Crispy Homemade Garlic Bread
Who doesn’t love garlic bread? I mean, it has bread, butter, and garlic all toasted together to make a crunchy yet soft and delicious flavor explosion inside your mouth! Okay, I’m getting a little carried away, but really, what’s not to love about garlic bread?
Growing up, my family never made homemade garlic bread. We would sometimes buy the frozen pre-made garlic bread that tasted delicious but was pumped full of preservatives and ingredients the average adult wouldn’t know how to pronounce. Now that I am on my own, I love making homemade garlic bread alongside spaghetti and meatballs, shrimp fettuccini Alfredo, or homemade soups!
After a few times of just randomly throwing together ingredients on the fly, I decided to actually test out different combinations. My favorite result is a combination of unsalted butter, parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic (of course), and parsley! The process is so easy and I can bet you’ll be having homemade garlic bread a lot more often!
To start, I always like to soften the butter. You can certainly remove the stick from the fridge and let it soften for a little bit, but if you’re impatient like me, 15-20 seconds in the microwave should do the trick! Keep in mind, you want it softened, not melted. This process is not absolutely necessary, but it does help the mixture spread more evenly and effortlessly on the bread.
Once the butter is softened, mince your garlic into very small pieces. The smaller the better. You can certainly use already minced garlic from a jar, but I’ve noticed it’s typically not as strong or potent as fresh garlic. If you’re anything like me, the extra time to mince fresh garlic yourself is worth the extra flavor, but for a faster process, pre-minced garlic works too!
Combine the garlic and butter together and then add the rest of your ingredients. I love the taste and cheesiness from the parmesan cheese, but you can substitute nutritional yeast for a similar non-dairy cheesy flavor. I recommend also using fresh parsley for a more robust flavor, but dried parsley works just as well.
Once the mixture is made, cut your bread into long slices. I love a good sourdough, but french bread or a ciabatta baguette are perfect options as well. A crispy crust and a soft inside is really what you want to look for when choosing the type of bread for your homemade garlic bread.
To spread the mixture onto the bread, I like to use a non-stick spatula. This way I can get every last ounce of the butter out of the bowl and onto the bread. Make sure to distribute the mixture evenly over the bread, and be sure to get as close to the edges as possible.
Bake the bread until golden brown on top. You want to make sure the butter has melted and seeped into the bread a little bit. If you don’t like your bread too crunchy, remove it from the oven a little but earlier.
If you’re a crunchy garlic bread fan like me, you want to leave it in the oven until the edges of the bread turn golden brown. Remove the garlic bread from the oven and let them cool just a but before cutting into individual slices. Sometimes we can’t even wait for it to cool down in my house. The whole kitchen smells like a warm, dreamy, garlicky, buttery pillow and it’s hard to wait to dive right in!
I promise this homemade garlic bread recipe will become a household favorite for you! The process is so simple, has few ingredients, and tastes better than what you can get at a restaurant…or maybe just as good! Plus you can eat as much as you want without being embarrassingly asking the waiter to bring more bread to the table.
The Best Homemade Garlic Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ciabatta baguette
- 1 stick butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
- In a small bowl, soften the butter for 15-20 seconds in the microwave
- Once butter is softened, mince the garlic and add to the bowl
- Add olive oil, parmesan cheese, and parsley to the butter and garlic and mix well
- Slice the baguette in half from top to bottom
- Using a non-stick spatula, spread garlic butter mixture onto the inside side of both slices of the baguette
- Place bread on a foil covered baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown
- Remove from oven and let cool before cutting into smaller pieces
- Serve with your favorite soup, salad, or pasta dish
As always, be sure to comment below if you’ve tried this recipe, and tag me in your pictures on Instagram @katerinafaith. I’d love to see your delicious creations!
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