Cornbread Croutons Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my croutons not crispy? ›

Crowding the pan.

Pile the bread cubes on top of each other and they won't have enough space to crisp up and brown. Instead, make sure they're in a even layer.

Stored at room temperature, the homemade croutons will last up to 3 days. Storing them in the refrigerator will give you a couple of additional days, up to 5 days. If they lose a little crunch being in the refrigerator, simply put them in the oven for a few minutes to bring back the crispy crunch.

Pour batter into prepared pan. The batter will be lumpy. Overcome the urge to mix until smooth. Overmixing can cause the corn bread to peak and have tunnels, resulting in a tough texture.

Why are my homemade croutons soggy? It could be that you stored your croutons before they were fully cooled. Warm croutons trap moisture, and the croutons can become soggy if they're stored airtight too soon. This can also cause them to go stale too quickly.

The expected shelf-life for homemade croutons is about two weeks. Moisture encourages mold, so make sure your croutons are completely dehydrated during the bake and let cool completely at room temperature before storing them away in an airtight container.

Croutons don't expire in the sense that they become dangerous to eat. There simply isn't enough moisture in them to feed an spoilage bacteria and other such organisms.

To achieve the crispiest golden crust on your cornbread, Delk Adams instructs you to grease the skillet liberally with bacon grease (if you don't have that, shortening, butter, or oil will do), then pop it into the hot oven for 5 minutes before pouring the batter in.

For the best results, rest your batter for about 10 minutes before baking. This gives you some time to preheat the pan in which you'll be baking cornbread, too. The batter can rest for up to 20 minutes, but much beyond that, and it's time to add a little more liquid and make cornmeal pancakes.

While oil can make cakes and quick breads luxuriously tender, I find the cornbread lacks flavor if butter isn't present. Because butter doesn't make the bread as moist as oil does, I pair it with buttermilk. Buttermilk: Buttermilk makes cakes, muffins, and breads extra moist.

Will an extra egg make cornbread less crumbly? ›

Put in an extra egg yolk.

Adding an egg yolk to your cornbread will help hold its shape while you're cutting and serving it. You can add a yolk even if your recipe doesn't call for any eggs at all--just put it in with the other wet ingredients.

If it's too dry, the cornsticks may crumble. On the other hand, if it's too wet, they might not hold their shape. How do I make jiffy cornbread less crumbly? You could add a couple tablespoons of oil (corn, olive or any) but I would also suggest that reduce the baking time just slightly.

Once the croutons are cool use a large rolling pin to smash them and roll out to a fine consistency. This is a messy task by hand with a rolling pin and the croutons could be placed under plastic to help keep the crumbs on the table. Alternatively, pulse them in a food processor until all the pieces are the same size.

Let me explain: Most croutons are crunchy through and through, but these are designed to be crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle–far better for munching out of hand (or as a complement to tender salad leaves) than the hard, desiccated store-bought kind.

Heat it.

Put the bread in a cold oven, then turn the heat to 300° F. Let the loaf slowly heat up for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the density and dryness of the bread.