I do get asked this question every now and then.
Actually it's pretty easy. You won't even need an oven for this.
If you are baking bread and it was a not so nice to eat bread, turn it into croutons.
If you have a loaf of bread, almost expiring and you don't want to freeze it, turn it into croutons.
If you want to save money and not buy these, make croutons
Besides using these in salads, they are good as snacks too. When I made this for Lydia's first birthday's Caesar Salad, my cousin's kids grabbed the remaining croutons and snacked on them. So, even if you're not making any salad, just turn any unwanted bread into this and they'll be really wanted. Kids will even fight for it.
So, what sort of bread? Basically, you can use any bread, but I find white bread or french loaves taste the best. Wholemeal or breads like such don't taste that nice when being made into croutons. Stale breads work the best. Fresh bread.... hmm.. not that nice because it is moist and soft. It's those stale hard breads that is the best. I heard brioche will be even better, but I have never tasted that as croutons before.
What you need to do is cube the bread, big or small, as you like, but I like mine about 1.5cm cube.
Then, place some salted butter into a pan, turn the heat on medium low, throw the bread cubes in and let the butter slowly melt and coat the bread. Then just toast the bread cubes on the pan, tossing them every now and then until they look golden and crunchy. How much butter.. hmmm.. eyeball, if you see the butter don't seem enough to coat all the bread, then just add more. It's ok to be added in anytime.
Oh yes, let them cool down in the pan so that the residual heat will continue to dry up the croutons. Store in air tight container, they do get chewy if exposed to our humid air.
I love croutons!! Very addictive snack...I'd bump up mine with grated cheese and they're like Cheetos without the salt and other funky stuff. Just looking at your pics is making me salivate.
ReplyDeleteI like to make my own croutons too with leftover bread. I like to sprinkle them with a bit of dried herbs, garlic powder or parmesan cheese when they are done. Taste so much better in salad :)
ReplyDeleteSharon,
ReplyDeleteLOL.. yeah adding cheese in will be great.
Gert,
Oh so much goodness added in, ok, try that next time.
So this is called croutons :D
ReplyDeleteI love this snack with a cup of hot black coffee.
my husband makcik is serani..dia ajar kami buat nie dengan goreng dengan minyak yg bayak..lps tu tos minyak dia..yg mcm tu terlalu berminyak..klu mcm nie ok sikit..klu mkn dengan potato sup..nyum2
ReplyDeleteYvonne,
ReplyDeletecan also hoh...
Yaati,
Goreng minyak banyak wah... banyak oily tu.
Croutons yang betul pakai butter bukan minyak, barula bau wangiiiiiiiiiiii.
Aiyana, I always thrown the bread so wasted.
ReplyDeleteCan also throw in some garlic for garlic croutons yum yum! I've always done them in the oven though, nice stovetop tip! I hate wasting bread too, I do this with leftover bread, or haha liek you said, with bread that didn;t turn out too well ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat tips. Thanks wendy
ReplyDeleteIf i bake French bread again, going use it to make this, love this add into Caesar salad.
ReplyDeleteBeen wanting to make croutons for my salad but dunno how...yours is so easy peasy will definitely try it out one day! Thx!
ReplyDeleteI always have leftover bread, now I learn another way to use up the bread. Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteOK. you did everything in proper just for me!! I am appreciate your help!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Pei Sie (Patricia)
Patricia,
ReplyDeleteU ngam ngam hor only la. I oredi have them in my drafts, so just post up for you, not purposely do for you. I'm not that nice, hahahaha!
jolly good idea... instead of throwing away the bread.
ReplyDeleteI always bake mine but I experimented with the Airfryer too. Fast to cook, good to eat :). You got your Airfryer already?
ReplyDeleteBlessed Homemaker,
ReplyDeleteI only do small batches, as needed for each salad only. Lazy to bake, LOL.
Not yet, my friend got it for me oredi, thinking that she's driving back, but last minute her trip was canceled, so have to wait til Dec for her next trip home.