Finally! Croutons!

I remember going to The Olive Garden as a young child (it was the first restaurant I ever went to!) and seeing the giant salad they would bring for my family that was covered in cheese and the biggest croutons I had ever seen. They were giant and looked so wonderful. I loved anything bread and the idea that bread could be on my salad was amazing to me. However I would have to get my own salad minus the wonderful bread chunks and tasty dressing. Instead my salad was bare and kinda boring, but I had the whole bowl to myself so that was pretty neat. 

       

Ever since then I have been dying to make croutons. I never could find a bread though that I could eat and feel safe with. It seems like all the bread I have found has some sort of milk or egg or nuts on it. (why would you put nuts on bread???) That was until this Christmas when my wonderful aunt and uncle Mary and Doug got me a bread machine for Christmas. Not just any bread machine but an amazing wonderful beautiful bread machine. I was so excited and I still need to figure out a way to mail them a loaf with a thank you card… So I set out making all kinds of bread and settled on a nice and easy French bread. It takes minimal ingredients and all I need to do is load it up and press a button. It is carb heaven. But I’ll post more later on the amazingness of a bread machine.

         

It occurred to me recently that now my dream of croutons could come true! So I set out to make some. Here you go!

            Directions:

First start out with some bread. If you have a brand you like and you feel safe with, great. I would use a whiter bread. I have not tried whole wheat with this but they tend to be denser and not as sweet where as a light kind of sweet white bread really works with this. (Just because it’s white bread does not mean it’s bad! I use flour that is unbleached and natural from Bob’s Red Mill here in Oregon. It’s healthy and natural.) 

            First you want to chunk up your bread into small pieces. I am really bad at cutting bread so I just washed my hands and got to tearing. It should look a little something like this…

Next you are going to add the toppings. This is the part where you can have fun. If you have a favorite dressing use that instead, if you like more garlic throw that in. You are eating them so make them how you like them! This is how I like them.

            I sprinkled them with a little salt and more pepper and basil. I drizzled over some Balsamic Vinaigrette. I really did not measure this but I put it on like I was drizzling it over a salad. 

Next add about a tablespoon of olive oil. 

Now mix! Make sure everything is really mixed together or you are going to have really bland croutons and really overpowering croutons. 

Next spread them out on a cookie sheet. 

Next turn on the oven to 350 degrees and put them in for about 12 and a half minutes. They should be a little toasted but be careful they can burn easily! Done and tasty should look like this..

Yummm!

How to store:

Don’t put them in the fridge because they will get stale and soggy which is gross. They can last in an airtight container on the counter for a couple days although they usually do not last that long in my house =)

Enjoy!!