bread as an ingredient

The only things I have (other than my stuffing at Thanksgiving time) is what I do with bread that is getting stale.  My two favorites, are bread pudding, and soup-croutons.  

Do you have a favorite bread pudding recipe?  I tend to go off book, when I do mine & make changes, like adding craizens and orange zest, instead of raisins.  Another favorite add, is when I have left over cream cheese frosting.  I blend that into the custard mixture.

For soup-croutons, I cut the bread into 1-1.5 inch squares, and toss them with melted butter, garlic, and parsley, then toast them in a 350* oven, till brown & crunchy.  Then, I float them on top of a bowl of homemade soup/chili/stew.  Bread bowls are nice, too.  Especially for those with a large appetite.  I can never finish one.

I’m sure you’ll get some great ideas, here.

Tonight I mixed up chocolate chunk cookies, needed 360g AP flour.  Had only bread flour and didn't want tough cookies so I weighed 270g bread flour and the rest as bread crumbs.  Adjusted salt lower.  So far so good.

Also there are cakes using bread crumbs and there is always meatloaf!  Crumbs browned in butter is a great addition to boiled or steamed cauliflower or other veggies.  Bread pudding, add apples and cinnamon, eggs and milk...think raw French toast in chunks baked in a cake pan w/ raisins and nuts.  Or savory topped with cheese strips of bacon.  

Use bread crumbs to thicken sauces (use the stick blender) or thicken berry juice.  And why not toss into runny pancake batter to thicken it up?   

The Poilane book, currently on sale for US $3.99 in Kindle ebook format, has lots of what you seek: bread as ingredient.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LCBQ7KY?tag=froglallabout-20

The book has mixed reviews*, but for only $3.99, you can't go wrong.  I just bought it at this price, and am very satisfied,

(In my opinion, the mian reason it has mixed reviews is that the book does not live up to the hype of its sub-title touting the "secrets" of the bakery.   )

You tried Pappa al Pomodoro?  It's basically tomato, garlic & basil with bread (great for using up stale bread).

Very nice for a light meal.

Not too unlike mashed potatoes.  Drop slices into beef broth with or without the crust, when soft whip into mashed consistency and at the same time adding fine grated horseradish root.  Great with the beef roast, green salad and buttered steamed veggies.