Homemade Panko-ish Bread Crumbs

Even with the magic of online grocery shopping, I still somehow always forget one important thing every single time. One of the other times this happened, I forgot to get soy sauce and Sam wanted chicken teriyaki, so I fudged the soy sauce component of teriyaki from cold brew coffee, dark red wine, and a ton of salt. It... oddly worked (get the full recipe here!).

This time, I forgot to buy breadcrumbs, and the man wants chicken parm. So does this lady. And you KNOW once I get home from work, I'm not leaving the house, so driving to the store to pick some up is absolutely out of the question. I would much sooner bake a fresh loaf of bread only to turn it into crumbs before I did that.

I actually was going to do that.

I was in the kitchen getting my scale out to start measuring my flour when I remembered we have a poor old loaf of Schwebels in the freezer. Blessings. 3 minutes later, I had my bread crumbs in the oven.

*Excuse me, I know this recipe says "homemade" bread crumbs, Schwebels is far from homemade. Feel free to use homemade bread. I actually would prefer you do. My 2019 goal is to waste less food, so I'm happy to have something to use this bread for!

UPDATE: Chicken parm with these bread crumbs is... beyond. I'll never buy canned bread crumbs again. Once this Schwebels loaf is gone, I'm going to make them from homemade bread and I don't think my life will ever be the same.

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Homemade Panko-ish Bread Crumbs
by Twirlerica

Time: 30 Minutes
Makes 2 cups

6 oz. Italian or white bread (about 4-6 slices), frozen

Preheat oven to 250˚. Line a large sheet pan with foil or parchment paper. Cut or break bread into 1-2" chunks and place in a blender or food processor. Pulse until bread turns into crumbs, with the largest crumbs being the size of small peas. Spread in even layer on prepared pan.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until crumbs feel crisp and dry. Turn off oven and let them sit inside for 15-20 minutes to continue drying out. Remove from oven and let cool completely before storing in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

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A few notes:

- Freezing the bread first makes it much easier to grind into crumbs. If you're using fresh or stale bread, dehydrate the bread chunks before processing. You'll want to increase the time in the oven significantly, stirring and checking for doneness every 5 minutes (should take closer to 30 minutes).
- Cut off the crusts if you're fancy and want true panko bread crumbs. I may be fancy but I'm more-so lazy, so I didn't do that. It still worked great.
- Once the crumbs are finished, break up any larger pieces by crumbling between your fingers (only if there aren't too many, otherwise your fingers will be sanded down to nothing)
- For larger quantities, use a meat tenderizing mallet to break apart the big crumbs
-If you feel any soft or soggy pieces, throw them out. If there are a lot, stick the pan back in the oven at 250˚ for an additional 5 minutes or so until they crisp up. You don't want ANY moisture when storing these, otherwise you'll have a moldy mess in no time flat.
- For Italian bread crumbs, increase the heat to 300˚ and let the crumbs get golden brown and toasty (it may take an additional 5-10 minutes), then add 1/4 teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, dried parsley, basil, and oregano. You can add these once the crumbs come out, and use the baking time to gather your seasonings.