Super Quick Gluten Free Bread Crumbs Recipe (stop throwing away your bread ends!)

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[Note - depending on the bread you use this could be dairy free / vegan / allergen free as well.]

When I first went gluten free I did what my mother did, I let left over bread go stale, then stored it in a cabinet in a zip lock bag.  I then tried to use these remains to make my own stuffing and/or bread crumbs.  It was a disaster!  Any bread that contains rice will dry out to a point that you can't cut it.  So cubing it for stuffing is out (and frankly more than a little dangerous) and even running it through my magic bullet to make bread crumbs would leave plenty of large un-crumbed chunks.

The solution is simple - throw the left over bread in a bag in the freezer.  (I usually just add any ends that come on the bread, or any mis-shapen slices that I can't readily use for a sandwich.)  When you need to make stuffing or bread crumbs, take out the amount you need, cube it, dry it in the over, and you're good to go.  [To dry out the bread, just put on a cookie sheet in the oven at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes turning once, halfway through.  Make sure you all it to fully cool afterwards or it will gum up when you try to crumb it.]

Ingredients:
4-6 slices of dried out Gluten Free bread (cubed and dried - see above)
1 tsp of dried parsley, crushed
1/2 tsp of dried basil, crushed
1/4 tsp of dried oregano, crushed

How to prepare gluten free bread crumbs:
Add bread to food processor, blender or magic bullet and blend until the coarseness you'd like. Empty crumbs and herbs into a mixing bowl and stir until well blended.  (Alternatively, you could add the herbs while blending.)

Depending on the size of your GF/DF bread slices this should yield 1 to 1.5 cups of bread crumbs.  I usually just make however much I need and then use it.  I'm not sure how I'd store extras if making a big batch.  If anyone has any suggestions, please leave them in the comments below!

If you are looking to purchase bread crumbs, I can't really recommend a brand as I've never bought them.  I'm throwing out the bread ends anyway, so why not put them to better use?  Most stores on my gluten free / dairy free store list carry at least one brand and if not, you can get them online at the Gluten Free Mall.