Homemade Croutons

We like to buy nice bread, and always store leftovers in the freezer. When the leftovers begin to infringe on Mr TBTAM’s ice cream space, I make breadcrumbs. But what does Mr TBTAM do when I’ve made breadcrumbs and he still has no room for his ice cream?

He makes croutons! (Did I mention he actually cooks more than I do?…) Then he uses them in our fave everyday salad -Bibb lettuce and mesclun greens with goat cheese, dried cranberries and balsamic or lemon vinaigrette.

We’re storing the croutons in an airtight glass jar in the cabinet. I do keep breadcrumbs in the freezer, but I have a feeling these delicious babies will be gone long before they get stale or rancid in the jar. What do you think?

Homemade Croutons

Use whatever dried spices you like, but be generous with the salt and pepper. If you use fresh garlic, better to fry it up in the oil first, then discard the garlic and use the garlic=flavored oil so you don’t get burnt garlic pieces on your croutons.

• 4 cups cubed leftover French Baguette (If frozen, thaw it just enough to be able to slice it)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Dried spices to your liking (we used some garlic powder and paprika, you could use dried herbs)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Toss the bread with olive oil and the spices in a large bowl being sure to coat well. Spread our in a single layer on baking sheet and bake till golden, about 20 minutes, tossing a few times to be sure they brown evenly.
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Crouton Round-up – If you have a favorite crouton recipe, send me a link and I’ll put it here.

• Celtic Mommy makes her Croutons w/ sourdough bread and parmesan
• OurGirlBites uses sourdough, garlic and herbs.
• Cooks Hideout uses Herbs de Provence and just a tbsp of oil for 4 cups of bread, and they look delish!
• Dogtipper makes bone-shaped croutons for dogs! I have to admit, I’ve been tossing a few to our pup and she loves them…
• Underground Caterer uses fresh herbs and has instructional pics