The Ends of the Bread Loaf – Eat or Throw Away?

You know the ends of bread loaves….does anyone use these in a sandwich? Or do you end up throwing them out because no one in your house will eat a sandwich made with the ends of the bread loaf? That is what I used to do.
Next question: do you buy packaged croutons or breadcrumbs? We make Caesar salads and I love garlic croutons. We also like to bread chicken breast strips with grated parmesan cheese mixed in with the breadcrumbs.

Croutons from the store in a box are expensive and we use them up quickly. Bread crumbs, like store bought croutons, are usually made from white bread and have seasonings or additives I do not want.

So I was looking at the bag at the back of the refrigerator with the ends of the bread in it and I see another bag with ends in it. Then it hits me! There is a third choice beyond eat them or throw the ends away: Use them another way. Homemade croutons and breadcrumbs from our whole wheat bread ends.

Here is what I did for croutons:

Whole Wheat Croutons

First cut the bread in cubes and pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Then spray a sheet pan with oil and add seasoning to the oiled pan. I used granulated garlic, salt and freshly ground pepper.  

 Then spread the bread cubes out in a single layer on the sheet pan. Spray the bread cubes with a little more oil and season the bread cubes from the top as well. 

Put in the oven on top shelf and “toast” for 5 minutes. Check for how brown the cubes are and toast for another 2 minutes if not brown enough. Check toasted cubes and use a spatula to turn them over and shake the pan so they are in a single layer again. Brown for 2 more minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool completely before adding to a storage container. If you rush this step, you will have soft croutons that don’t have the crisp texture you expect from croutons.

 

Whole Wheat Breadcrumbs 

For plain bread crumbs, you can simply tear the ends into smaller pieces and toast in your oven or toaster oven until dry and slightly brown. Once cool, you can use a food processor or blender on high speed to reduce the pieces to bread crumbs. I do not season mine until I am about to use them.  I add other “end of the box” items to my breadcrumbs such as the crumbs at the bottom of cereal boxes. I have added the dust at the bottom of the cheerios box or the broken shredded wheat pieces at the bottom of that bag. Even less waste and more interesting texture to my breadcrumbs.

This is a little bit of work but I usually wait until I have about 10 or more end pieces saved (in the refrigerator so they do not mold stored on the counter.) Then on a Saturday or Sunday I make the crotons and breadcrumbs at once. Once toasted I find both the breadcrumbs and the croutons last in a sealed container in my pantry. I promise you if you are willing try this, you will never buy these two items again at the store!