Hot Ham and Cheese Croissants

Have you ever had those funeral sandwiches? They’re the ham and cheese sammies that are built on Hawaiian rolls, brushed with a sugary butter glaze, left to sit overnight, then baked until gooey and caramelized. Well if you have, today’s recipe is basically those sandwiches but built on mini croissants. And if you haven’t, buckle up!

To build our sandwiches, we need some little baby croissants. Full sized croissants are not the way to go here. We want the smaller croissants because the smaller pastry gives us more edges. And more edges equals more opportunities for perfectly caramelized bites. So, we’re going to slice those croissants in half through the center and arrange the bottom halves in a baking dish that’s been sprayed with a little cooking spray.

The next layer of our sammies is the fillings. We’re going to use some thin sliced deli ham and some sliced swiss cheese to layer into our croissants. I like to use black forest ham, but oven roasted turkey would work great too. I wouldn’t recommend using a sweeter deli meat like brown sugar ham or honey roasted turkey, because we already have a sweet component to this sandwich in our finishing glaze. I also wouldn’t stray too far from the swiss cheese either. Muenster would work, but I don’t think I’d use a sharp cheese like cheddar. We want a nice mild cheese so that we get a nice gooey cheese pull that doesn’t compete with the bold flavors we’re adding to our glaze.

Speaking of glaze, we’re going to brush the tops of our sandwiches with a sweet and sticky glaze that takes these from wow to WOW. All we need is a little butter, some brown sugar, some poppy seeds, some onion powder, a little garlic powder, and a squeeze of dijon mustard. We’ll add everything together in a little bowl, pop it in the microwave to melt the butter, whisk it all together, then brush it all over the tops of our croissant sandwiches. We want to get every last drop of glaze on these sammies!

From there, to the oven our sandwiches go to get melty and golden. And when they’re finished baking, it’s time to dig in!

There’s nothing about these that’s not to love. From the flaky buttery bread to the warm and gooey ham and cheese to the sweet and savory glaze on top, these are comfort and nostalgia all in one. And if you are familiar with the OG inspiration served on Hawaiian rolls, I love the most that changing the bread completely gives these new sammies slife. These are impressive enough to be a party sandwich but easy enough to be a “just because” sandwich. They’re a little sticky, a little savory…what more could you want?

Alright, everyone! That’s it for today.

I hope you guys enjoy. And, let’s eat!