I sent my sister a text a few weeks ago: “Bought two loaves of bread at the grocery store yesterday #momlife”. (Pre-children we barely finished one loaf of bread.) Well, last week my husband bought two loaves again and we ended up with over half a loaf that was beginning to go stale. As we were having my in-laws for dinner this week for grilled chicken with salad, I decided to be ambitious and make croutons! (Not ambitious because making croutons is hard, but because making anything is hard with three little boys in the house!) The boys graced me with simultaneous naptimes this week, so I was able to make them! Here is how it went down:
Cut whatever bread you are using into cubes. Fancy bread is better, obviously, but boring sliced bread still makes better croutons than store-bought. I cut about 8 slices of bread.
Place in a Ziploc bag. Season with 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Drizzle about 2 tblsp of olive oil into the bag. Close the bag and shake it all around. Make sure that most sides of the bread cubes have a bit of sheen from the oil and that they have enough seasoning. If needed add more spices and/or olive oil.
Spread them out onto a sheet pan lined with foil and bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Check after 15 minutes if you have a mean nasty old oven that enjoys burning things. Enjoy these crunchy delights on your salad or plain like my kids!
Ingredients
- Bread: slightly stale leftovers or fresher hard breads like sourdough/French
- 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- dash pepper
- 2 tblsp olive oil
Instructions
- Cut desired amount of bread into cubes with a serrated knife.
- Place cubes in a Ziploc bag. Add seasonings to the bread in the bag and drizzle with the olive oil. Shake to coat the bread on all sides.
- Spread onto a sheet pan covered with foil and bake about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Pull them out and enjoy the crunch!