I use a bread that's a couple of days stale and cut them into small cubes (I prefer small dice-shaped croutons to the large flat ones) and do either of two things:

1. Put some olive oil in a non-stick frying pan together with garlic salt, perhaps some paprika or ground pepper and then gently toss them around in the pan over a low heat until they are crisp.

2. Put the cubes in an oiled oven tray and toast them on very low heat in my countertop oven, again with garlic salt or other shake-on spices, turning a few times until toasted.

If you make them a day ahead, I'd still crisp them up for a few moments in a frying pan or oven just before serving.

SharonCb

Oh boy, do I love homeade croutons! Usually I combine olive oil and butter in a large cast iron skillet along with a couple of cloves of fresh garlic, minced, and stir until the garlic is somewhat cooked. Then add in 1-inch cubes of bread and toss in the butter/oil/garlic mixture.

You can continue to crisp the croutons on a low heat on the stove top or put the skillet in a 350 oven. This is when I sprinkle with dry Italian herbs powdered between my fingers. Bake the croutons until they are crisp enough for your taste. Take out of the oven and toss with a few TB of grated Parmesan cheese. Let cool...(then try not to eat them all before you serve them on the salad.)

I don't like crutons that are fried....too much grease and fat. I prefer my crutons lightly toasted. I spray cubes of slightly stale bread (preferably home made) with olive oil, sprinkle with seasonings of my choice...dill weed and or chili powder, black pepper and or garlic powder.
I think the function of crutons are to provide a bit of crunch in my salads and to absorb some of the dressing....and taste like the dressing.
In fact for everyday use for just my self or drop in company I keep a bag of unseasoned bread cubes of the type meant for stuffing, and sometimes I use bagel chips and sometimes I just crack up a big "baldie"...those pretzels withoug salt. Not much flavor just crunch.
Linda C

I cube day old French or Italian style bread and then toss lightly in a bowl with a bit of Olive Oil and garlic powder or dried Italian herbs and sometimes Parmesan cheese.

Spread them pout on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 or so, turning a few times to ensure even cooking. I don't let them get to brown.

I store them in a ziplock for a few days with no issues. Just be sure they are fully cooled first.

I use a day old loaf of italian bread cut into cubes... in a pan i combine Butter and olive oil heavy garlic powder black pepper and italian seasoning (dry herb) when melted I toss the bread to coat well put on a cookie tray sprinkle with parmesean cheese bake at 300 keeping and eye until they are crisp I then cool on a baking rack and put in a seal tight container. I never buy store bought we always have these in the pantry.

OOOH I love homemade croutons too. A caesar salad wouldn't be complete without homemade croutons. Also great to garnish soups. I use a good Italian or French bread, preferrably homemade. Nice thick slices. Rub each slice of bread with crushed garlic clove and then cut into cubes

Heat oil and toss the cubes. Make sure they are well coated. Turn often until nicely toasted. Place in a low oven to finish toasting and crisping.

Remove from oven. Sometimes I toss them with fresh grated Parmesan while they are still warm.

And for something a little different, I made

oh wow - and I thought this might be a silly question - lol! There really are lots of opinions on how to make them!

Thanks everyone - these all sound so great.

Stacy

Here are some links that you might like for making croutons. They are all Michael Chiarello's recipes.

The first three are for making flavored butters, used in making croutons.

http://www.napastyle.com/recipe/recipe.jsp?productId=2298

http://www.napastyle.com/recipe/recipe.jsp?productId=2620&parentCategoryId=614&categoryId=713&subCategoryId=678

http://www.napastyle.com/recipe/recipe.jsp?productId=2710&parentCategoryId=614&categoryId=713&subCategoryId=678

Here is a link that might be useful: Croutons

wow, thanks lisbet - great links.

At the restaurant, we used to cut up the leftover sourdough baguettes, drizzle them with lots of garlic butter (fresh garlic) and toast them on cookie sheets in the oven. They require monitoring! New prep cooks always burnt a pan or two up because they thought they could do something else while the croutons were toasting! I loved it if there was just a wee bit of burnt edge to them. The favorite nibble for waiters wanting to nosh was one of those wonderful, garlicky croutons dipped into a dish of our thick blue cheese dressing. Yum!

I like experimenting with different breads for croutons. Rye bread makes wonderful croutons with a difference, as do wheat breads. Sometimes I like to make a batch of mixed bread croutons, it adds interest to a plain tossed salad.

I use a good fresh bread; something with a bit of extra flavor in it, such as sourdough or olive or herb or some such.

I cube it and throw the cubes in the oven at 300F for maybe 15 minutes.

I pour a teeny bit of olive oil in a skillet and get it real hot. Then I toss in mixed dried herbs, some salt and pepper and usually some pepper flakes. I immediately throw in the bread cubes and toss them quickly to coat evenly.

That's it.