These delicate Strawberry Sandwiches are made with white bread, fresh strawberries, and a homemade whipped strawberry cream cheese.
These are perfect for afternoon tea, brunch, baby showers, holidays, etc. Enjoy them sliced into quarters, or use a heart-shaped cookie cutter for mini bite-sized fruit sandwiches!
These cute strawberry tea sandwiches are inspired by the popular Japanese strawberry sandwich (also known as strawberry sando). Like the original, these delicate finger sandwiches use fresh strawberries, and fluffy bread.
Unlike the original, these little cuties use strawberry cream cheese (instead of whipped cream) and are scaled down, making them perfect for serving at tea parties, bruch, or Valentine's day. You can prepare them as a full size sandwich, or use a cookie cutter to get the perfect bite-sized mini sandwiches - it's totally up to you.
I recommend using a mix of white bread and wheat bread for nice contrasting colors, but if you can find Japanese milk bread - even better! The fluffy, tender slices pair perfectly with this sweet sandwich, but a regular ol' slice of bread works just fine too.
You Will Need:
- Bread: Use fluffy white bread, wheat, or a combination of both. If you can find them, square sandwich slices are the best, as they have more surface area and make excellent tea sandwiches.
- Strawberries: You will need about 6-7 strawberries (or a few more if they are small). I like to serve some extra strawberries on the side too.
- Cream cheese: You'll need about 6 ounces of softened cream cheese - about ¾ of a standard brick.
- Strawberry jam - This adds sweetness, flavor, and color. Use whatever kind you like best.
- Milk - Helps to whip the cream cheese. You can use heavy cream instead for extra creaminess.
- Vanilla extract - Just a splash!
Check the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and the quantities needed.
Tools & Equipment
- Electric mixer (or whisk)
- Cookie cutter (optional): To create little crustless rounds you can use a biscuit cutter, or a 2" heart-shaped cookie cutter to make heart-shaped sandwiches.
How to Make Strawberry Sandwiches
These can either be made into smaller ones (as shown in the images below), or a typical full-size sandwich.
- Add softened cream cheese, strawberry jam, and milk (or heavy cream) to a bowl.
- Beat the ingredients together using either a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment.
- Spread each slice of bread with the strawberry cream cheese mixture, leaving a small margin around the edges.
- If desired, use cookie cutters to cut the bread and cream cheese into hearts, circles, etc.
- Thinly slice the strawberries and pat them dry. Place them on one half of each sandwich slice.
- Place the prepared strawberry sandwiches on a platter, serve, and enjoy!
Another Option: Full Size Strawberry Sandwiches
A full-size sandwich can easily be made using the same ingredient proportions. Instead of using a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to create smaller sandwiches, simply leave the sandwich whole and cut off the crusts (if desired).
To serve for tea, remove the crusts and slice the sandwiches into quarters on the diagonal.
Storing and Making Ahead
- Can I make them ahead of time? For the best results, I don't recommend assembling your sandwiches ahead of time.
- Because of the high moisture content of both the cream cheese and strawberries, allowing them to sit for too long can cause them to become soggy.
- Instead, to prepare ahead of time you can slice (and dry) your strawberries, make the cream cheese, or even pre-cut the bread (if desired).
- Then you can assemble them just before serving (be sure to let the cream cheese soften first).
- What can I do with leftovers? Leftover sandwiches should be eaten within about 12-24 hours, and will be soft compared to the fresh ones.
Variations
- With whipped cream. Whisk together heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and a tiny splash of vanilla until soft peaks form. Continue beating the mixture until the peaks hold their shape. Spread each half of your sandwich with a thick layer of whipped cream, then add the strawberries, and another layer of whipped cream. Top it with a slice of bread, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and slice in half in a diagonal line. This method can be used with many different types of fresh fruit, and is known as a Japanese fruit sandwich.
- Peanut butter. Swap the strawberry cream cheese for peanut butter. It pairs with the fresh strawberries in a PB&J kind of way! Another fun option would be peanut butter and banana.
- Cream cheese. The recipe includes a way to make your own whipped strawberry cream cheese, but if you prefer you could swap it out for store-bought strawberry cream cheese, OR store-bought whipped cream cheese.
Expert Tips
- Dry the strawberries. In order to avoid excess moisture, it's important to pat the strawberries dry with a paper towel after they have been sliced. Any extra moisture can make for a soggy sandwich.
- Use contrasting bread. There is a lovely lady that specializes in English tea time, and she explains that using both wheat and white bread creates a really nice contrast. Her rule is light filling - darker bread, dark (or colorful) filling - light bread. For these sandwiches, which are a mix of light and colorful, I like to use a combination.
- Soften the cream cheese. If your cream cheese is not soft when you go to whip it, you will get lumps. It will also tear your bread when spreading, so be sure to allow your cream cheese to soften for at least 1-2 hours first.
What to Serve with Strawberry Sandwiches
If you're preparing these for brunch or an afternoon tea, you may want to serve them with a variety of finger foods such as:
- Deviled eggs
- Shortbread cookies
- Other tea sandwiches (egg salad, cucumber, etc)
- Raspberry tarts
- Scones (with clotted cream and rhubarb sauce)
- Crostini with smoked salmon and cream cheese
- Chocolate macaroons
- Mini rice puddings
- Victoria sponge cake
If you loved this recipe for Strawberry Sandwiches, let me know by leaving a 5-star review in the recipe card, OR tag me on Instagram @maritimecountrykitchen!
Strawberry Sandwiches
Equipment
- Heart-shaped cookie cutter (optional) 2-inch
Ingredients
- 6 slices bread wheat, white, or a mix of both
- 6-7 strawberries thinly sliced and patted dry
Homemade Strawberry Cream Cheese
- 6 ounces cream cheese softened (about 188 grams)
- 3 tablespoons strawberry jam
- 2 teaspoons milk
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Use a hand or stand mixer to whip the cream cheese, jam, milk, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. Mix until the ingredients are combined and the cream cheese is light and fluffy.
- Divide the whipped cream cheese onto each piece of bread, spreading it in an even layer.
- If desired, use a cookie cutter to cut out 4 heart shapes from each slice of bread. Avoid cutting into the crusts on the bread, and leave the cream cheese side up. Alternatively, prepare the sandwiches whole, merely slicing the crusts of the bread off.
- Add a single layer of strawberry slices on one piece of cut-out bread and then top with another cut-out to form a sandwich. Repeat this step until you have all 12 mini sandwiches completed (or three full size ones, cut into 4 triangles).
- Place on a platter, serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Cream cheese should only be left at room temperature for about two hours, so make sure the sandwiches are refrigerated until they are ready to serve or that you enjoy them immediately after assembling.
- You can multiply the recipe to accommodate the number of sandwiches you need if you’re making a larger batch.
- The number of sandwiches you’ll get will depend on the size of the cookie cutter you use. A typical slice of store bought bread is about 4.5”x4.5”, so you'll need an approximately 2” cookie cutter to get four cut-outs from each slice.
- You can snack on the leftover crusts and edges spread with cream cheese - no need for them to go to waste!
Nutrition
Please note that some of my blog posts here at Maritime Country Kitchen may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Brittany
Just made these again for a tea party. So delicious! Everyone enjoyed them 😊