And not waste stale or the beginning of molding bread!

This bag of sliced french bread has been on the counter for about a week, and I saw one little piece beginning to develop mold! I tossed the one piece, and inspected the rest. What do you do with a bread surplus on the verge of going bad?? Make croutons of course! The way I make them is as healthy as possible. It is very easy to drench your bread in 5-10 tablespoons of olive oil making your croutons a meal in them selves! This works just as well with gluten free bread, baking time may vary though.

Step 1: Measure out 2 tablespoons of your favorite olive oil. I used an herb infused one plus a little regular and poured it in a little bowl with a smashed clove of garlic. You could also add whatever herbs and spices you might want at this point too, but I prefer to add these at the end.

Step 2: Using a pastry brush, lightly and sparingly brush each slice of bread, front and back, with the oil. ( I had about 55 pieces of bread and had a ton of leftover oil!) I enjoy the tediousness of this process, you could of course just toss the bread and oil, but this will require using more oil for even distribution.

Step 3: Decide on the spices you want to use to flavor your croutons. I always use minced onion, garlic powder, basil, rosemary (fresh from the garden!), thyme, red pepper flakes, paprika and sea salt.

Step 4: Slice bread to desired size. I sliced the bigger pieces in half.

Step 5: Put one layer of your bread pieces in the bottom of a large bowl and add your spices, and then toss. Add the next layer of your bread pieces to the bowl, season and toss. Continue this process of layering and seasoning until all your bread is in the bowl!

Step 6: Place bread pieces on a cookie sheet evenly, not overlapping any pieces. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 350. Make sure to check on them as different ovens and bread types will change baking time, and you don’t want to burn your croutons! Enjoy!