Don't forget to order your copy of Mom's Pantry's
By Heart Cookbook! Volume 1 and 2 are available HERE now!

Homemade Croutons

Thanks to Karen Emerson for this how-to/recipe!

Take a loaf of bread and lay it out on the counter for a day. Flip it over for the second day for about half a day. You can use whatever kind of bread you like - white, wheat, sour dough, Italian, French, whatever you like. The time may differ. The key is you want the bread to be mostly stale. The reason you want it stale is so that it will keep its shape.

I used a loaf of day old French bread that my grocery deli was selling for ninety-nine cents. I sliced it into 1/2 inch slices and then let it get stale.

Once it's mostly stale, I use kitchen scissors and cut into cubes. You can just use a knife if you’d like.

Put the stale cubes in a gallon size plastic bag. Add 4 T of Italian Seasoning and 1 T of garlic powder. Drizzle about 5 T of olive oil into the bag. Seal and shake it up. Add some more olive oil if needed. Add other spices if you like. Shake it up until everything is mixed well.

Pour croutons out into a shallow baking pan and sprinkle on a little seasoning salt and a little olive oil if you notice some croutons are still mostly dry.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Stir them up. Bake again for about 10 minutes or until they are browned. Cool completely so that the moisture won’t condensate when stored. Store in an airtight container.

I know - maybe buying them would be easier but these are better! I use them in meatloaf, on salads, and topped on tomato soup. I've crushed them up when I bread crumbs for recipes. When I make croutons, I usually make a bunch and they last forever. I store them in a large Rubbermaid container.

Follow Moms Pantry's board Salads and Dressings on Pinterest.