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Brachah for Croutons

What l’maseh is the bracha to be made on “croutons”?

Answer:

The berachah for croutons is usually mezonos.

However, this depends on how the croutons (not soup-nuts, which are always mezonos) are made.

Some are baked, some are baked twice and others are baked and then fried.

If the croutons are immediately baked to a level of crispiness (one of the possibilities of pas haba be-kisnin), the berachah will be mezonos.

Similarly, if the bread was baked into normal bread, and then diced up to pieces smaller than a kezayis and then fried, it would be mezonos (we can assume that the frying, in the case of croutons, is similar to cooking and not to baking; for regular frying, see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim168:10; Mishna Brurah 52, 56).

If the croutons are baked into normal bread, and then diced up into pieces smaller than a kezayis, and then baked again into crispy croutons, their formal berachah is hamotzei. However, many rule that because the initial intention was to make them into a crouton snack, intermediate step of normal bread is overlooked.

Thus, one can generally assume that the berachah for croutons is mezonos (as ruled by Veten Bracha Handbook p. 36; Vezos Habracha p. 122), though some are stringent and are careful to eat them only as part of a meal.

 

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2 Comments

  1. Looks like a typo in the answer here.

    “If the croutons are baked into normal bread, and then diced up into pieces smaller than a kezayis, and then baked again into crispy croutons, their formal berachah is mezonos . However, many rule that because the initial intention was to make them into a crouton snack, intermediate step of normal bread is overlooked.”

    Shouldn’t the indicated part read hamotzi?

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