The Best Bread for Tea Sandwiches

Tea sandwiches are such a delicious accompaniment to a fragrant cup of tea, but finding the best bread for tea sandwiches can be a challenge. You want something substantial that won’t fall apart when you pick it up, yet something light enough that it enhances the filling rather than detracts from it.
After much experimentation over the years, I've found that this recipe is the best bread for tea sandwiches. It is hearty and flavorful with a tender crumb, so it provides an excellent base for sandwich fillings from rich tuna and cold meats to light cucumber and fluffy egg salad. It’s also a versatile bread recipe, and I am constantly playing around with flours and additions to make unique loaves.

Plain white flour results in a perfect loaf that rises beautifully every time. Replacing one cup of white flour with whole wheat flour adds a delightful texture and lovely toasted wheat fragrance while retaining the moist and tender crumb. Spelt flour adds a finer texture but doesn’t rise as high and tends to dry out within 1-2 days.
I love adding extra bits to this bread recipe. Mixing in a handful of poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, or sesame seeds brings a lovely crunch and beautiful toasted flavor. Chopped nuts are another good addition. Walnuts and pecans are excellent choices since they bake up tender and crunchy without detracting by being too tough, as can happen with other nuts.
Cheese and fresh herbs are also delicious additions to this bread. Try finely diced sun-dried tomatoes with tangy chunks of feta cheese, tiny leaves of lemon thyme and a generous grating of aged parmesan cheese, or a large mound of extra sharp cheddar cheese and lavish amounts of freshly grated black pepper.
Such scrumptious additions are perfect for tea sandwiches with simple fillings, but for sandwiches with elaborate or strong-flavored fillings, stick with simpler additions. Mix in finely chopped rosemary with black pepper, mash a few bulbs of roasted garlic and mix it into the bread dough with torn tarragon leaves, or caramelize a couple of diced onions and mix them in with julienned sage leaves.

Once the bread is seasoned, baked, and cooled, it's time to slice it up, spread with butter, then play with fillings.
With a nutty or seedy bread, make a pretty and charming variety of fruity tea sandwiches such as Berries and Brie with fresh blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, zingy lemon and cool cucumber, or Honeyed Asian Pear.
Use fragrant herb bread for these savory numbers. Jazz up traditional chicken salad with a swirl of savory pesto, layer hummus with slices of smoky roasted red peppers, and top fig jam with honey and creamy blue cheese crumbles.
Stick to the basic bread recipe and celebrate the comfort of toasted or grilled cheese tea sandwiches. Try roasted turkey piled with caramelized onions and an aged sharp cheddar cheese, tender corned beef layered with tangy sauerkraut and Gruyere, or these mini Monte Cristo beauties filled with smoky ham and Swiss cheese.