Grilled Strawberry Cream Cheese Sandwiches

Grilled Strawberry Cream Cheese Sandwiches are a sweet favorite. For breakfast or mid-day (after-school) snack. These are quick to make and real people pleasers. These work wonders quarted and presented for breakfast buffets too. Hand-held wonders of strawberry cream cheese delight! Beware, your hands might get a little sticky!

Ingredients

2 slices white bread
3 Tbsp (tablespoon) butter; softened to room temperature
softened cream cheese
strawberry jam or preserves (do not use jelly)
fresh strawberries (optional)

Grilled Strawberry Cream Cheese Sandwiches

What You Will Need

1	medium skillet
1	knife
1	cutting board
1	spreading rubber spatula or spreading knife

Step to Make Grilled Strawberry Cream Cheese Sandwiches

Wash and de-stem strawberries.
Use knife and cutting board to slice strawberries; set aside.
In a medium size skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter on low.
Use spreading spatula, spread cream cheese on one side of one piece of bread.
On the other slice of bread, spread strawberry jam on one side.
Top the jam side with layered sliced strawberries, if you choose.
Put the spreaded inner sides of each slice of bread together.
Use remaining butter to spread across bread slice outside.
Turn heat up to medium-high heat.
Place butter side of sandwich down in a pan.
Grill until golden brown, 2-3 minutes.
Flip to other side and repeat. Remove from pan.

To Serve Grilled Strawberry Cream Cheese Sandwiches:

Cut sandwich in half diagonally and place on a plate for individual serving. Alternately, for group serving or buffet style, quarter these sandwiches on the diagonal. Stack them using pyramid style.

Plus, you can sprinkle powdered sugar across these sandwiches for either individual or group (buffet) serving. Additionally, a small sprig of mint adds that pop of bright green color to the plate, is edible, and offers a hint of freshness against the sweetness of the sandwich. And of course, a garnish of fresh-sliced strawberries, or fanned strawberries, is a great finish.

Suggestions for Embellishments:

Substitute the jam with a fresh made compote.

You can also substitute the cream cheese for a savory, “melt-ie” cheese. Try a gruyere or havarti. Even a brie is a fabulous replacement for the cream cheese. The trick is finding a high moisture content cheese or an aged cheese for easy melting. If you enjoy the stringy pull-apart effect, then shred some mozzarella to add into your sandwich.

You can also swap out your white bread selection for a brioche bread. Even more decadent is using two slices of a pound cake. The pound cake also has the advantage of it being a bit more dense which holds up to the grilling better.

However you like your sandwiches, they make a great meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They are simple to make, simple to serve. Also, kids love them because sandwiches are a finger food and kids love to use their hands to eat. Forget about the ol’ knife and fork, proper utensil holding!

Recommended Beverage Pairings

#1 Recommended beverage for anyone, any meal, anytime is MILK! Unless, of course, you are lactose intolerant or just plain don’t like milk. That happens — in some homes. In my house, I sometimes wonder if we shouldn’t bring the cow home!

#2 For breakfast, go with my special Slim Roast Coffee. It is a diet coffee that will ease your guilt for indulging in this wondrous culinary treat! Of course, you can opt for the hot cocoa instead of coffee and still get weight loss benefits with the products I love and share HERE!

Make It an Event

#3 Treat yourself! Give yourself a pat on the back for finding this recipe, playing with it and enjoying its sweet and rich flavors. YEP, PAIR IT WITH A FINE WINE! I definitely would put this with a white wine. A wine with a hint of lemon, this wine will make the strawberry sweetness pop without becoming overbearingly sweet. Think of strawberry lemonade — it just goes together!

Pull this off for your spouse on a Saturday morning for breakfast in bed — you’ll be singing…Love is in the Air. (Thank you…and You are welcome! It will be days before you stop whistling this around town)! TRUST ME!

NO GUILT EITHER!

The best part of this is you can add your favorite coffee to this with that Something Extra to Enhance Your Life. A little secret to help you melt away the pounds as you indulge! Be sure to check out that Something Extra AND other health boosting treasures HERE.

Bon Apetit!