These are all great for sprinkling over delicious salads and soups, they keep in your pantry for weeks and are the easiest way to save your stale bread from the bin.
Directions
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Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
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You can make croutons by either roughly cutting your bread into two sizes – 1cm for small and 3cm for large – or make rustic croutons by simply tearing it up into thumb-sized pieces. Whichever method you go for, it’s just important that the croutons be similarly sized so that they cook evenly.
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In a large bowl, toss the bread pieces with your flavourings of choice. Keep them plain with a dollop of olive oil and salt, or add in some smashed-up woody herbs (e.g. rosemary and thyme) garlic, spice or chilli before you toast them.
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Once tossed through the oil and spices, evenly spread out the croutons onto a lines baking tray and bake for a bout 10 minutes, or until golden and crispy (tossing every 5 minutes).
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Some of our favourite ways to enjoy homemade croutons: Scattered over salads and soups, added to stuffing and casseroles. Anytime you need breadcrumbs, just use a rolling pin or food processor to break those croutons up into your preferred size of breadcrumbs.
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Let any leftover croutons cool until the reach room temperature, then store in a sealed container for up to 3 weeks in the pantry.