Mini Cucumber Toasts
Seasoned cream cheese is spread on mini pumpernickel toasts and topped with thinly sliced cucumber, paprika and dill.
Servings: 28 mini 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
Do not salt the cucumbers, salt draws the water out of vegetables and will make the toasts wet and soggy.
*Cocktail bread is a miniature loaf of thinly sliced bread, the pieces are about 2 inches square and about ¼ inch thick and it is sometimes located in the specialty bread section of the store (by the naan, wraps, etc.).
**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.