Tea Sandwiches Get A Southern Twist With This Cheesy Bread

If you enjoy entertaining, you've likely made tea sandwiches before. They're the perfect answer to feeding a crowd, a unique subset of sandwich that turns the lunchtime staple into a classy snack. We love the fluffy bread and creamy spread that goes all the way to the edges, the crunchy cucumbers, finely sliced radishes, and everything else that makes these sandwiches exquisite. They're filling without being overly heavy, and you get to give house guests options with different varieties laid out on the table. The next time you're planning a tray of tea sandwiches for entertaining, think about adding one more variety to shake up the presentation: Make a few cheese puff sandwiches to round out your finger sandwich spread.

Cheese puffs are bite-sized buns, pillowy on the inside and crispy on the outside — of course, with a generous helping of cheese mixed in the dough. While they're popular in the American South, you'll see cheese puffs at diners and on kitchen tables all over the world. They can be made ahead and frozen, which makes these savory bread bites the perfect thing to keep on hand for serving as a side dish or an appetizer. Because of their size, they're also perfect for finger sandwiches — just slice them open and dress them up in different ways to cater to your guests and your style of event.

If you're making traditional tea sandwiches, you have to meticulously choose the bread and know how to cut it in a way that'll look beautiful on the tray. But, when you use Southern-style cheese bread puffs for your tea sandwiches, you get to skip all the hard work with the bread. Just pull 'em out of the freezer and slice them up, and you're ready to go. It's an easy way to cut down the time it takes to make fancy finger sandwiches and still get to present an impressive and beautiful array of snacks. You can fill cheese puffs with all sorts of fillings, too, providing variety without all the extra work.

Cheese puffs certainly have a cheesy, cheddar-style flavor with savory elements that make them delicious to eat on their own. And that savory vibe is perfect for pairing with meat-based tea sandwiches. Fill your cheddar puffs with zesty ham salad, tuna salad, or chicken salad for a twist on a traditional finger sandwich. Cream cheese works great as a spread for cheese puffs, just like regular bread, and you can also use fruit and vegetable based spreads — like the classic cucumber or radish filling — to create traditional tea sandwiches with an interesting twist.