About this Recipe

This homemade croutons recipe will have you wondering why you ever used store-bought croutons. Homemade croutons are easy to make, you can choose the bread variety you like, and some butter for the best-tasting croutons you will try. This homemade croutons recipe is so easy you can make croutons fresh when needed for use in our Caesar salad recipes. The nice thing about this simple bread recipe for croutons is that they are not heavily seasoned, which makes them a favorite with the kids. You want to keep an eye on these croutons as they are toasting in the oven, it doesn't take long for them to burn. Caesar salad is just one of the ways you can use this simple bread recipe for croutons. Caesar salad is a great accompaniment to your family-friendly meal ideas and always a favorite.

Grandmother's Tips:

1. You can use any type of bread you like for making croutons.

2. It is a good way to use up bread that is a couple days old that may be getting a bit dried out.

3. Other ways you can use croutons in your family-friendly meal ideas include stirring them right into your scrambled eggs (this way you don't have to also make toast), sprinkled on top of tomato soup, stuffing recipes, as a topping for your casseroles and baked dishes and so much more.

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Ingredients

(Print)

Makes: 2 cups

We used about 4 large slices of bread to get 2 cups

Bread of your choice, we used a sour dough rye bread

Butter, at room temperature, we used about 1/2 cup

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.

3. Place your bread onto a cutting board. You can use fresh or frozen bread to make croutons.

4. You will need to use room temperature butter. If your butter is from the refrigerator and still hard you can do as we show on the video. Just place a couple 1/2 inch slices of butter into a baggie. Use a rolling pin to tamp on it to soften and then just roll the butter inside the bag.

5. This is a great little kitchen tip to get your butter ready if it was not at room temperature.

6. Generously butter each slice of bread on both sides.

7. Cut each piece of bread into small cubes about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in size.

8. Spread the cubes onto the baking sheet in a flat layer. Stacking them will make it so they do not toast evenly.

9. Place into the oven and set the timer for 16 minutes.

10. Keep and eye and stir the croutons after 8 minutes so they brown on all sides and so they do not burn.

11. If they are not toasted enough with this amount of time, keep them in the oven longer.

12. Times are going to depend on the type of oven you are using.

13. Remove from the oven and let cool.

These simple homemade croutons are fantastic with our Caesar salad recipe. They are not heavily seasoned so even children love the flavor.

ENJOY!

Return to this Homemade Croutons recipe or check out more recipes at Grandmother's Kitchen

When shopping for butter, you will have both conventional, organic and grass-fed butter options. Organic and grass-fed butter can be quite expensive, and you may wonder if it is worth the extra expense. It helps to know the difference of the butter options that are available so you can make an informed choice that is best for you. As the name implies, grass-fed cows are allowed to graze on their natural diet of green, grassy pastures; this is the best food for them and one that they would eat if they were in the wild. This means that the because they feed on their natural diet of grass, they, in turn, produce grass-fed milk and cream, which is then turned into grass-fed butter. According to some evidence from Italian research, there is more conjugated linolenic acid (CLA) with anti-carcinogenic effects in organic and grass fed butter than in conventionally farmed butter.(1)

When it comes to room temperature butter, many people wonder what exactly is safe and how long you can leave your butter on the kitchen counter. Tips for leaving butter at room temperature. For long-term storage, it is safest to store your butter wrapped in the refrigerator. But for room temperature butter, it is safe to leave some covered butter out at room temperature. Factors that will lead to spoiled butter are exposure to air and light, so you want to keep the butter in a butter dish or butter crock to help protect it from both air and light. Salted butter last longer than unsalted butter at room temperature, as the salt content in the butter makes it less prone to bacterial growth.

References: (1) Bergamo P., Fedele E., Iannibelli L., Marzillo G. Fat-soluble vitamin contents and fatty acid composition in organic and conventional Italian dairy products. Food Chem. 2003;82:625–631. doi: 10.1016/S0308-8146(03)00036-0.