Homemade Garlic Croutons

Hi Friends!

So you must know by now my girls and I hosted a tea party a couple weeks ago and I promised you the recipes from it. I have given you the Smoked Turkey with Arugula Aioli recipe and also my favorite Scone recipe…but folks, this is not a recipe from the tea party, rather a byproduct of the tea party! You know, I used 34 pieces of bread for my tea sammies, and I cut off ALL the crusts.  {You just cannot have crusts on your tea sandwiches, of course.} So there I was with a huge bag of crusts. I couldn’t just add them to the compost bin…so I decided to make homemade croutons with them. 

um, WOW!

We ate them by the handful, like chips; and I’m not sure my family will ever eat store-bought again. {darn!}

Homemade Garlic Crouton Recipe{by the way, this is EASY! and so worth it}

Ingredients:

~34 pieces of bread crusts! (ok, ok, approx. 3 cups of cubed bread pieces)
~1/4 cup olive oil
~10 cloves garlic
~1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (buy this if you’ve never tried it! It’s just so, um, well, smoky.)
~salt/pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425^o F {I love to use the convection setting for things like this.}

Chop bread into 1/2 inch cubes. Place in a large bowl with lid.

Chop garlic or put in a mini chopper {food processor}.


Add olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper and mix again for a few seconds.

{I’m tellin’ ya, try the smoked paprika, it’s great in your marinades for meats and in pastas, etc. Can’t get it at Trader Joe’s though, sorry. I’ll work on them for it.}

Pour olive oil mixture over bread crumbs. Put lid on bowl and shake it up!

Spread bread crumbs out in a single layer on a baking sheet.
 

Bake for approx. 9 minutes and then turn with spatula. Bake another 9-ish minutes until golden and crisp.

Enjoy! Eat them by the handful toss them over your favorite salad or serve them atop hot soup.

They were enjoyed equally by adults and

kids alike.

But honestly, more were eaten by the handful than anything else! They lasted on the counter one afternoon…getting nibbled up by each passer-by. 

Both my son and husband walked in asking where the garlic bread was…not only does it taste great, your house smells like an Italian Cucina.

Enjoy!