Anyone else make their own croutons?

[brucered]

Had some extra buns laying around, a bit dry, so thought I'd give it another try. I have done them in the oven before and they turned out great.

Today, I chopped them up and fried them in some Italian Barber Olive Oil, Butter, S&P, Seasoning Salt, Garlic Powder, Cumin.

After they crisped up a bit on the stove top, I threw them in the oven on convection to fully dry and they came out perfectly. They likely won't last long as there are no preservatives or because they are so tasty and we just eat them plain.

Worth a shot if you have a few minutes and want nice warm croutons for a meal or to snack on.

Fresh in the pan:


After 20min or so on low:


After 30min in the convection oven, ready to eat:

 

[YetiDave]

I make them occasionally from any crusty bits of sourdough that don't end up as sandwiches. I like olive oil mixed with a little anchovy paste, garlic and black pepper in mine. Served on top of a bowl of broccoli and Stilton soup!

 

[BubblesTGB]

Looks delicious. I'm going to have to make some extra bread for this.

 

[Eeyore]

Actually my daughter does. I must admit that they taste better than the ones I get from the shop

 

[oc_in_fw]

I make them occasionally from any crusty bits of sourdough that don't end up as sandwiches. I like olive oil mixed with a little anchovy paste, garlic and black pepper in mine. Served on top of a bowl of broccoli and Stilton soup!

That reminds me- I am out of Stilton.

 

[YetiDave]

That reminds me- I am out of Stilton.

It's time to stock up for me! Every Christmas huge slabs of it get sold for next to nothing, I think 750g is about £3 at the moment. I'll be buying a ton and running it through the smoker. Sorry for the hijack!

 

[oc_in_fw]

It's time to stock up for me! Every Christmas huge slabs of it get sold for next to nothing, I think 750g is about £3 at the moment. I'll be buying a ton and running it through the smoker. Sorry for the hijack!

Over 1.5 lbs for around $6? Wow.

 

[guerreit2]

All the time! Any stale bread gets chopped up and I usually bake mine. Toss in a little oil/melted butter with whatever seasoning I have around. Usually something like salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, paprika.

 

[Bushhippi]

My wife is a fantastic cook, I showed her your post and she said sounds good ( the ingredients ) and looks good. let me tell you that's a true complement. Would go good with a fresh Caesar salad.

 

[PugslyCat]

I did my own croutons for the first time this past Thanksgiving. I had an aging loaf of home made whole wheat bread in the refrigerator, already half dried out. It was just some oil, butter, seasoning salt and dried them in the oven.

 

[brucered]

^ the oven is the easier way and pretty much set and forget.

My wife was doing some baking so I thought I would start on the stovetop.

Any way you make them, I bet they always turn out tasty and a good way to use up stale bread

 

[captaincaveman]

I don't make my own, or really eat them often at all, but I'd consider it if I had a good copycat recipe for Outback Steakhouse croutons. I also don't like going to Outback Steakhouse, so I don't eat them often. I don't know how they do it but their croutons have exactly the right amount of crunch, are slightly juicy (garlic butter maybe), and have a wonderfully sweet/salty flavor IIRC.

 

[Alacrity59]

All this talk of croutons is making me think of onion soup.

 

[soccerguy83]

We do them all the time, but we broil them, about 5-7 mins a side and out onto the salad.

 

[brucered]

The oven was free of Christmas baking, stale bread and buns were on hand and a fresh bottle of Olive Oil was waiting to be cracked open.

Looks like I'll be having some Caesar Salad with Garlic croutons soon.

 

[brucered]

Another 5 minutes should do it

 

[Cosmos Mariner]

Another 5 minutes should do it

Bruce, your pic has given me a craving for croutons! I'll be asking the fiancé to make some of hers that I like so much today.

 

[brucered]

Bruce, your pic has given me a craving for croutons! I'll be asking the fiancé to make some of hers that I like so much today.

Mine might not make it to the Salad....I love them when they are warm out of the oven.

Not sure why I don't make them more often, we always have stale bread and buns we are throwing out. They're even good just to snack on and can be seasoned any way you like.

 

[BubblesTGB]

So Bruce - is 12/21 your official crouton making day? So far 2013 and 2014. Do we have to wait another year?

 

[brucered]

So Bruce - is 12/21 your official crouton making day? So far 2013 and 2014. Do we have to wait another year?

Ha...I didn't have a clue it was a year from my initial post. We were watching a Jamie Oliver show the other day and he was making them with old bread so I told the kids we'd make some soon.

Hopefully not a year until my next batch. I want to make a few more batches using some spices that have a bit of kick.

The next time we are going to toss some old bread, look for another batch to be posted.