These divine French sandwiches are such a crowd pleaser. They are a win-win-win. Delicious, easy, and seem impressive. Perfect for a small party or to bring to a backyard hang. They are also yummy additions to a lunchbox throughout the week to change up the classic PB&J. These can serve as a little appetizer or part of a main course.

This slider recipe is a great way to introduce your little chef to one of the Mother Sauces, a bechamel. It is a simple white sauce that is very similar to a cream gravy. Once they know the basics of making a roux and dumping in the milk/cream, they will have this technique for a simple white sauce for the rest of their lives. You can use it for pasta, veggie gratin, soups, or a base for several other sauces. Make sure they know they are helping you create something very sophisticated.

If you don’t have rolls around, you can also use bread to make a more tradition croque monsieur.

Croque Monsieur Sliders

Ingredients

1 ½  Tablespoons butter

1 ½ Tablespoons flour

½ cup whole milk

½ cup heavy cream

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon white pepper

⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

1 package Hawaiian style  rolls

6 ounces gruyere cheese (divided)

8 ounces sliced ham

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 Tablespoons butter, unsalted

¼ cup parmesan cheese

For serving: chips and cornichon pickles

Instructions

1. Heat your broiler on high. 
2. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. 
3. Add butter and flour to a large, heavy bottomed skillet (preferably stainless steel). Heat on medium. 
4. Whisk constantly as butter begins to melt. Continue whisking to cook the flour and melted butter together for 3-4 minutes or until it barely begins to brown and no longer smells like raw flour. 
5. Add your whole milk, heavy cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Whisk constantly until sauce thickens into a gravy-like consistency. 
6. Have a grown up help you slice your sheet of Hawaiian style rolls in half but keeping the sheet together. 
7. Put the bottom half of your rolls on your aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Spread half of your bechamel sauce (the gravy you just made) over the bottom half of your rolls. Spread Dijon mustard on the top half of your rolls inside. Then add your ham slices and spread out so each roll gets the same amount of ham. 
8. Sprinkle the cheese on top of your bechamel. Close your sheet of sandwiches. 
9. Pour the rest of the bechamel on top of the sandwiches. Sprinkle your parmesan on top of the bechamel. 
10. Place your sandwiches in the oven with the broiler on high for 1-3 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and starts to slightly brown in places. Keep an eye on it! This can happen fast. Feel free to open the oven to check (with grown up help) as it is sometimes hard to tell through the door. Most of the heat is coming directly from the broiler, so you won’t affect the cooking process much by opening it to check often. 
11. Serve with chips and cornichon pickles.