Cornbread Croutons

Whenever I bake cornbread,I usually make a large pan of it that will probably leave a lot of leftovers. If you know how to store it, it can last for quite a while in the fridge and be reheated and still taste fresh. Because, you never know when the craving for it will hit and one of my biggest pet peeves is getting a craving that I can’t satisfy asap.

If you’re like me and tend to have leftover cornbread on hand, today’s ‘recipe’ (which I tend to more think of as more of a diy food hack) is tailor-made for you. It’s fast, so easy it’s impossible to mess up, and also pretty cost effective.

I’ve made croutons from scratch before on the blog, both savory and sweet, using sourdough bread. While artisan yeast bread is typically the base for croutons, quick rise breads like cornbread can work as well, they just require a little longer to ‘dry’ out and become stale because they tend to have more fats in them than yeast breads that come from butter, milk and eggs and make them moister.

I keep my leftover cornbread wrapped up and in the fridge, so it was already firm and ready to go to make these, but if yours is fresh, then I HIGHLY recommend that you leave it out to sit in a cold oven overnight, or in the fridge to make sure yours isn’t too soft. If the cubes are too soft and moist, they’ll fall apart rather than crisp up in the oven.

Rather than making cubed croutons, An additional option to this recipe is to make rectangular flat cornbread crostinis. Again, you just have to make sure the cornbread is dry and firm enough to make clean cuts.

Whether you’re making croutons or crostinis, these come together in less than an hour, and are they worth it. They would make perfect toppings to southwest-style salads, or just about any soup, stew or chili you can think of. If you’re making crostini, they’d be delicious vehicles for relish, cheese or salsa, guacamole, you name it.

They’re also pretty darn tasty to eat all on their own.

Cornbread Croutons

Ingredients

A few large squares/pieces of day old/stale cornbread (This is my favorite, go-to recipe. You can also speed up the drying out process by refrigerating the cornbread overnight.)
Salt and black pepper, for seasoning
Cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Using a sharp knife, cut cornbread into cubes, or into large flat slices and arrange on paper, spacing about 1 inch apart.

Liberally spray one side of the cubes with cooking spray and lightly sprinkle with the salt & pepper. Toss/flip them over and spray/season the other side.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes, until they’re golden brown and firm to the touch.

Allow to cool completely before using croutons to top salads, soup, or spreading the crostini with relish, cheese, salsa, etc.