Please don’t EVER throw out bread crusts or stale bread! Look at these amazing Cinnamon Sugar Bread Crust Treats you can make with them – and they only take 10 minutes to make! Find me a kid that can resist these…..
Did you have to look twice to make sure they really are bread crusts? Yes, they are!
A couple of weeks ago, I shared my savoury solution to getting through a ridiculously large bag of bread crusts that were stockpiled in my freezer – Parmesan and Thyme Bread Crust Treats. Today I’m sharing the sweet version.
“They taste like cinnamon doughnuts, only crunchy and a whole lot healthier and faster to make!”
There’s a looong list for why these Cinnamon Sugar Bread Crust Treats are so great. I could write an essay on it – but you aren’t interested in reading an essay! So here are the high points:
1. Thrifty – use up leftover bread crusts or any other stale bread you have lying around.
2. Tastes like cinnamon doughnuts, only crunchy!
3. A whole lot healthier than cinnamon doughnuts.
4. A whole lot faster to make than cinnamon doughnuts.
5. They’re ready in 10 minutes.
6. Little kids probably won’t even know they’re bread crusts.
7. Big kids might know but they won’t care.
8. They last for days, stashed in an airtight container.
These Cinnamon Sugar Bread Crust Treats are great to pop into school lunch boxes (or work lunch boxes!) in little ziplock bags. Or pour them into a bowl and snack on them like this Lightly Sweet ‘n Salty Popcorn for movie nights in. – Nagi x
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Cinnamon Sugar Bread Crust Treats
Ingredients
- 6 cups bread crusts (enough to spread out over 2 baking trays), preferably stale
- 60 g / 2 oz / 4 tbsp butter , melted
- 5 tbsp sugar (separate 1 tbsp)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Cut crusts into 3cm/1.5" pieces.
- Place bread crusts in a large bowl. Drizzle over butter, tossing the bread crusts as you go (with your other hand) to evenly distribute as best as possible.
- Sprinkle over 4 tbsp of sugar and cinnamon, and toss through.
- Spread out over 2 baking trays.
- Bake for 5 to 8 minutes until golden brown and crunchy (check the ones in the middle of the tray). The tray on the top shelf will be ready first. The bottom tray will take a couple of minutes longer.
- While hot, sprinkle over the remaining 1 tbsp of sugar (1/2 tbsp over each tray). This is mainly for appearance purpose.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Do you think these could be cooked in an air fryer?
I just finished watching “The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House” on Netflix which takes place in Kyoto. The Makanai made these as a little treat for the Maikos. I was intrigued and now I come across this recipe! Maybe it is a sign I should try it!
Nagi, did your mom make these for you?
I made these since I now have a HUGE bag of crusts from thanksgiving stuffing prep. They’re great! Been munching on them all day…. I was also thinking tossing some with garlic butter with a cheese sprinkle just out of the oven….
I love this recipe it’s so good and tasty and is great if you don’t wanna waste your bread I was gonna make uncrustables but I didn’t want to waste bread perfect
I love this recipe it’s so good and tasty and is great if you don’t wanna waste your bread
Can you make these with bread crusts straight from the freezer or do you thaw first?
I think it’s time to share this recipe on your FB page Nagi! I often keep crusts in the freezer to make breadcrumbs for savoury dishes, but this one is gold for crusts with a twist😃
I used to make these . Cut bread into lengths spread with butter,marmite or peanut butter. Oven baked till light brown. My kids loved these and so did our dog.
Absolutely wonderful, fantastic way to use up waste bread crusts. Xxx
I think 60 g of butter is closer to 4 T, not 2.
4 tbsp! Thank you! I can’t believe you’re the first person ever to pick that up 🙂 N x
Haha. Me too. I combed the comments because I was sure someone must have. Scale nerds unite!
Loved this recipe! But unfortunately I cant use my baking oven..is there any other way other than baking to make this? And also how long can I store plain bread crusts?
We enjoyed this! I used my microwave to dry out the crusts before adding the melted butter, and then to bake them. Do it in short bursts, and put a paper towel over the top to prevent splatter. Takes about 5 minutes.
How long did you microwaved the bread crusts in order for them to dry?
I tried this recipe with my microwave (oven setting), but after 8 mins they’re still not crispy
Thanks for the suggestion Jane!
So I didnt have leftover bread crusts, but when I read this it looked so good I couldn’t resist! I used the bread crusts of some tiger bread, then I sliced the inside into strips and followed the recipe! It tasted amazing, thankyou for this!
Oh my goodness these are amazing! Your recipes are delicious and always deliver great meals. I simply googled what to do with leftover crusts after using your amazing tip for italian meatballs, I was so pleased to see your site appear in my search, simply because your recipes work everytime! I will be sure to try your savoury version also. Thank you for sharing, stay gold 👌💞
I made some homemade panko crumbs and I had these crusts that I don’t want to toss in the bin, so I Googled what to do with them and this recipe comes out on the top! I had some mixed spice blend lying around, which had nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom, so I tried that, and used salted butter since that’s what I had 😅 and they worked, too! My husband also loved how it made our kitchen smell like the holidays. Hope you didn’t mind the tweaks I made out of necessity 😅 xxLynn
sounds perfect Lynn!! N x
Made a pineapple casserole for Easter and had crust left over and didn’t want to waste the crust so I found this recipe for cinnamon sugar bread crust treats. It was delicious!
How long would these keep for??
I have a lot of crusts from my toddler…
I’d really love to try it but my oven is not working at the moment 🙁 Thank you for this recipe! I will use it in the future. 🙂
I hope you love it Erin!
Hi….I liked the receipe…. The best and easy way to use left over bread ends…. What is the shelf life if stored in the room temperature.
Hi Francina, I usually only keep these the day I’ve cooked them 🙂
This was the best cinnamon sugar treat I’ve made! I halved the recipe since I didn’t have 6 cups of bread. Im going to make this all the time!!
I’m so happy you loved it Shirley, thanks for letting me know!
I just made these and they’re mighty tasty. I didn’t toss in butter but brushed it on instead because my bread was too delicate to toss. I also made a batch replacing the cinnamon sugar with garlic powder and salt. I had to bake both quite a bit longer, about 8-10 minutes on each side but achieved a crispy texture throughout. Both turned out excellent. Thanks for a great way to utilize leftover homemade bread.
Awesome Shari, sounds like you nailed it!
Ok. Just made this this morning. Quick and easy. While family loved it and I got to use the crust from my freezer. I normally do French toast stick or bread pudding but this is definitely easy, quicker and delicious! Loved it!
Terrific Rose!