This is the ultimate garlic bread recipe for all you garlic bread lovers! It starts off with your favorite loaf of bread which gets smothered with a load of butter, garlic, herbs and Parmesan cheese and baked to your desired crunchy-ness, and enjoyed endlessly! Just a few tips and tricks will make you customize this recipe and make it your own ultimate garlic bread too!
This is such a simple recipe that requires no fancy ingredients or techniques, but one that is soooo important to have on hand—because let’s face it, we all have our garlicky bread cravings once in a while! And because we all find ourselves suddenly looking around our kitchen for a side dish/finger food/appetizer/snack last minute. And lastly, because maybe some of us love late night garlicky carb treats?
So this ultimate garlic bread is ultimate for me because it has my ultimate garlic companions— butter, herbs, Parmesan and a touch of heat. Your ultimate may have olive oil, one type of herb and no cheese..or another type of cheese like Blue cheese, goat cheese or good old mozzarella. But just to clarify, when I say butter, I really mean just a little bit of butter, no judging please 😉 And that’s the beauty of this recipe, it’s completely made to fit your taste.
Now on to the other star of this ultimate garlic bread — the bread! I know many people who love their garlic bread on the soft side, while I know others who prefer it on the crunchy side. And then there’s those who love it on toast style Italian bread, while others who prefer it on artisan style breads. Again the beauty here is, the beard is entirely your choice—so pick your favorite or alternate them for a different ultimate garlic bread experience each time! I picked here some French baguettes because I love my garlic bread on the rather crunchy rustic side, and I slathered it with a mixture of a little butter, garlic, mixed herbs, a pinch of red pepper flakes, a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and baked it for just 15 minutes!
When it comes to baking, it’s best to bake the garlic bread loaf as a whole covered in foil for 15 minutes, then uncover it and bake it for 5 -15 minutes longer (depending on how crunchy you prefer it) and then slice/cut the ultimate garlic bread once out of the oven. This way, you allow all the flavors to fully permeate the bread (that’s why baking it covered for the first 15 minutes is a great tip!) and then you allow the bread to crunch up to your desired level while toasting and roasting the garlic and flavorings (that’s when you uncover the bread and allow it to bake some more). Cutting and slicing your ultimate garlic bread after baking makes flavoring the bread and baking it ten times easier!
I made this recipe using olive oil and for the record, it’s just as great, I might have a slight preference for the butter flavor—just a slight. And at times I’ve made it with just parsley, just thyme or just basil—still awesome! And I’ve made it a couple of times with blue cheese—it was rocking good! Definitely worth a try—specially if you’re paring it with something like this steak blue cheese caesar salad, or this easy speedy blue cheese lasagna, or a lovely healthy soup like this Mediterranean pear cinnamon squash soup or this cauliflower hazelnut pear soup! Enjoy! 🙂
Ultimate Garlic Bread
Ingredients
- 1 large loaf of baguette , Italian toast bread or your favorite
- 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter , soft at room temperature (or olive oil or a mixture of both)
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 2 large cloves of garlic , minced
- 1/3 cup of mixed minced fresh herbs (oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley)
- 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Slice the baguette into slices along the length but be careful not to go all the way,so that the slices are not lose and they are attached to the base of the bread.
- In a small bowl, mix the butter, olive oil (if using), herbs, parmesan cheese, garlic, salt and pepper then set aside
- Take a pastry brush and dip it into the butter mixture then brush with it each side of the baguette.
- Repeat with the remaining mixture and baguette.
- Any extra butter mix can be stored in the fridge for up to a week or wrapped in the freezer for upto 3 months.
- Wrap the whole baguette in aluminum foil making sure to seal it well, and place it in the oven for15 minutes until the garlic herb flavors are fully absorbed into the bread.
- At this point remove it from the oven and wait a few minutes for the foil to cool down before removing it.
- Break up the slices with your knife to serve the garlic bread or even better serve it whole and let everyone have fun tearing up their slice! If you prefer a crunchier garlic bread : After removing the foil from the baguette, place it on a baking sheet and return back into the oven to crisp up for 3-10 minutes.
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