Making Bread Crumbs and Croutons

Have you ever looked at the ingredients list for breadcrumbs? There are many highly processed ingredients on the list; I wonder why. In light of this I decided to make my own breadcrumbs and while I was I the kitchen I made croutons too. I purchased day-old multi-grain bread from Nantucket Bakery in Grand Rapids.

For the croutons, I cut the sliced bread into small cubes and set them into a large bowl. Then I took a mixture of soy oil and melted Mooville butter and drizzled it on top. I also added salt and garlic powder and then stirred to coat the bread. I baked them in a 250 degree oven in a single layer for 10 – 15 minutes turning three times until they were slightly browned. They a delicious addition to a Michigan green salad.

The bread crumbs proved to be a bit more difficult. I cut the crusts off of the sliced bread and laid them on a cookie sheet to toast them in the 210 oven alongside the croutons. They took the same amount of time and I turned them three times.

Then, I processed them into large crumbs in the food processor. But, the pieces were not dried and toasted through. So, the next time that I had the oven on at 350 degrees, I toasted the small pieces on a cookie sheet for 15 – 20 minutes, stirring often. Then, I reprocessed to get them to the tiny pieces like the store-bought bread crumbs. Now I am ready for some fried green tomatoes!

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