Seasoned cream cheese is spread on mini pumpernickel toasts and topped with thinly sliced cucumber, paprika and dill.
This week, I'm preparing you for more holiday parties, friends! These mini cucumber toasts are a great appetizer - they're tasty & easy, and they look so festive with the green cucumber & dill and red paprika. Perfect for a party!
My sweet Aunt Joanne brings these to lots of our family gatherings, and they always disappear so fast. So, I asked her to share the recipe with me and she was happy to oblige...so thank you, Aunt Joanne!
I'm sensing a trend with my recent recipes in that most of them are pretty easy, but whoever complained because a recipe wasn't complicated enough? These little bites are no exception to the easy trend. Just toast up the little slices of bread, mix a packet of dry Italian dressing mix with a block of softened cream cheese to quickly add tons of flavor, and top the toasts with thinly sliced fresh cucumber and a little sprinkle of paprika and fresh dill.
Easy. Pretty. Tasty. Covers all the bases.
Sometimes my aunt makes them with thinly sliced & toasted pretzel bread instead of the pumpernickel cocktail bread, and they are really delicious that way too! But in the interest of keeping these super simple (because we are BUSY PEOPLE during the holiday season!), I went with the cocktail bread since it's pre-sliced and ready to go.
I like using an English cucumber (also called seedless or hothouse cucumbers) for this because the skin is thinner and they have a tendency to be less bitter than standard cucumbers. And the little toasts look so much prettier with the pop of green from the skin of the cucumber!
I like to slice them really thinly and use two slices per piece, but if you want to slice them a little thicker and just use one slice per piece, you can do that too.
Looking for more party friendly appetizers? Check out these bacon wrapped dates with romesco sauce and these mushroom and goat cheese phyllo bites!
Yummy noises await you!
Mini Cucumber Toasts
Ingredients
- about 28 slices pumpernickel cocktail bread* or thinly sliced pretzel bread
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 (0.7 oz) envelope dry Italian dressing mix
- about ½ an English (or seedless or hothouse) cucumber**
- about 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Lightly toast the bread by laying the slices out on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet and broiling on high for about 90 seconds on one side, flipping and broiling for about 60 seconds on the other side.
(Note: These times are estimated based on my broiler, but broilers vary widely so keep an eye on the bread the whole time - it can go from perfectly toasted to burnt in a matter of seconds!) - Thoroughly mix dry Italian dressing mix with softened cream cheese. Spread a little bit (about 1-2 tsp) of the cream cheese mixture on each piece of toasted bread.
- Thinly slice the cucumber (about ⅛ inch thick) so you have 2 slices per piece of bread. Lightly pat cucumber slices dry if necessary and place 2 slices of cucumber on top of each toast.
- Top each piece with a pinch of smoked paprika and a sprinkle of fresh chopped dill. Serve immediately.
Notes
Great idea!! Making tonight for another Christmas party.
These are so delicious!!! They seriously disappear so quickly, everyone loves them! I love the combination of the hearty pumpernickel toast, the savory creaminess of the cheese and the cool crispness of the cucumber....it is pretty easy to find fresh dill these days, not only does it look pretty, it takes the flavor to a whole different level of herbal freshness! Does it sound like I love this easy little appetizer??? YAAAAAS! Thank you for sharing, Aunt Joanne and thank you for posting, Rachel!
Sounds delicious, Rachel! I think I'll make these for Christmas 🙂
Wonderful! Hope you love them!! 🙂
These are as easy to eat as, apparently, they are to make...well, actually, easier! One of my favorite appetizers and there are NEVER any left over. Keep bringing em Joanne. Nice post Rach!
I don’t love any of this ingredients but I absolutely love this appetizer. The combo of flavors is like nothing else and so so good.