Getting Creative with Croutons

No matter what your mom told you, it’s okay to play with your food!  A few weeks ago, we all got a chance to sneak away from our desks and ovens to have some fun with our food at a team building event…and nothing builds teams more than a little friendly competition.  We formed small teams to each compete for the coveted title of “Crouton Master”.  Each team had to work together to create their own unique croutons.  The croutons were judged based on flavor, shape, name and overall crouton creativity.  Let the games begin!

Each team was given Milton’s Multi-Grain bread and 7 ingredients to choose from: Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, Paprika, Parmesan Cheese, Minced Garlic, and Olive Oil.  The competition was fierce!  There was serious strategizing, brainstorming, spying, and an unfortunate ingredient smuggling incident.  After shaping our croutons and sprinkling the ingredients, we popped the crouton creations into the oven at 375 degrees and watched them become a toasty golden brown.

And the Milton’s crouton nominees are…

• Del Mar Diamonds: diamonds with olive oil, garlic, parmesan, and sage
• Milton’s Thyme Crunch: triangles with thyme, olive oil, garlic, and parmesan
• S’notlim (Milton’s backwards): sticks with garlic, olive oil, sage, rosemary, and paprika
• Hearts of Fire: hearts with olive oil, parmesan, paprika and smuggled red pepper flakes
• Herb to be Square: squares with olive oil, garlic, parmesan, and rosemary

While the judges agreed that all were uniquely delicious, the clear winner was Milton’s Thyme Crunch.  The flavors of the thyme and the subtle sweetness of Milton’s bread really worked well together to make a truly delicious crouton.  Also the small triangle shapes toasted very evenly to create a delightful crunch.

We all had a great time making (and devouring) our creative croutons and hope we can inspire you to play with your food and create your own exciting new flavor combinations.  This little game took only an hour to play and can bring a lot of creative (and tasty) fun to your home or office.  What’s your favorite Milton’s creation?

Tagged as: crouton, In the Kitchen, multi-grain, Recipes