Croutons are just toasted or fried pieces of bread with seasonings, but they make delicious additions to salads and soups. The following recipe is from http://recipes.alastra.com/.

Ingredients
bread
1 cube butter
4-5 cloves garlic, crushed
dried herbs, including parsley, oregano, thyme, basil (optional)

Cut the bread into cubes or chunks, approximately 3/4" square.
Much bigger than that and they tend to be a bit difficult to eat.
Melt the butter and garlic together, either in the microwave or on
the stovetop. Toss the cubes with the butter/garlic mixture. The
idea is not to saturate them, but to coat them. Sprinkle with herbs
of choice. Bake in a 350F oven for about 15-20 minutes until brown
and toasty. Can be stored in an airtight container for a few weeks.

A quick fix, but not half bad, is to dice some stale old bread (crusts or inside or both), toss it with olive oil and salt, and nuke it for a few minutes (if your microwave oven sports a browner/griller add-on, use that too). You can add any dry herbs, paprika, or pepper.

Crou`ton" (kr??`t?n"), n. [F. croton, fr. crote a crust.] Cookery

Bread cut in various forms, and fried lightly in butter or oil, to garnish hashes, etc.

 

© Webster 1913.