Croutons

My grandma (mom's mom) made the best homemade croutons. This is not her recipe. In fact, I don't think I have her recipe. But it's not the same if she didn't make them, y'know? These are my croutons... and they're rarely the same twice in a row, so it's one of those vague recipes.

Croutons

Ingredients

bread (I like baguettes for this)

olive oil

seasonings (these have garlic powder, paprika, shallot-pepper seasoning, and salt)

Equipment

foil, baking sheet, oven, bowl

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375F. (I like my croutons a little chewy. If you like crispier croutons, change that to 425F.) Cube your bread and put into the bowl. (Smaller cubes = crispier croutons.) Drizzle with olive oil; toss until evenly coated. Sprinkle with seasonings; toss until evenly coated. Spread evenly on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 15-30 minutes (check on them periodically; baking time is entirely up to you and your crunchiness preferences).

Yields

Depends on how much you cut up. I used half a demi-baguette to make what you see above.

Total time

20-30 minutes, depending on how long you want them to bake

Cleanup rating 1/5

Clean the bowl, toss the foil.

Difficulty rating 3/10

I was going to make it a 2/10 but then I remembered that one time I nearly cut off a finger because the knife slipped when I was cutting the bread, and I was very thankful that I'm terrible about sharpening my knives. So, you know... be careful with your knife. I'm serious.

Flavor rating 9/10

You can make them exactly the way you want, as far as seasoning, doneness, and size are concerned, and I love that. Plus they taste fresh, as opposed to the pre-packaged ones that now taste like over-flavored cardboard to me.

Adjustability: high

Cut them smaller or bigger, bake them less time or more, use whatever seasonings you want, add cheese or some other topping, use a different bread like cheese bread or jalapeno bread or olive bread or rye bread... go totally nuts on these things.

Make it with...

Well, I traditionally just put them on salads, but they make a great snack on their own, too. When I was in Paris last summer, we went to a cooking class where we made skate Grenobloise-style, which calls for lemon juice, capers, and croutons to garnish the skate, so that's something I had never done with croutons before. (Hers were cooked in butter in a skillet, too... but stay tuned for a recipe for croutons like that soon!)