From French toast to croutons, tasty ways to use up your stale bread

Bread doesn’t belong in the fridge if you want it to stay fresh and crisp. In fact, it dries out more quickly there and loses its flavour. Instead, store it at room temperature in a bread bin. — Jonas Walzberg/dpa

Bread and baked goods top the list of food items we wind up throwing away.

But there are great recipes that call for stale bread, says Bettina Heuke from the Too Good To Go food-saving initiative.

Consider that as you shop. Ask yourself, "What do I still have at home? Will I really use up the bread I’ve just bought?" she says. Buy half or whole loaves rather than sliced bread as pre-cut loaves can go mouldy more quickly.

Don't put bread in the fridge if you want it to stay fresh and crisp. It will dry out more quickly and lose its flavour. Instead, keep it at room temperature in a bread bin.

If you’ve bought more bread than you can eat, freeze some for another day. Ideally, freeze individual slices so when you feel hungry, you can pop them straight into the toaster instead of defrosting them first.

Throw away mouldy bread

Bear in mind that you should throw away any bread with patches of mould. You can spot this by white to greenish patches.

Even if you only see a few spots of mould, throw the bread away as you cannot see the mycelium of the mould but it has already spread throughout the bread.

Delicious recipes for leftovers

If leftovers do end up going stale, "You can still do lots with dry bread,” says Heuke. "You can use it for croutons in soup, for example.”

Consider these three quick and easy stale bread recipes from Too Good To Go:

Turn stale bread into treats like this special French Toast recipe, with coconut milk, sugar and cinnamon. — Jens Kalaene/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa-tmn

Croutons

• Cut the bread into small cubes and fry them in a little butter or oil over a low heat.
• Use them for a crispy topping on salads, stews and soups.

French toast

• Whisk 250 ml of milk with one egg, a tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of salt.
• Pour the mixture over two slices of bread in a shallow dish and leave to soak for a while.
• Then fry the slices in a pan with a little fat until golden brown on both sides.

Bruschetta

• Wash and trim 250 g of tomatoes, then dice them into small cubes.
• Peel a clove of garlic and cut it in half lengthwise.
• Place 200 g of sliced bread on a baking tray and toast under the grill for about 1 minute on each side.
• While it is still hot, rub the cut sides of the garlic over the bread and drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil.
• Spread the tomatoes over the bread and press down lightly with a fork. Season with salt and pepper. – dpa