4 versions of Homemade Croutons....

Since Connie gets a truck load of give away bread every Monday I seem to have a surplus of bread around here, and since I don't care for the croutons in the store anymore I thought I should try making my own.  I went online and did a little research and here are some of the things I learned.  Croutons are a salad staple that can be made from virtually any bread. Chances are you have some bread in the kitchen right now that can be used. Croutons as salad fixings are not as affordable as they used to be but they are easy to make from stale bread, bagels, English muffins, and just about any kind of fresh bread.  Save the heels from different types of bread for more variety. They can also be crushed and used as bread crumbs in recipes.  I am going to make some soon...

After work today I come home and  made some croutons and they turned out to be very tasty!

Here is my new recipe......
Homemade Croutons
10 to 12 slices of bread - cut into small cubes
1/2 c. margarine/butter - melted
1/2 t. onion powder
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 T. parsley flakes
1 T. parmesan cheese
Place bread cubes in a large tupperware bowl. Stir seasonings into the melted butter. Pour butter mixture over the bread cubes and stir. Put the lid on the tupperware bowl and shake to finish coating the bread with the seasoning. Spread out on a cookie sheet. Bake at 225 for 10 minutes, stir and bake 10 more minutes. Stir again and bake at 250 this time for 10 more minutes.

These are the recipes I found online and then I adapted my own recipe.....
Homemade Croutons
4 c. breads - cut in 1/2-inch cubes
2/3 c. olive (not virgin) oil
3 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
Heat the oven to 275 degrees.  Puree the garlic and oil in a blender or food processor, or mince the garlic as finely as possible and stir it into the oil. If seasoning the croutons with herbs or other seasonings, add them to the oil now.  Place the bread cubes in a mixing bowl and toss by hand with some of the garlic oil and a few generous pinches of salt and pepper.  Toss the bread cubes well with one hand and continue adding garlic oil so each cube is coated evenly and lightly. Be careful not to oversaturate the cubes with oil.  Arrange the bread cubes on a baking sheet in a single layer and place in the oven.  Cook for about 10 minutes, then toss with a spatula and return to the oven. Repeat after another 10 minutes, tasting a cube this time. The croutons should be partly crispy and beginning to turn golden.  Continue to cook and toss periodically until the croutons are golden and crispy throughout. Taste them as they cook to make sure.

Another Version.....
Take any stale bread and lightly spread with butter, oleo or oil. Dice into cubes. Sprinkle with seasoned salt, garlic or onion salt, parsley, basil, oregano or any combination of herbs/spices you prefer.

Place in a oven set at 225°F and toast til browned and crispy dry. Stir occasionally so that all sides are browned.
This is a way to use up the ends of loaves of bread if your kids were like mine and did not believe that eating the crust would give them curly hair.
To save time, throw all the heels in a bread wrapper and freeze until you are ready to make croutons.
Use them in salads, on soups, or for your favorite stuffing.
You can also throw them in a blender for flavored bread crumbs.

OR one more.......
4 slices of bread
2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese
¼ tsp each of preferred seasonings
2 tablespoons of salad oil
Cut bread into cubes and put it in a bowl. They should roughly measure about 1 inch. The bread can also be torn for rustic looking croutons or cut with scissors for neater squares.  Choose the seasonings. Instead of Parmesan cheese, Romano or other hard cheeses can be used. Olive oil, canola oil, or melted butter all work well. Seasonings like pepper, parsley, garlic, or other herbs can be added to taste.  Mix the seasoning and oil in a small bowl.  Add the seasonings to the bread cubes. Toss. Try to get the cubes evenly coated.  Spread the croutons out on an ungreased cookie sheet. The cubes can be close together but they should not be overcrowded. They need air to dry out.  Bake the croutons at 325 degrees until crisp. Larger, denser pieces of bread such as cubed bagels will take much longer than white sandwich bread.  Once the croutons are cool, store them in a glass jar or a plastic container with a tight lid.

OR a little video I watched did it this way.......
1/2 c. butter, melted
Stir in 1/2 to 1  t. each of the herbs and spices of your choice (onion powder, garlic powder, parsley, parmessan cheese, etc.)
Brush mixture onto both sides of 8 slices of bread.  Place in oven at 225 until golden brown, turn over and brown the other side.  Cool slightly and then cut into cubes.