Next, lay the bread slices flat on a baking sheet and let it sit out in the pantry overnight.
A quicker option is to dry the bread in the oven. Heat oven to 250 F, place the baking sheet into the oven, bake the bread for 30 minutes and then flip the slices over to the other side and dry for another 30 minutes.
Turn the oven off and let it sit inside for another 30 minutes. Take the bread slices out of the oven and cool completely before crushing in the food processor.
Personally, I feel it's better to plan ahead and let the slices dry naturally.
How to Process Bread into Homemade Bread Crumbs
Time to process the bread into bread crumbs! Start by breaking the bread slices into smaller pieces. Split all pieces into two portions and crush one at a time into the food processor. Crush for about 2 minutes.
Sift crushed bread crumbs through a sifter to catch larger pieces for crushing again and transfer them back into the food processor.
Crush for a minute and repeat the same steps with the rest of the bread. This gives you plain homemade bread crumbs.
To make Italian bread crumbs follow the rest of the instructions.
Place bread crumbs back into the food processor. Add all the spices: garlic and onion salt or powder, dry parsley, and Italian seasoning, and pulse the processor a couple of times.
Make sure to not do this more than 3 seconds, otherwise, you may over crush the dried parsley and Italian seasoning and they will be too small to stand out.
Your delicious Italian homemade bread crumbs are ready to be used in your favorite recipes!