Elegant & Updated Cucumber Sandwiches

For the bridal shower that I helped host this past weekend, we all each made an appetizer as well. We had several dips and tarts already (you can see the wonderful spread in the pictures below) and I was just wracking my brain trying to figure out what to make. Well, weekend before last I attended a bridal shower and had these fabulous open faced cucumber sandwiches. I thought they would be perfect for our shower. They are so elegant, and a wonderful update to the classic cucumber sandwich. You remember those little triangle sandwiches with the crusts cut off? This is so much tastier and more gourmet looking than those. I set off to find a recipe on allrecipes.com and came across this one. I used some of the suggestions in the comments and the recipe I ended up with is below.

These sandwiches were the perfect shower appetizer! These would be great for any tea or summer party. I even thought (after the fact) that it would be great to cut the bread into little rounds the size of the cucumber and place a dollop of the spread, the cucumer and then a quartered grape tomato on top for a little one or two bite appetizer.

This was so easy to prepare. Make sure you make the spread a day ahead of time so that all the flavors can marry overnight. I sliced the bread and cucumbers a few hours before and stored them and then just assembled the sandwiches right before the shower. I highly reccomend these to everyone. They are really delicious and so fresh tasting. Oh, and I used all light or fat free ingredients for this, so it's somewhat healthier as well.

Open Faced Cucumber Sandwiches

Source: http://www.allrecipes.com/

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. 1/3 less fat cream cheese

1/2 cup fat free mayonnaise

1/4 cup light sour cream

1 packet ranch dressing mix

1 tsp. dill

For Sandwiches:

2 loaves french bread, sliced

2-3 large cucumbers, peeled & sliced

Grape tomatoes, halved or quartered (optional)

Directions:

Soften cream cheese on counter for about 10 minutes. Place cream cheese in medium sized bowl. Add in mayo, sour cream, ranch mix, and dill. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed until combined and of creamy consistency. Cover in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight.

On the day of the party, slice bread, peel & slice cucumbers. To assemble the sandwiches, spread about 1 tbsp onto each slice. Top with cucumbers and tomatoes if desired.