So, did you read my rant and see my maze when Pepperidge Farm stopped making their cocktail-sized rye bread? Giant Eagle must have heard me, because they had S. Rosen’s Rye & Pumpernickel in stock this year. Sadly, their rye isn’t seedless, but I made due with the pumpernickel.

At any rate, this is what we use them to make:

Here’s a very fast & loose recipe/method:

Get it:

• Cocktail Rye bread and/or Cocktail Pumpernickel bread.
• Bag of shredded cheese – we got Swiss & Gruyere. Havarti, Swiss, Mozzarella, or Provolone would be fine.
• Mayonnaise and/or Miracle Whip.
• Lemon Pepper
• Thousand Island dressing
• Sauerkraut
• Corned Beef lunch meat

Do it:

• To start both, we mix 2 cups of shredded Swiss & Gruyere cheese with a few Tablespoons of mayo. I’ll use Miracle Whip too.
• I put the cheese mixture right on the rye, & sprinkled on some lemon pepper.
• I put some corned beef lunch meat on the Pumpernickel.
• I put both on to a baking sheet that has a baking rack, and put it into a pre-heated oven at 375° on the air fryer setting for 5 minutes.
• Took ’em out and the lemon-pepper rye ones were done.
• I added Thousand Island dressing, sauerkraut, & the cheese mixture to the Reuben ones and put ’em back in for 3 minutes at the same temp & on the same setting.

They’re always crowd-pleasers, and you really can top them any way you like. You can just bake ’em too, or use a counter-top air fryer. My wife brought them to me as a tradition from her family, I made Reuben ones, because… Reubens, am I right?

And remember, I’m always right.

Pumpernickel is cool because it essentially is named for the devil’s farts… and if that’s not cool, I don’t know what is. This is also code in my household for “I am always right.” I told my wife the name origin behind it, she said there was no way, Googled it… and, like I said… I am always right.

Me – from the old Rye bread post.