Croutons

I know there’s a lot of crouton packages out there, but remember, my family can’t eat that stuff (gluten allergy). Here is our recipe for this good stuff.

Prep Time: 3 hours, 5 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Total Time: 25 Minutes Yield: 4 -6 Cups

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of bread (about 12 ounces), cut into 3/4-inch cubes (I have to make my own bread because of the allergens. Se below)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 T Italian seasoning
• 1 t garlic powder
• ¾ t fine sea salt
• dash of cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Step 1 is to make bread. I use this for my gluten-free bread.
   1. Normally, I don’t use the “raisin/nut dispenser”, but for croutons, I dump about 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning in it.
   2. It takes 2 hours and a few minutes to make bread using this bread machine.
   3. When the bread is finished place it on a cooling rack until completely cool (about 30 minutes).
   4. When the bread has cooled, cut it into crouton-sized cubes.
2. Preheat oven to 375°F.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
3. Place the cubes into a large bowl.
4. Evenly drizzle the olive oil over the bread chunks.  Then evenly sprinkle the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper over the bread.  Toss gently until well-combined.
5. Spread the bread cubes out in a single layer on a baking sheet.
6. Bake until golden, turning once halfway in order to brown all sides of the croutons.  Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the cubes, so watch to be sure that they do not burn. (Mine generally take about 20 minutes.)
7. Remove from oven and let cool completely.  Use immediately, or store in an air-tight container for up to 1 week.
8. Keep them away from your daughter! She loves these!

Note on the bread maker

We had used our Ninja bread maker for years, but it finally died (may it rest in pieces). Now we splurged and bought the Zojirushi machine and am very happy with it, although we’ve only had it for about a month.