How to Make Baguette Crostini

Why You'll Love This Recipe:

• What is crostini? Crostini is an Italian word for little toasts topped with a spread or other food.
• These little golden crisp slices of bread are delicious and go so well with so many different toppings.
• Homemade baguette crostini are cheap to make.
• Serve them as appetizers with sweet or savory toppings.
• For easy entertaining, bake them up to four days in advance, then all you need to do is top them on the day.

Ingredients In This Recipe

You can download a printable version of this recipe below. It lists all the ingredients you need and gives clear, step-by-step instructions to help you make it.

Baguettes - you can use fresh or day-old baguettes to make crostini. Choose thin baguettes rather than big fat and plump ones because crostini should be small and eaten in one or two bites. 

You could also use french breadsticks - these have a softer crust than baguettes and a slightly fatter but toast up well.

Extra virgin olive oil - gives the toasts flavor and helps to make them golden and crisp when baked.

Step By Step Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Cut the baguette into 1 cm (¼ inch) slices.
3. Brush each side of the bread with olive oil.
4. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the bread on the lined baking sheet, spacing them slightly apart.
5. Put into the oven and bake for about 8 - 12 minutes (turn the toasts halfway through). They are ready when lightly golden brown and crisp to the touch.  
   
   Note: The timing is just an estimate because oven temperatures do vary. So keep an eye on them, and when the tops on the first side start to feel dry, flip them over to toast the other side. After this, they will quickly turn golden brown. So watch them closely so that they don't burn.
6. When ready, remove the tray from the oven, and allow the crostini to cool on the tray.
7. When completely cool, store them in an airtight container.

Variations

These plain toasted baguette crostini are delicious as they are and perfect for both savory and sweet appetizers.

But sometimes, you might want to give additional flavor to savory appetizers so you could:

• Mix in one to two teaspoons of garlic powder or onion powder into the oil before brushing onto the bread. 
• Use flavored oils like the oil from our marinated feta in olive oil, our Italian bread dipping oil, or any flavored oil you may have on hand. If using flavored oil made with fresh herbs like our marinated mozzarella balls, strain the oil first because the fresh herbs will burn at high heat.

Recipe Tips

• Bread - thin baguettes are good to use, but you could use long crusty bread rolls too. You can use fresh bread or one or two-day-old bread, but don't use bread that has gone moldy.
• Use a serrated knife to cut the bread into even slices about 1 cm (¼ inch).
• The crostini are ready when they feel dry and look golden brown on top.
• Keep a close eye on them during baking to avoid burning because once they start to brown, they go dark very quickly.
• Allow the crostini to cool to room temperature before putting toppings on or storing them in a container.

Serving Size

This recipe makes about 30 pieces and one piece is a serve.

Calories Per Serve

Based on our recipe and the size of our crostini, and the amount of oil used we estimate that each piece is about 38 calories.

Serving Suggestions

Baguette crostini are great just as a snack on their own or with a dip.

They are also great as a base for many toppings. When adding toppings to crostini, start with a spread layer before adding other toppings. 

You could use a spread like cream cheese, goat cheese, ricotta cheese, soft feta, butter, pate, a thick dip, or other thick spread. These will act like glue to hold the other ingredients in place. 

It will also make presenting and eating the appetizers easier because the toppings won't slide off when passed around or when your guests pick them up to eat.

There are so many things that you can use as a crostini topping. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• Top with fresh or marinated cheeses like feta in oil or marinated mozzarella balls.
• Fruit preserves like apricot jam, marmalades, strawberry compote, morello cherry jam.
• Try pickles like pickled pink onion or pickled carrots.
• Slices of fresh tomato and basil for a caprese crostini.
• Drizzle on something sweet like honey, golden syrup, or treacle.
• Try canned fish like tuna or sardines.
• Roasted peppers.
• Top with sauteed mushrooms or onions.
• Smear on roasted garlic.
• Pitted olives.
• Spread on some miso hummus.

You could also use these crostini as croutons with soups, put them on cheese boards, or crush them up and use them on salads like Caesar salad.

Storage

The crostini can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to four days.

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