Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Seasoned Bread Crumbs



I noticed the price of store bought bread crumbs this morning and they were averaging anywhere from $1.29 for store brand to $1.99 for name brand per container. Even at the cheapest price for 4 containers of crumbs I would have ended up paying $5.16. That's a lot of money, not to mention the fact that the seasonings were not what I wanted for our particular cooking needs and taste. So by making them from scratch it's a definite Frugal Find.

The are no real measurements to this, but it certainly saves you money & is super quick and easy.

Preheat oven to 350*

Take your sliced bread crusts that have been saved from day old bread or sandwiches. (I keep a zip top bag in the freezer readily available for discarding my bread scraps for just this purpose.) Cube the bread ends or leave in sliced as the photo depicts & lay on a cookie sheet in a single layer.

Place in preheated oven and allow to "dry out" for about 10-15 minutes; turning once to make sure the bread is evenly dried.

Once bread is dried, remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

Place the dried bread into the food processor. Using the chopping blade pulse the dried bread until you have a crumb texture. You may want to pulse longer for finer crumbs or shorter for chunky crumbs; this is totally your preference.

If you want to season your bread crumbs, do so before you begin pulsing and adjust seasoning according to your desired taste. The flavor varieties that I made today are:

Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs


Italian Seasoned with Grated Parmesan Cheese Bread Crumbs


Basic Salt, Pepper & Garlic Powder Bread Crumbs


Store crumbs in an airtight jar or zip top bag. (I prefer canning jars, but this is just a personal preference.)


Click HERE for printable recipe.

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