We had about half of a baguette left from a national chain bakery. It was a couple days old and hard as a rock, but not moldy. I didn’t want to waste it so I told my husband I would try making croutons with it. And man, am I glad I tried!
I had never made croutons before and I love them on salads. We usually buy a bag a month at the grocery store for when we have salads with dinner. Had I not had the remaining bread, I probably would’ve bought a bag today.
I knew that croutons were essentially just seasoned pieces of bread that were baked. So, I grabbed some olive oil and some seasonings from the pantry and got to work. My husband cut the bread for me into nice uniform pieces. I dumped those into a big bowl and then drizzled on olive oil and sprinkled on seasonings. Note: I didn’t measure the seasonings; I just used as much as I thought would taste good so measurements below are estimated.
The oven was preheated to 350°F and I did line my pan with parchment. I love when it’s easy clean up! These did have to be flipped half way thru and I tried to layer two cookie sheets and flip but I lost several croutons doing that. Next time, I’ll just use my spatula to flip them. What a mess.
I did over bake them by a minute or two but overall they’re really tasty and I’m happy I tried doing something new!
Crouton recipe:
2 cups of chopped of bread in uniform sized pieces
1/3-1/2 cup olive oil
Seasonings:
1/2 tbsp Onion powder
1/2 tbsp Garlic powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
Preheat oven to 350°F
In a large bowl, put in the bread pieces and drizzle the olive oil over the pieces. Add seasonings and mix together.
Put a layer of parchment paper on a large cookie sheet. Pour the seasoned bread pieces onto the parchment. Make sure they are in a single layer.
Bake for 5-6 minutes.
Remove pan from oven and flip the pieces over and then bake for another 5-6 minutes.
Remove from oven and if possible remove from pan quickly (I lifted the parchment off the pan and shifted it onto the counter).
Let cool and then place in an airtight container.
These should last a few days if in an airtight container or eat them all as a snack!!!
I hope you enjoy these as much as I do (did). 😜
