Never Buy Croutons

Never Buy Croutons

I am taking part in a link up for the Kosher Connection.  The Kosher Connection is an informal group of creative kosher food bloggers from all around the world, who proudly present a monthly kosher recipe challenge.  This month's theme is croutons.  Check out the links at the bottom of my post to see some of the other awesome blogs that are participating.

Never buy croutons!  There is almost always leftover Challah in my house, and that is great for making homemade croutons.  Croutons are a great way to introduce new flavors to your friends and family.  You can season them with different herbs and spices.  The trio you see here consist of a fairly standard Italian crouton with garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian herb seasoning, a hot smoked Spanish paprika, and hot yellow curry crouton.  Also, croutons are not just for salads.  I love to grind up croutons and use them schnitzel breading, they are great in soups, and they can be great to just snack on.  Check out the basic procedure for making croutons below:

Leftover Challah Cut into 1 Inch Cubes
Olive Oil
Your Favorite Herbs and Spices
Salt

Preheat the oven to 425F.  In a large mixing bowl, toss the challah in olive oil until well coated, but not soggy.  Spread the challah cubes in an even layer on a sheet pan and bake until browned on one side, then flip and bake on the other side until that side is also browned.  At no point should you ever walk away from the croutons.  Case in point, when making these I went to switch the laundry and burnt the first batch.  Once the croutons are ready to come out, toss them in a large mixing bowl with your favorite herbs or spices and the salt.  DO NOT season the croutons before they go in the oven, they are much more likely to burn if you do that.