Croutons add some tasty crunch to your salad or soup, and they are really easy to make.
Instead of paying $2-4 for a package of croutons, you can get a loaf of day old Italian bread for a dollar and make your own. You can multiply this recipe as needed. We get16-20 cups of bread cubes from a loaf of Italian bread.
Cut your bread into ¾” cubes, keeping the crusts on. Put them in a large measuring cup (to figure out how many cups you have) and then transfer them to large mixing bowl.
When you know how many cups of cubes you have, you can figure how much of the butter/oil/seasoning mix to make.
In a small sauce pan, combine the olive oil, butter, and seasonings. Heat over medium heat until the butter is melted and then let it sit for 5-10 minutes to let the flavors infuse into the oil.
Drizzle the seasoned olive oil over your chopped bread and toss until bread crumbs have an even coating of oil. To avoid soaking a few croutons, drizzle and toss, drizzle and toss, drizzle and toss.
Spread the bread in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake at 300˚F for 30 minutes until they are golden brown and crunchy, stirring every 10 minutes.
If you make enough to do two baking sheets, put them on the high and low rack and rotate them up and down in the oven each time you stir them.
Let them cool, and then store in an air tight container.
