Homemade Croutons

 

I like to think of this as a "wing and a prayer" recipe.  I invited some friends over to watch basketball this past weekend.  Since they were bringing the pizza I thought I'd toss together a big salad to go with.  Knowing that my friend Jan is a big fan of the crouton salad accessory and knowing I had the butt end of a couple artisan loaves sitting in the cupboard, I figured I'd get online and find a make-it-yourself recipe.

What's that thing about best laid plans?  Well about 10 minutes before they were to show up at my door I realized I'd not gotten online and not found a recipe, so instead I "wung" it.  Gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised by the results and will be adding these delicious tidbits to many more of my future salads.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

K2's Holycraptheyaregoingtobehereanyminute Croutons

3 cups old artisan bread (but not moldy bread), cut into cubes
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. garlic salt
3-4 spritzes spray butter or 1/2 tbsp. butter melted

Before you begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, toss together the bread cubes, seasonings, and butter.  They don't need to be saturated or overly coated, just a couple of light turns around the bowl should do.

Pour the coated bread cubes into a small baking dish or onto a small cookie sheet.

Put them in the oven and set your oven on broil.

Stir/flip the cubes every 1-2 minutes until browned along the outer edges. Should take about 5-6 minutes total, if even.

Once nicely browned, turn the oven OFF and leave the croutons in the oven for another 3-4 minutes.  This will allow them to dry out in the center, but not burn.

Remove from oven and toss on salad...or in mouth...

NOTES

I buy artisan bread loaves (not bagged sandwich breads) which tend to be denser and work best for making croutons.