Buttery Garlic Croutons

I'm a big salad lover.  I love all kinds of salads from a nice wedge of iceberg topped with creamy bleu cheese dressing, crumbled bacon, scallions and sweet cherry tomatoes to a simple Ceasar salad to a California style kale and quinoa salad.
I. LOVE. SALAD.  Before I had kids, I'd make a salad at least 4 times per week.  Usually it would be a quick side salad, but every so often I'd add a few things to vary it up like homemade candied walnuts, chopped sopressata and provolone or even tart dried cherries.  After having kids, salads seemed to be a dinner-time item of the past. They'd look at salads with disgust. Lettuce? You've got to be kidding me!  Then one day, I had an idea.  What if we shook up our own dressing in a mason jar and topped the salad with delicious, buttery garlic croutons?  When you check your local grocery store, there are tons of croutons! Unfortunately, when you have a child with a sesame allergy, any bread products make you cringe and start to worry. So, we decided to turn to our beloved King's Hawaiian sweet rolls.  We made a batch of these buttery garlic croutons and the kids went bananas!  Now, they expect salad every night!  On the nights where I just forget or feel like we have enough veggies, it's not uncommon to hear one of the kids start screaming "SALAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!!!!!!"  That's when the tantrum ensues. Never in my life would I ever imagine any child under the age of 5 having a tantrum because we weren't serving salad with dinner; however, as most parents realize, you definitely encounter many tantrum-causing situations that you never would have dreamed about! To keep everyone happy, we make fresh croutons every Saturday and have enough to last us through the week (as long as I keep the container high enough where little grabby hands can't reach!)

Buttery Garlic Croutons

Ingredients
1 package (of 12) King's Hawaiian rolls [I have made these with original sweet, honey wheat or butter]
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2-3 teaspoons garlic powder
Olive Oil cooking spray (or olive oil in Misto)
salt & pepper

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 375°.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine olive oil and unsalted butter. Add in oregano and thyme.  When butter melts, remove pan from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Cube your King's Hawaiian rolls. You can make them really any size that corresponds to how you like your croutons!

Place the cubed bread onto a nonstick baking sheet. Pour slightly cooled butter mixture all over the cubed bread and toss to coat.  Spread cubed pieces onto the baking sheet in a single layer.  Spray with your olive oil cooking spray or Misto. Sprinkle garlic powder on top and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bake for 7 minutes.  Toss croutons, respread into single layer and spray tops again with olive oil spray.  Continue baking for 7-10 more minutes or until just beginning to turn golden.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Natasha's Kitchen