Sourdough Croutons

So I don’t know about you all but we are loving the sourdough bread over been making. However, one problem we run into is when you get close to the end of a loaf, what do you do with it? It’s too small to make sandwiches and let’s be honest, it’s usually getting stale.

Then the light went on….croutons! They are basically baked stale bread anyway right? Obviously I didn’t come up with the idea of croutons originally but I will take credit for thinking that this might solve my issue with wasting the butt of our bread!

We already dehydrate the scraps of the sandwich bread and whatever is left at the end of the week to make bread crumbs so we definitely don’t need any more of those. And while we aren’t HUGE croutons on salads people, let me tell you these I could eat by the handful! I’m also imagining maybe spaghetti sauce over them with some mozzarella cheese melted on top….yeah.

Anyway, these croutons were so quick and easy to make and I had everything I needed to make them already at home. No running to the store for fancy schmancy ingredients that I can’t pronounce. And bonus for us, I got to use the dried parsley from last year’s garden!

I made 2 batches this morning in less than an hour. The first I made from the bread butts and the second I made from a very dense and sour loaf of bread that went horribly wrong when I decided to experiment with how I make my loaves. Note to self and to you: if what you are doing is working, don’t mess with it. So that loaf got turned into croutons too!

Below is the recipe I used and truly I was so pleasantly surprised by these. I hope you get a chance to try them and will enjoy them too. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the family thinks!

INGREDIENTS

• 6-8 cups cubed sourdough bread (at least one day old, or sliced and dried; ¾-1 inch cubes)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced OR 1/2 – 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ – 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat your oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

• If you haven’t already, cut your sourdough bread into ½-1″ cubes.

• Add the olive oil, garlic, salt, and dried parsley to a very large bowl. Whisk to combine.

• Add the cubed dried bread cubes and toss them until they are lightly coated with oil.

• Spread the sourdough bread cubes out onto the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.

• Bake until browned, 12-18 minutes, tossing halfway through baking to ensure even browning.

• Allow your sourdough croutons to cool completely before transferring to an airtight storage container or ziploc bag. Store at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the fridge for up to 7 days. You can also freeze them for up to 2 months, as long as you thaw them before serving.

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