Do You Really Have To Use Stale Bread To Make Croutons?

For centuries, people have been looking into ways to use stale bread, whether that was dipping it into soups, making French toast (which, in French, is called "pain perdu" or "lost bread"), or cutting it up and toasting it into croutons. The latter are a convenient and easy-to-use ingredient that will help to up your culinary game. You can use them to garnish your salads, add them to , or stuff your turkey with them.

But what if you're craving homemade croutons and don't have stale bread? The good news is that you can make croutons with fresh bread — you'll just have to put in a bit more work. Stale bread is easier to cut into even pieces because it's harder and won't move as much while you're slicing. It also requires less baking time, since it's already lost some of its moisture.

This is why most crouton recipes call for bread that is at least a day old. However, if you only have fresh bread and don't feel like waiting or going to the store, you simply need to cook the pieces for longer so that they can get nice and crispy. You also might have to pay a bit more attention, since your pieces will likely not be as even, which means they could be ready at different times.

Of course, using stale bread is also a , so we would still recommend this over fresh alternatives on most occasions. How to make homemade croutons Although , making croutons is so quick and easy that even those who've given up on baking should try it. All you need to do is cut the bread into the desired shap.