Deliciously Simple Home-made Croutons

When I first moved to Germany from the USA I could not find croutons in the store so when our good friends from San Francisco came to visit I had to figure out how to make some, and quick! A few years ago I found some in the supermarket, but they are nothing compared to my homemade, fresh, crunchy ones.

Preparation time: 30-40 minutes; Makes 2 bowls full (see above) 

Ingredients:

6 slices	White bread
1/4 cup	Olive oil
2 tbsp.	Oil (canola, sunflower, etc.)
1 tsp.	Salt
1 clove	Garlic, small (optional)
1 tbsp	Rosemary, finely chopped (optional)

Method:

Unlike many other recipes this one you really need to put the oven on before you start preparing stuff. It's that quick to prepare. I used a fan oven at 180 C, so 200 C for a regular oven (400 F). 

You could use any type of bread for this. I like to use white bread that is pre-cut. It is called "American Sandwich" here in Germany and "Sandwich bread" in Sri Lanka. The main thing is that it is pre-cut to save you some time and to make it nice and regular. I cut my bread so that cubes are formed.

Then put them in a big bowl and pour over the oil and mix quickly so that the oil gets evenly distributed. Crush the garlic and add it to the bread with the salt. I personally think that this recipe is a bit too salty but my family assure me that it is the perfect amount. So adjust according to your own taste. You will probably only know if there is too much or too little after you have finished making it! Given that you will be making this more often than you think this is not such a bad thing. Mix well. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out the bread evenly. Put in the hot oven. Now finely chop the rosemary. If you put it in in the beginning the rosemary will burn so you have to wait. Every 5 minutes you should stir the bread so that all sides get evenly toasted. After 10 minutes or so sprinkle on the rosemary.

Bake until the bread is golden brown, 15 - 20 minutes in total. If you have a well disciplined family you can wait until it is cooled and then use it on your salad. We use ours immediately. What ever croutons are left over my kids have for dessert!

Don't forget to adjust your croutons to your taste. Pepper, chili of any other spice or herb will taste great. Just remember that more fragile herbs should be put on very near to the end and some probably after you have taken the croutons out of the oven.