A crouton is a lovely bit of excess: a crunchy piece of bread in a pile of greens or swimming in tomato soup. But croutons can be painful to eat at times. Thankfully, that is not the case with air-fried croissants—the best kind of crouton.
Croissant croutons are more crispy than crunchy, without any of the tough, sharp corners and edges you usually encounter on croutons made with crusty bread. They also come packed with butter, so there’s no need to toss them with any extra oil—you can just use a seasoning blend, like garlic salt, any all-purpose seasoning, or any of the unhinged shakers they sell at Trader Joe’s.
And while you can buy croissant croutons at Trader Joe’s, they are, unfortunately, not very good. (I thought they were bland and noticeably un-buttery. I did not finish the bag.) Plus, making your own is beyond easy. All you need is a croissant and that seasoning blend. Store-bought croissants or homemade, stale or fresh—they all work. Just cube the croissant, season the cubes, and air fry them for roughly five minutes, and you’ll have a fresh batch of buttery, crispy, almost fluffy croutons.
Air-fried croissant croutons
Ingredients:
- 1 croissant
- Seasoning blend of your choice
With a serrated bread knife, cut the croissant into 1-inch cubes and transfer them to a bowl. Season generously with your favorite spice or seasoning blend, tossing the cubes in a bowl to coat. Garlic salt is a good place to start.
Set your air fryer to 300℉. Place the cubed croissant pieces in the basket and air fry for five minutes, tossing once or twice to ensure even browning. Remove from the air fryer once they are one shade past golden brown, and let cool completely before eating on a salad, in a soup, or right out of the palm of your hand.
