Leftover Croutons

The best part of any salad is the toppings, or “accouterments” as we like to call them at my house. Croutons are my favorite, and I love having a bag of crunchy homemade croutons on hand at all times.

It’s a win-win, too, as I avoid waste by corralling all the random ends of bread I somehow accumulate in the fridge. Make a batch next time you find yourself with stale bread. You’ll thank me after your first bite of crunchy salad.

INGREDIENTS:

Cubed bread scraps
Olive oil (heavy drizzles)
Butter (~3 tablespoons)
Garlic salt (~1 teaspoon)
Garlic powder (palmful)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread cubed bread on a large baking sheet. (It doesn’t matter what kind of bread—I use scraps of whatever I have and am most often mixing types.)

Heavily drizzle olive oil over croutons. Add a few pads of butter for good measure. Sprinkle with garlic salt and garlic powder. You could easily mince garlic and use that and salt, but I’ve found myself using this method for convenience.

Bake for 5 minutes, then toss and bake for another 5. Watch for doneness, as nobody likes a burned crouton!

Once cooled, store in an airtight container.