Extra Bread Crusts?

I'm probably the only one who still does this, but I cut the crusts off my kids' sandwiches. Is that bad?

So it dawned on me, long after I chopped many a crust, that I was wasting a LOT of bread crusts. I really hate wasting things, so I was mad at myself for this oversight. I started throwing the crusts into a bag in the freezer, without any specific plan for all this extra bread.

I thought zipping it through the food processor and making bread crumbs was an option, but I don't do a whole lot of breading, so I wasn't sure when I'd get around to that. But then I happened to watch a cooking show where they were making an apple brown betty. Bingo. I combined a few different recipes to make this one and have made it several times now and I think it's not bad! You could add more butter and/or brown sugar to make it taste even better, but I was trying to keep it a little on the healthy side.

Apple Brown Betty

wait...something's missing.

Much better.

Apple Brown Betty

6 medium apples
1/2 cup brown sugar (I like dark)
equivalent to about 10 pieces of bread/crust
3-4 tbl of light butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
cinnamon, to taste (I probably used 1-2 tsp)
zest of one orange, optional
juice of one orange, optional (see my notes)
5 tbl walnuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Thinly slice apples and place in a bowl. Toss with orange zest and orange juice if using. Stack bread slices/crusts and cut into small cubes and combine with the brown sugar, walnuts (if using) and cinnamon. Coat a 9x13 dish with cooking spray. Cover the bottom with 1/2 of the apples, then 1/2 of the cinnamon-sugar-bread-crust-nut mixture, then 1/2 of the melted butter. Repeat the layers using the remaining half of each ingredient/mixture. Bake for 30 minutes. You can halve this recipe and use an 8x8 pan too.

My notes: I really liked this with the orange zest and juice in it. If you don't use orange, you probably want some liquid in there - one recipe called for 3/4 cup of apple juice for an 8x8 pan. Another recipe called for the bread to be processed in a food processor until it was turned to crumbs. I may try it that way next time just for kicks. I also like to eat mine warm with a big, and I do mean big, dollop of whipped cream (or light cool whip) on top with a little bit of vanilla soy milk drizzled in. This isn't an overly sweet dessert, but mmmm.....