The Genius Way Apollonia Poilâne Uses Stale Sourdough

Sourdough bread is supposed to be soft and flavorful, ideally toasted with a slab of butter. But bread — especially fresh bread with minimal preservatives — can only last so long. More often than we'd like, our bread hardens before we've made it through the loaf.

Just because your bread has gone stale, however, doesn't mean it's inedible. There are lots of ways you can revive a loaf that's gone past its prime. Bread revitalizers range from simple — homemade croutons — to more intricate dishes like panzanella or bread pudding.

King Arthur Baking Company recommends all kinds of creative methods to bring sourdough bread back to life, beginning with breadcrumbs. Making breadcrumbs turns previously baked bread into an entirely new baked good, that, in turn, allows you to make all kinds of recipes. You can use homemade breadcrumbs as a thickener in pastries or for an added crunch atop dinner rolls.

Apollonia Poilâne, the brainchild behind Parisian bakery Poilâne, presents another option for breadcrumbs that will make you wonder why you haven't tried her idea sooner. Poilâne is known for mastering an assortment of French pastries, with sourdough being her claim to fame. While her bread surely holds its own, it serves another, creative function — one that will have you snacking for days.

Rolled oats take center stage in most granola recipes — but who said you have to adhere to the rules?

Apollonia Poilâne makes granola with a twist that incorporates her French sourdough. According to MasterClass, Poilâne happened to have stale bread on hand during a granola-making expenditure. As an experiment, she bypassed the oats in favor of that hardened sourdough, and the rest is history.

To make Poilâne's granola, you combine days-old sourdough wheat bread with days-old rye bread. Process the two bread types to a breadcrumb consistency, then bake with nuts, salt, puffed rice, and honey. It's a fairly straightforward recipe that lets you utilize bread that would otherwise go to waste. To make your granola ultra-crispy, some recipes recommend adding whipped egg whites to your mixture.

Clearly, stale bread doesn't have to be a disappointment. While you can't make your morning toast with hard sourdough, you can enjoy an alternative breakfast thanks to Poilâne's recipe.