiches or 16 mini ones.
Cucumber Sandwich Substitutions
You can make a few easy tweaks to this Cream Cheese Cucumber sandwich if you'd prefer or are looking to avoid making a special trip to the grocery store. Here are some suggestions.
- Cream cheese - I recommend using a full-fat cream cheese for maximum flavor, but you can lighten things up with a low-fat version.
- Jalapeno - I like to use fresh jalapenos, but you could also use pickled ones (just make sure to remove excess moisture first by straining or let them sit on a bed of paper towels).
- Garlic powder - Certainly okay to use onion powder instead, or you can leave it out.
- Wheat bread - Wheat bread is nontraditional, but I like it. Go ahead and use white bread here, it's delicious.
- Lime juice - Lemon juice works just fine as well!
Frequently Asked Questions
A thin layer of butter helps prevent cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches from getting soggy. Spread a thin layer on each of the interior slices of bread before adding cream cheese and cucumber slices.
Another trick that helps fend off sogginess is to lay out the cucumber slices on paper towels before assembling the sandwiches to remove some of their natural moisture.
And lastly, don't make these too far ahead of time; serve them as fresh as you possibly can.
These Jalapeno Cucumber Sandwiches can be made up to 24 hours ahead of time, though I'd recommend only making them up to 4 hours ahead for optimal freshness and crunch.
Traditional recipes for the cucumber tea sandwich instruct to remove the bread crusts, but I chose to keep mine on. Dealer's choice here, get as fancy as you like.
Some prefer a peeled cuke, others leave the skin on, and still others do the spiral peel. Again, dealer's choice. I opted to remove the skin since I used freshly picked garden cucumbers and they be prickly SOB's.
Based on my experience, there are a few things that make a good cucumber sandwich GREAT. First, slice your cucumbers thinly and let them hang out on paper towels to remove excess moisture. Second, add a thin layer of butter to the INSIDES of the bread before adding any other ingredients. Third, use the freshest ingredients you can find AND use full-fat cream cheese for maximum flavor.
Look over at that pile of cucumbers on your countertop with renewed enthusiasm and get ready to make some delicious and zippy Jalapeno Cucumber Sandwiches. Break out the mandolin, soften that cream cheese, and get ready to make your new favorite summer sandwich.
If you like cucumber tea sandwiches, I bet you'll also like:
- Cream Cheese Cucumber Bites
- Citrus Jalapeno Salsa
- Jalapeno Pickle Roll-Ups
- Spicy Pico de Gallo
- Salsa Ranch Pinwheels
- Roasted Garlic Guacamole
Jalapeno Cucumber Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 1 8 ounce block of cream cheese (softened)
- 1 jalapeno (finely diced)
- ½ - ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- 8 slices wheat bread (I used Brownberry Natural Wheat bread)
- 1-2 cucumbers (peeled and thinly sliced with a mandolin)
- squeeze of lime juice
- salted butter
Instructions
- Combine softened cream cheese, diced jalapeno, garlic powder, and lime juice in a bowl, and mix vigorously until smooth and creamy.
- Spread a super thin layer of butter on each slice of bread(leave the crust on or remove it - dealer's choice). A thin layer of butter helps prevent the cucumber sandwiches from getting soggy.
- Slather a thin layer of cream cheese onto each slice of bread. Arrange a layer of thinly sliced cucumbers onto half of the pieces of bread.
- Assemble! By plopping the cream cheese slices of bread onto the cucumber-laden slices.
- I like to cut each sandwich into 4 mini-sandwiches, by cutting diagonally across the sandwich. Serve and enjoy.
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