Mini croque monsieur bites with bacon and melted cheese
- Preparation 5 min
- Cooking 25 min
- Servings 24
- Freezing Not recommended
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🥓 What my mother made when we came in from outside
We would come home from playing outside, frozen in winter, soaked in summer. My mother pulled out the bread, the bacon and the jar of cheese spread. Twenty-five minutes later there was a sheet pan of hot little squares on the counter, and then there wasn’t. That is what these are. Not a French croque monsieur, and I know it. But that is what she called them, and the name stuck.
🐷 Three ingredients, one sheet pan, nothing precooked
Brown sandwich bread, a processed cheese spread (Cheez Whiz, or the Quebec jar called Le P’tit Crémeux), and raw bacon. That’s the whole list.
Nothing gets cooked ahead. Bread, cheese and bacon all go into the oven together on a parchment-lined sheet, and the bacon fat drips down into the crumb while it bakes. I never finish these under the broiler either. I like the bacon a little soft, and that is deliberate.
Back home a lot of people call these petits cochons, which comes out as “little pigs” in English. Same pan, different kitchen.
🎄 The tray that empties first at a Christmas buffet
This is where cheese toast bites earn their spot. A holiday buffet, New Year’s Eve, Super Bowl Sunday: put twenty-four on a platter and they go before the dips do. Count on two or three per person, minimum. Good hot. Still fine cold the next day, which I honestly did not expect.
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🐷 Spread first, cut after
It sounds like a detail. It isn’t. A full slice takes two seconds to spread. A small square of soft bread catches the knife, tears, and you end up with cheese on your fingers and a bite in pieces. Do all six slices, then cut.
🥓 The bacon goes on raw, and it never sees the broiler
Everything hits the pan uncooked: bread, cheese, bacon. Those twenty-five minutes cook all three at once, and the bacon fat runs down into the crumb while it happens. That is the entire point. Pre-cook the bacon and it has nothing left to give the bread.
Two minutes under the broiler and the bacon snaps like a chip, the edges of the bread go black and the cheese starts to bubble over. I like mine soft, so I leave it alone. If you want yours firmer, give it five more minutes at 400°F instead of raising the heat.
The math works out, by the way: twelve slices cut lengthwise into four gives you forty-eight strips for twenty-four bites. Two each.
🧀 How much cheese
One to two tablespoons per slice of bread. I use plenty, because it’s good.
⏱️ Make them ahead
Up to the assembly, yes. Spread and cut, then lay on the bacon, cover the sheet and hold it in the fridge for a few hours. Bake when people show up. The baking itself does not keep: reheated is fine, straight out of the oven is better.
🎄 Working out a buffet tray
Two or three bites per person is the floor, not the target. Six slices of bread give twenty-four bites, so eight to twelve people if there is other food on the table. For a Christmas or Super Bowl spread, double it without thinking about it. This is always the plate that empties first, and unlike most appetizers these hold up perfectly well at room temperature.
♨️ Reheating leftovers
Three to four minutes in the air fryer, or five to ten minutes in the oven. The microwave will hand you rubbery bread.
✅ What to serve with mini croque monsieur bites
On a buffet I set them next to my mini quiches with ham and caramelized onions and my English muffin bites with black olives and cheese. It reads as a planned spread even though none of it took any work. For a game day spread, add something messier like my maple and calvados smoked chicken wings. If you want the same sandwich in a fuller version, there’s my croque-monsieur with ham, brie cheese and apples and my mini grilled cheese with brie, caramelized onions and maple bacon. And the next morning, with the bacon you have left, there’s my egg and maple bacon croque madame.
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Ingredients
- 6 slices of brown sandwich bread
- About 3/4 cup (180 ml) processed cheese spread such as Cheez Whiz, roughly 1 to 2 tbsp (15 to 30 ml) per slice
- 12 slices of raw bacon, each cut lengthwise into 4 strips
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Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Spread the cheese generously over one side of each bread slice, about 1 to 2 tbsp (15 to 30 ml) per slice. Spread first, cut after, never the other way around.
- Cut each slice into four squares and lay them out on the sheet.
- Top each square with two strips of raw bacon.
- Bake for about 25 minutes, until the bread is golden and the bacon is cooked through. Do not finish them under the broiler: the bacon should stay soft. Serve right away.
A croque monsieur is a hot sandwich of bread and melted cheese. A croque madame is the same thing with a fried egg landed on top. These bites take the idea and shrink it to two mouthfuls, with bacon standing in for the ham. If you want the full-size version with the egg, that’s my egg and maple bacon croque madame.
No, and you shouldn’t. Raw bacon goes straight onto the bite and bakes with the bread for about 25 minutes at 400°F (200°C). The fat renders down into the crumb, which is exactly what you want. Two strips per bite, and no broiler at the end.
Any processed cheese spread that comes in a jar will do the job, because a spread clings to the bread instead of sliding off onto the pan. Shredded cheddar works but needs watching, and cream cheese blended with a little sharp cheddar is the closest homemade stand-in. Whatever you pick, it has to melt smooth rather than break into oil.
Assemble them ahead, bake them last. Spread the bread, cut the squares, lay on the bacon, then cover the sheet pan and refrigerate for a few hours. Slide it into the oven when guests arrive. Leftovers reheat in three to four minutes in an air fryer or five to ten in the oven.
Two or three each, at the very least. This recipe makes twenty-four, which covers eight to twelve people when there is other food out. For a full holiday buffet or a Super Bowl table, double it and serve them alongside my mini quiches with ham and caramelized onions.
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