Homemade Croutons

Sometimes I try a new bread recipe that doesn’t turn out for whatever reason. And sometimes homemade croutons is the only way to remedy the failed bread lump (or brick) sitting on my counter.

Hey. Farm(ish) girls use what they have, right?

Homemade Croutons

(scroll down to the bottom for a printable recipe!)

(original recipe from The Tightwad Gazette)

4 slices bread (homemade or store-bought. I won’t tell.)
2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese
1/4 tsp. Oregano
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp garlic salt
2 Tbsp olive oil (or whatever your family uses)

This is the part where I fess up and tell you I usually double or quadruple the recipe and I use all sorts of different spices, depending on what sounds good at the moment. For this particular crouton episode, I doubled the recipe using a round loaf of sourdough, freshly ground pepper, garlic salt, and Italian seasonings in similar (doubled) measurements mentioned above.

To get started, slice the bread into crouton sized cubes and place them in a bowl.

In a separate, smaller bowl, mix up your oil with the spices/salts/cheese and pour evenly over your bread cubes.

 Toss to coat. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you need more oil. You don’t need more oil. It’s all good.

Spread the bread cubes out evenly on a cookie sheet.

 Bake at 300 for about an hour, stirring every twenty minutes. (You can bake them for a shorter amount of time which will make them not quite as crispy, but be aware if you don’t dry them out completely, they will not store as long.)

Voila. Awesome croutons. Like….totally awesome.

And if you’re not in the mood to put these on top of a salad, you should be aware that these lil’ croutons make a lovely crunchy snack. I know this because about half of the croutons disappear from the cookie sheet before I can get them into their mason jar or plastic bag storage container.

I’m sure it’s the farmboys stealing them all.

At least that’s what I’m going to tell you.

Enjoy!

Print

Homemade Croutons

Homemade croutons for your home grown salad? Why, yes! ** Recipe can easily be doubled** Feel free to experiment with your own combination of spices.

Ingredients

• 4 slices bread
• 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp Oregano
• 1/4 tsp celery salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Slice the bread into crouton sized bits and place in large bowl.

2. In a smaller bowl, combine the oil and all spices.

3. Pour oil and spices mixture over bread bits in large bowl. Fold gently until oil is distributed over bread bits.

4. Dump the bread bits onto a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan and spread out evenly so they are in one layer.

5. Bake at 300 for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes.

6. Store on counter in glass or plastic jar. Or hide them so your kids can't find them. 😉

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