Croutons Anyone?

Croutons, Plain and Seasoned 

For over a year now, people have been asking me about dehydrating croutons.  I hadn’t done any for ages.  Back nearly twenty years ago, when I first got bitten by the DB (Dehydrating Bug), I started playing around with them. I buttered them, seasoned them, toasted them, and then dehydrated them.  Within a month I had a rancid mess on my hands!  How disappointing! 

Back then I didn’t realize that any fats and oils will go rancid, making the food unfit to eat.  Now I know better.

Recently I was given two loaves of commercially prepared bread, so I decided to give it a try.

See my post on Dealing With Bread to get instructions on how to make your croutons from loaf bread. 

 

My challenge here was to make my own seasoned croutons without the things going rancid. The best way to deal with this is to simply dry your cubed bread plain. Then season as needed.

• One of the advantages of making dehydrated bread cubes is that you can now eliminate moldy bread from happening because you  can’t get around to using it in time.

Herbs and Butter

The best and simplest way to do this is to melt three tablespoons of butter or oil and add the seasonings of your choice.  I used about a half teaspoon each of the following:

• Garlic salt
• Basil
• Parsley

You can add any seasonings you like:

• Parmesan cheese
• Oregano
• Cracked pepper
• thyme
• Let your imagination go wild.

Gently Brown

I was concerned that they might scorch, so I kept the heat on medium to low. Constantly stir and flip the cubes in the ban until you get the desired brown. Serve them either hot or cold. Great on salads and even cooked pasta! What a wonderful treat!   

Here is the Recipe Card.  I set mine up in one-cup portions. Figured that would be enough for a serving for Mike and me.

 

What else can you do with dehydrated cubed bread?

• These will work well as topping on casseroles. My mom used to make macaroni and cheese topped with toasted bread cubes. Simply drizzle melted butter over the bread cubes and top your favorite casserole. Bake in the oven until brown for a wonderful crunchy topping.
• Use these plain or seasoned in any recipe you have that calls for bread cubes.
• Use these with your favorite bread pudding recipe
• Use in stuffing recipes.

Linda’s Note:  See my post on Dealing With Bread for more suggestions on using croutons.