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 Spiced Blog!! David and his wife, Laura, are having a baby!! Their first baby, which is super special and I couldn’t be happier for them. If you don’t read his blog by the way, you need to . . he has the best stories and recipes and I love that he is one of like 15 male food bloggers out there. OK, there are more I’m sure but I only read a handful. And David’s blog is one of them.
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!
- 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)
- 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 here making these sandwiches.
Check out the rest of the dude food we have today for David’s baby shower!
Buffalo Chicken Blue Cheese Hand Pies by American Heritage Cooking
Chocolate Bacon Toffee by Bakerita
Pumpkin Beer Soft Pretzels by Baking A Moment
No Bake Salted Caramel Apple Slice by The Big Man’s World
Philadelphia Cheesesteak – Southern Style by Beer Girl Cooks
Shredded BBQ Chicken Nachos by Blahnik Baker
Cinnamon Churros by Cook With Manali
Grilled Brown Butter Burgers with Swiss + Boubon Mushrooms by Cooking for Keeps
Cider Braised Brisket by Foodness Gracious
Ham Potato and Corn Chowder by Gather For Bread
Mini Croques Monsieur Sandwiches by Hip Foodie Mom
Wolfpack-Style Meatballs by The Iron You
Pecan Praline Popcorn by Jem Of The South
No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Pecan Tarts by Kevin Is Cooking
Maple Sriracha Pulled Pork Mini Pies by Life Made Sweeter
Vanilla Almond Snowball Cake by Pizzazzerie
Something Amazing by Real Food By Dad
Cinnamon Bacon Donuts by Runnin Srilankan
Totally dude food. You nailed it for your buddy and his baby!
And I hear ya. I’ll see a baby and be all nostalgic for, like, a second. And then I remember the never sleeping ever again and remember that we’re donesies!
This looks really good. Congrats all around!
I don’t know any guys that don’t love a sandwich – total dude food.
I am adding these to the list for my husband’s birthday party food ideas.
This is dude food for sure but when my husband starts eating them they´ll be finish within a few minutes. I´ve never seen someone with a big mouth as his..I´m not joking.. He can put 5 sugar cookies in his mouth at the same time. Ha!
ps. I find myself wanting another baby often.. it just depends on which day you ask me 🙂 They are just so darn cute when they are so small!
What a perfect recipe for a baby shower, Alice! I can never resist mini foods, especially in the form of sandwiches. Love these little treats!
These sandwiches are screaming dude food to me! Although to be honest, I’m pretty sure I would have a hard time not eating like 10 of these in one sitting—I mean, it’s mini food right??
So fun! I want at least 3. Perfect party food Alice!
Alice – I so wanna see a recipe for this “bacon onion jam” you mention – it sounds so good and if I put some of that on these mini ham and cheese sandwiches, I don’t think I could label it as any sort of party food because I just wouldn’t, couldn’t share anything made with a smearing of bacon onion jam! 🙂
These are perfect dude food party sandwiches, Alice! They’re so festive!
I love croques monsieur! What a great idea to make them into mini versions for party food. They sound delicious, and such a great way to celebrate the baby shower. Love it!
Of course it qualifies! It has the word “monsieur” in the recipe name. It doesn’t get more manly. I love these little sandwiches. They are really the perfect appetizer for any event, and so simple! Congrats to David and Laura on their little baby boy 🙂
Ahhh these are beyond adorable and yet very manly!! The little sizes make me happy…and not sad if I gun down six.
How adorable! I’d probably eat like, 7. Awesome contribution- scrolling through all this deliciousness for the shower is making me hungry!
These are so cute!!! Love this idea for a party!
Oh, how I adore mini food with toothpicks. Love these! I’ll take 50.
Hahah these totally count as dude-food! Maybe not if you had made a croques madame 😉
Croque monsieur were my favorite guilty pleasure in Paris! I love that you made them bitesized! Perfect for a party!
These are so adorable, Alice! And they look super buttery, crispy, cheesy and DELICIOUS! I would totally eat these at a baby shower, or in my house on the regular! I love bite sized food, especially when it looks this good! Pinned! Cheers, my dear!
These sandwiches TOTALLY qualify as dude food! I see meat. I see cheese. I see bread. Yup, it’s all there! Seriously, though, thank you so much for this post. You guys surprised the heck out of me with this one, and I am literally speechless. (In fact, Laura is probably going to ask you guys to do this again since it’s one of the few times I’m ever speechless. She’ll enjoy the peace and quiet…haha!) Thank you again for being an awesome friend, Alice! 🙂
David, awh I am SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!! Wishing you and Laura the best!!! You are going to be great parents! 🙂
Oh my goodness these are so cute, Alice and totally qualify as dude food! Plus the mini size makes them more fun to eat and perfect for a baby shower! I want 10 of these for dinner tonight!
Completely dude food and I love single bites like this…so I can take more bites. Love seeing this recipe, Alice…and David is a fun and creative friend!
These are too cute!! I adore croque monsieur sandwiches and I would eat way too many of these mini sandwiches 🙂
New dude blogger here and yes that is a dude meal. I love sandwiches, and even bite size those look amazing. I have just started blogging and hope to get my name out there as one of the very, very few male bloggers. 🙂 So few of us males in this jungle that 99% of the tour guides are female. Well I can say that I have learned a lot and hope to keep on learning to be a guide one day in this blogging jungle. David, congratulations on your new baby boy. As a father I can tell you there is nothing like holding your child for the first time. It will definitely do something to you as a man. For all the ladies, I will be making my way around visiting your blogs, commenting, liking, and sharing. Look forward to meeting everyone 🙂
I am all about mini food, these sandwiches are perfection!
Bite sized foods are just my favorite!!
This is my favorite sandwich EVER, but I always hesitate about making it because it is so big…and now you have solved that problem for me forever!! WOOT!
Mini finger foods are perfect for baby showers. All dudes love sandwiches!
These are too too cute, Alice! My daughter loves croque monsiers so will be so happy to see these on the table when she arrives home for the holidays! Such a lovely shower you have all thrown for David and his wife! Gorgeous food!
I’d much rather eat a whole bunch of mini sandwiches instead of one big one — it’s so much more fun! These look delicious, Alice, and congrats to David!
Perfect and delicious for some finger food, I love the bread, so golden brown.
These sandwiches look awesome and just perfect for a baby shower! Congrats David and Laura!
This is such a fantastic sandwich idea for a party!! My kids are going to love these served up with soup too 🙂