Thanks to My Crowded Kitchen for passing along this recipe for these adorable Fall Shaped Crouton Recipe… perfect for Thanksgiving . Once again I am inspired and amazed at her talent and ability to make a plan old salad, glamorous. If you would like to be a featured guest post on Look What I Made,watch for our weekly post each Tuesday called A Thrifty online craft fair, link up and you may be selected for our weekly feature post.
This is a super fun way to get your fall on, or any other season. I found these cute little pumkin and leaf cutters at the kitchen store sometime ago. I have used them to finish off my pie crust edges and to make crutons. It’s a cute little touch to add to your holiday. I find that the kids eat more salad when I make these cuties. They like to look at all the different shapes. I have never had a problem with my kids eating salad, I guess that’s because I serve it with ranch, because we all know everything taste better dipped in ranch, right? But if you have that picky salad eater in your home, you could try using animal shapes or some other fun shape that your kiddos would dig! They are not only fun in salads, they can take a swim in your favorite bowl of soup too!
Ingredients
bread slices, your desired brand { we use Grandma Sycamore’s enriched white, 1 lb. loaf}
1/2 cup or 1 stick salted butter, melted to brush each side of shaped crouton
Your favorite seasonings, and desired amount{we used a Hidden Valley Ranch packet}
small cookie cutters, your desired shapes {we used a pumpkin and different leaf shapes}
Directions
1. Brush each slice of bread cut out with butter on both sides, sprinkle desired amount with your favorite seasoning on both sides.
2. Cut out desired shapes, and place them on a baking sheet. In a preheated 400 degree F. oven bake 10 minutes on one side, then flip croutons over and bake another ten minutes.
3. Let cool on a cooling rack. Once cooled, store croutons in either a zip lock plastic bag or a plastic container with a lid. Store in a cool dry place.
Note: When going to the trouble of making croutons for my family, I use one whole loaf. This way, I have croutons on hand and won’t have to buy them, not to mention having to make them again, for about, um, a week if I’m lucky. Whenever we have left over garlic bread, and may I add, we hardly ever have left overs these days with the hollow legs in this home, I mean boys. I like to take the left over bread, and toast it in the oven until it’s super crunchy and cut it with a knife into croutons. Homemade croutons are the best! I love the buttery crunch that these babies have with a hint of ranch flavor. Gotta go have me a salad! Hope you have fun experimenting with all the different shapes!
P.S. Save your scraps and cut them into bite sized pieces, follow the directions below. {Do the same thing you would do to the cut outs, only do it to the scraps. Waste not, want not!}
