These homemade croutons are crispy, flavorful, and butterLESS! Crisped in the oven using avocado oil makes these a healthier and vegan friendly choice that is great for the whole family!
I LOVE a good crouton. The perfect crunch and just the right amount of seasoning. Yum. I was that kid that ate them straight out of the bag as an after school snack and didn’t wait for mom to actually get them on our salads for dinner. Oops? Sorry mom!
But little did I know they are made with a zillion pounds of butter! No wonder they were so crispy! I mean okay maybe not a zillion but you get what I mean. I knew there had to be a different way. And I found it! So I present to you, the perfect, butterLESS crouton!
Now a good pasture raised butter won’t hurt you and can definitely be a part of a healthy diet. But this lightens it up a little bit and makes an option for our dairy free and vegan friends!
My solution to all of this butter was avocado oil (I buy this kind if you are curious!). Avocado oil, which is the natural oil pressed from the pulp of an avocado is rich in both antioxidants and healthy fats. Some of the health benefits of avocado oil include:
- It is rich in oleic acid, a very healthy monounsaturated fat
- supports a healthy heart
- High in the antioxidant lutein, which is great for your eyes!
- Neutralizes free radicals
And those are just a few! There is also one very important benefit to using avocado oil in recipes like this one: It has a very high smoke point relative to other oils – around 500 degrees Fahrenheit. This means you can cook with it at high temperatures without it breaking down. This is important because when oils start to break down their health benefits break down with them. Some can even become somewhat harmful!
So now that you know why these croutons are THE BEST CROUTONS you will ever have, let’s make them!
Let’s Make Some Homemade Croutons:
You really cannot mess this one up. You can cut them as big or as small as you want, and spray as much or as little avocado oil you want. The smaller you make them the crispier they will get, and the more oil you use the more crisp (to a point – don’t overdo it!).
And if you want a gluten free option, just buy gluten free hamburger buns!
Need something to put these on? Try my massaged kale salad with nut butter vinaigrette or just get some greens, some berries, make my strawberry basil salad dressing, and put them all together!
Or will you just snack on them like I do? 😉
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ButterLESS Crispy Croutons
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: variable
Description
Gluten Free Option, Vegan, Refined Sugar Free
These homemade croutons are crispy, flavorful, and butterLESS! Crisped in the oven using avocado oil makes these a healthier and vegan friendly choice that is great for the whole family!
Ingredients
- Hamburger buns (I used Angelic Bakehouse sprouted 7 grain buns)
- Avocado oil (I buy this one)
- Garlic salt
- Garlic powder
- Thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Slice buns if not already (the ones I used were not pre-sliced)
- Cut each side (top and bottom separately) into small square pieces.
- Place on a greased cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
- Spray generously with avocado oil.
- Sprinkle with spices (go lighter on the salt but feel free to go a lil crazy with the garlic powder and thyme – in my opinion!).
- Bake 15 minutes until crisp and golden brown.
Notes
This recipe is fairly generic with amounts, because you can really make as much or as little as you want! But when I made it I used two buns and it made enough for me to use on two different salads, and snack on some too 😛
Gluten Free Option – just buy gluten free hamburger buns!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bun worth of croutons
Keywords: healthy croutons, croutons. butterless croutons
If you try this recipe be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think! If you remake on Instagram remember to tag me at @donutworry_behealthy so I can see and send my love and support right back to ya!
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