A dear friend of mine just had a baby and all I’m seeing on Facebook these days are photos of the beautiful new baby with her sisters. The photos are so cute and of course, I start reminiscing about when my kids were infants. . and then, for a second, I want another one.

For a second!

I love babies and am so happy to be here today to celebrate David, from

We were supposed to make dude food for today. . Not sure if this qualifies as full-on dude food, but it has meat, cheese and bread so I’m going with this.

I made mini croque monsieur sandwiches. A croque monsieur is traditional French ham and cheese sandwich. These are super easy to make. Any dude could make these. And you can totally change these up! Use Jarlsberg, Gruyère, or any cheese you have at home and you could even use dijon mustard, or make a bacon onion jam or marmalade and spread some on the bread before baking.

The possibilities are endless!

Start off by making your ham and cheese sandwiches and slather on a load of butter on each side.

Next, you’re going to bake them in the oven until golden brown, crispy and the cheese is all melted.

Then, all you’re doing is cutting off the crusts, which you can eat right away, cut them into smaller pieces, put them on a platter with tooth picks and you are golden!

Now, wouldn’t you want to eat these at your baby shower?! David, I hope you like them! Wishing you and Laura the best! I’m SO happy for you guys and can’t wait to see photos!

Print Recipe

Mini Croques Monsieur Sandwiches

Feel free to add dijon mustard or a bacon onion jam to these croque monsieur sandwiches.

Prep Time5

Cook Time12

Total Time17

Course: Appetizer

Author: Hip Foodie Mom

Ingredients

6 to 8 slices of thick white bread
6 to 8 slices Jarlsberg Gruyère, Beaufort, or Comté cheese
6 to 8 slices good quality ham
butter any kind (can be salted or unsalted)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Arrange 2 thick slices white bread next to one another on the counter and cover 1 slice completely with slices of cheese. Add the ham to cover the cheese and top with the other slice of bread. Repeat with other sandwiches. Spread about 1 teaspoon butter on each side of the sandwiches and arrange on a foil-lined cookie sheet.
Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until the croque monsieur is golden brown and crusty on both sides. Let cool for about 5 minutes. Trim off the crust, if desired, and cut into small rectangles. Serve immediately with toothpicks.

Recipe from Jacques Pépin. See him in action