Herbs: thymeoregano, parsley, basil are great. Use a mixed herb pre-mix or make your own
Spices: smoked paprikacumin, crushed fennel seeds
Seeds: sesame seedscrushed sunflower seeds
Salt
Pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 130 degrees C.
Prepare your bread by slicing into small chunks. There’s no rule here, the smaller you chop, the fast your bread will dry out so it’s shelf stable. Aim for 3cm x 3cm.
Scatter bread on baking tray and bake for 30 minutes or until bread is dried all the way through.
TO TEST: You can test this by cutting in half with a knife. If it’s dry all the way through, your bread is ready. This step is important as we’re storing these breadcrumbs in the pantry. We don’t want mould forming, which cannot happen if your bread is dried thoroughly. If you’re unsure if your bread is dry, keep it in the oven a bit longer.
Transfer bread to a food processor and process into fine-ish crumbs.
SIDE NOTE: I thought I liked my breadcrumbs chunkier, but the recent batch I made was quite fine and I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised. I’m really enjoying it.
Pour crumbs into your glass jars or containers. I usually mix in 1/4 of the jar with the herbs, spices, salt and pepper. The remaining 3/4 is breadcrumbs. You can play around with this ratio.
Notes
There you have it. My favourite recipe to make at the moment. I should add another note here. Drying your sourdough bread in the oven is an optional step. You can blitz it up, make your mix and store in your freezer. This will make the process so much faster it means you need freezer space though, which I do not have. I also love that I don’t have a time limit on using these, not that they last long anyway.