Homemade Breadcrumbs

Repurpose Leftover sandwich bread ends by making your own breadcrumbs. It's so much more healthy than the boxed variety: often made with a dozen odd ingredients that don't include bread! Weird, right?

Save yourself some dough and make your own breadcrumbs (get it -- dough, like money... this is a bread post...okay, I'll stop).

Start collecting leftover pieces of bread up to two weeks before you plan to make breadcrumbs -- sandwich bread ends, leftover bagels, English muffins, etc., the more variety, the more flavorful your breadcrumbs will be. Keep them in the refrigerator in a gallon-size zip top bag. The key to this process is to keep the bag top slightly open, allowing your breadcrumbs to dry out. Be sure to have a fresh baking soda box in your frig so your breadcrumbs don't absorb the odor of other foods.

Watch my YouTube channel vlog on this recipe:

Tear bread into large chunks so they will easily fit into the food processor. Fill the food processor halfway and pulse a few times. Once bread has broken down a bit, turn on the food processor until bread is ground into fine pieces.

Now that you've made homemade breadcrumbs, you have a few choices:

1. Work with your breadcrumbs right away. This is recommended for meatballs, croquettes, and for use as a sauce or soup thickener.

2. Refrigerate fresh breadcrumbs in an airtight container up to four days. Or, freeze up to three months.

3. Toast breadcrumbs, evenly arranged on a nonstick cookie sheet, at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until completely dried out. This method is recommended if you prefer to keep breadcrumbs refrigerated longer. It works especially well on crispy oven baked fish or chicken.

4. Season your breadcrumbs. Get creative; Add Chinese five spice, ginger powder and garlic powder for Asian-inspired dishes or Italian seasoning and garlic powder for chicken parmesan. The possibilities are endless.

So, when the kids say they won't eat leftover bread ends or they refuse to touch 12-grain bread, you can smile knowing it's in their favorite dishes anyway.

#CookingBasics