Garlic Parmesan Croutons

There are so many recipes that were invented out of the necessity to use up leftover ingredients and so many of them have to do with bread. These dishes, like french toast, strata, bread pudding, croque monsieur, and so many others, are great ways to revitalize crusty bread. Also, you waste less of your hard earned money when you actually eat the entire loaf of bread you bought at the grocery store. Food thrown away = money thrown away. When I've got bread sitting around that's slightly past its sandwich making prime, I like to cube it, dress it up with olive oil and spices, and make croutons.

I made these croutons in preparation for another post I have in the works. (shameless self promotional plug!) This recipe can be halved, quartered, doubled, etc. easily depending on the amount of bread you have leftover. I happened to have 8 cups of an old baguette, so that's the amount I designed the recipe for.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. You will need an ungreased sheet pan.

In a blender, or a vessel for an immersion blender, combine garlic cloves, garlic powder, parmesan cheese, and olive oil. Blend until creamy in appearance.

Pour mixture over bread cubes and toss to coat each piece of bread evenly.

Pour bread cubes onto an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with black pepper. There is no need to salt here as the parmesan cheese adds a substantial amount of salty goodness to the croutons.

Bake for 15 minutes until dark golden brown. Stir the croutons two or three times during baking to ensure they all brown evenly. Let cool if you can!

Garlic Parmesan Croutons

recipe by Sweet & Savory

Ingredients:

8 cups stale bread, cubed
8 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Using an immersion blender or stand blender, combine garlic cloves, garlic powder, parmesan cheese, and olive oil. The mixture will be creamy in appearance when fully combined.

In a large bowl, pour olive oil mixture over bread cubes and stir to evenly coat each cube. Pour onto an ungreased baking sheet. Liberally sprinkle with pepper.

Bake for 15 minutes, until the croutons are dark golden brown. Stir the croutons on the baking sheet 2-3 times during baking to ensure even browning. Let cool and toss into your favorite salad.