Easy Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

Classic cucumber tea sandwiches made easy, delicious, and completely adorable. Get step-by-step directions on how to make these simple and elegant finger sandwiches. They’re perfect for tea time!

Recipe Highlights

• A cucumber sandwich is a tea time classic. A variation of it is often found in afternoon tea menus.
• This dainty and crustless cucumber tea sandwich is made with chive butter, decorated with a thin cucumber slice, and held together with a cocktail fork.
• Like all tea sandwiches, it’s sized to be eaten in 2-3 bites. Cucumber tea sandwiches are perfect for tea time to be served with a pot of tea. They’re great as appetizers for parties or as an after school snack for kids.

Looking for more tea sandwich recipes? Make my popular BLT Tea Sandwiches, easy Ham & Cheese Tea Sandwiches, or pretty Radish Rose Tea Sandwiches.

Ingredient Notes

• White bread
  Pepperidge Farm’s Very Thin White Bread or their White Sandwich Bread are great for making tea sandwiches.
• English cucumber
  Comes wrapped individually in plastic, English cucumbers have little seeds and thin skin, which makes it the ideal cucumber for dainty tea sandwiches.
• Butter
  Use a rich, creamy salted butter.
• Chives
  Fresh chives are ideal but if you don’t have it, you can use dried chives or take it out completely.

Step-by-Step Instructions

For full ingredients and instructions, scroll down to see the recipe.

1. Make chive butter by mixing chopped chives and salted butter.
   Set aside.
2. Slice cucumber into two different thicknesses. Blot using paper towels.
   Use a mandoline slicer to cut cucumber into two sizes. Four slices at 1/8″ and four slices at the thinnest setting so that it’s paper thin.
3. Find a round cookie cutter that’s the same size as the sliced cucumber.
4. Cut circles out of the bread using the cookie cutter.

My Cookie Cutter Pick

Photo Credit: amazon.com

I like to get the entire set so that I can figure out which size is right for the tea sandwich I’m making.

SHOP NOW

5. Assemble tea sandwiches.
   Spread a thin layer of chive butter on the top side of the bread, add a slice of the 1/8″ cucumber, then top with a piece of bread that buttered on the side that faces the cucumber. Next, loosely fold the thin cucumber slice in half and skewer it in place with a cocktail fork.

Expert Tips

• To make 4 cucumber tea sandwiches, you’ll need 4 cucumber slices, 4 paper thin cucumber slices, and 8 bread circles.
• The circumference of your cucumber (try saying that three times fast) is the deciding factor in how big your tea sandwiches will be. I use a round cookie cutter set so can I try out a couple of sizes to see which one fits the cucumber best. The cookie cutter doesn’t need to be exactly the size of the cucumber, but try to find the closest match.
• To prevent the bread from getting soggy, make sure the cucumber slices have been patted dry and that each side the cucumber touches, buttered.
• The chive butter creates a layer between the cucumber and the bread to keep the bread from getting soggy.
• Chive butter should be made with soften butter. It makes it easy to mix in the chives and to spread it on the bread.
• Kitchen scissors makes it easy to cut the fresh chives into little tiny bits.
• You can use whatever kind of bread you like, but make sure it is pillowy soft which contrasts nicely with the crunch from the cucumber.
• The worst cucumber sandwiches are slimy ones. Prevent this by placing the sliced cucumbers on paper towels and blotting them to get them dry.
• Cut frozen bread if you want cleaner cuts on your tea sandwiches.

Questions You May Have

Related

• 21 Afternoon Tea Etiquette Rules
• Difference Between Afternoon Tea and High Tea
• Afternoon Tea Course Order
• How to Eat a Scone Properly
• Afternoon Tea at The Plaza NYC

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Easy Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

Author: Jee Choe

Dainty and delicious cucumber finger sandwiches with chive butter.

4.6 from 72 votes

PRINT RECIPE PIN RECIPE

Prep Time 8 mins

Total Time 8 mins

Course Afternoon Tea

Yield4 tea sandwiches

INGREDIENTS

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 4 slices white bread
• ▢ ¼ English cucumber
• ▢ 1 tablespoon salted butter, softened
• ▢ 2 teaspoons chives, finely chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

• Make chive butter by mixing chopped chives and butter.

  Set aside.
• Slice cucumber. Blot cucumber slices with paper towels.

  The cucumber needs to be cut into two different thicknesses. Use a mandoline slicer to cut cucumber into 2 sizes. 4 slices at 1/8" and 4 slices at the thinnest setting so that it's paper thin. After slicing the cucumbers, place them flat on paper towels and blot to make sure they're dry.
• Find a round cookie cutter that's the same size as the sliced cucumber.
• Cut circles out of the bread using the cookie cutter.

  Avoid cutting the crust. Cut 8 bread circles.
• Assemble tea sandwiches.

  Spread a thin layer of chive butter on the top side of the bread, add a slice of the 1/8" cucumber, then top with a piece of bread that buttered on the side that faces the cucumber. Next, loosely fold the thin cucumber slice in half and skewer it in place with a cocktail fork.

EQUIPMENT

Cookie Cutter Set

Cocktail Fork

Mandoline Slicer

NOTES

• To make 4 cucumber tea sandwiches, you’ll need 4 cucumber slices, 4 paper thin cucumber slices, and 8 bread circles.
• English cucumbers are best since they have fewer seeds than other cucumbers and have thinner skin, which means you don’t have to peel them. They’re sold individually, wrapped in plastic.
• The circumference of your cucumber (try saying that three times fast) is the deciding factor in how big your tea sandwiches will be. I use a round cookie cutter set so can I try out a couple of sizes to see which one fits the cucumber best. The cookie cutter doesn’t need to be exactly the size of the cucumber, but try to find the closest match.
• Pepperidge Farm’s Very Thin White Bread or their White Sandwich Bread are great for making tea sandwiches.
• To prevent the bread from getting soggy, make sure the cucumber slices have been patted dry and that each side the cucumber touches, buttered.
• Fresh chives are ideal but if you don’t have it, you can use dried chives or take it out completely.
• The chive butter creates a layer between the cucumber and the bread to keep the bread from getting soggy.
• Chive butter should be made with soften butter. It makes it easy to mix in the chives and to spread it on the bread.
• Kitchen scissors makes it easy to cut the fresh chives into little tiny bits.
• You can use whatever kind of bread you like, but make sure it is pillowy soft which contrasts nicely with the crunch from the cucumber.
• The worst cucumber sandwiches are slimy ones. Prevent this by placing the sliced cucumbers on paper towels and blotting them to get them dry.
• Cut frozen bread if you want cleaner cuts on your tea sandwiches.
• Cucumber sandwiches are the toughest to make ahead since the cucumber can easily lose its crunch. I would recommend prepping all the items separately the night before and assembling the morning of. Store the sliced cucumber and bread circles in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Use wax paper and a damp paper towel on top to keep the bread from drying out. 
• Cucumber sandwiches are light and mild, so any tea will pair well, from white tea to black tea. I would recommend a classic like Earl Grey or a green tea like genmaicha.

NUTRITION

Calories: 94 | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 148mg | Potassium: 56mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 129IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 1mg

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