Garlic bread is one of my guilty pleasures. It has so many of my favorite things all in one place: it’s crunchy and chewy. It’s salty and cheesy, with a hint of sweet. And of course it’s full of carbs. Once I discovered – years ago – how easy it is to make garlic bread, I refuse to buy or eat the kind you find in the freezer section of your local grocery store.
Oh no. Garlic bread should never be reduced to that, especially when it’s so easy to make and it tastes so much better than the kind you pull out of your freezer and stick in the fridge. I make mine with roasted garlic, which makes it even a little sweeter and has a gorgeous roasted note to it. An entire bulb is perfect for a long French loaf, but if you’re making a smaller loaf, you can find all sorts of uses for the remainder of the roasted garlic.
Little Miss adores roasted garlic just as much as I do. She will eat it smeared across bread happily, which is good since she can’t have the butter that goes into good garlic bread (and it just isn’t the same when you use a dairy free butter substitute instead of real butter). It is wonderful when you use it in a homemade vinaigrette for salad, too. Oftentimes, we will refrigerate the leftover roasted garlic to use later as a condiment instead of mayo or butter on a sandwich. And, of course, you can make an herbed butter with the roasted garlic and save the remaining butter for another day.
When I make my garlic bread, I make two long boat shapes and bake them that way, cutting slices to eat after the bread has cooked. . Alternatively, you can make slices down the loaf without cutting through in any spot and spread the garlic butter on each slice and bake it that way and slice it later, but I prefer to have the crust on the bottom side of my garlic bread when it eat it because it is less messy that way
Roasted Garlic Bread
Ingredients:
1 loaf fresh French bread, sliced in half
12 T butter, softened
1 bulb garlic, roasted
1/2 t olive oil
3 T fresh parsley, chopped
1 t salt
1/4 c Parmesan cheese, fresh grated
Pepper, to taste
Directions:
Start by roasting your garlic. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and remove your butter from the fridge to soften.
Slice the top off your bulb of garlic to expose the cloves.
Place them in a square of tin foil, and drizzle with the olive oil.Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Crimp together the foil to form a seal with plenty of air inside to circulate.
Place in the oven and roast at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. While the garlic is roasting, chop your parsley.
When the garlic has roasted, remove from the oven and carefully open the tin foil. Let it cool until you are comfortable handling it. Place the butter into a bowl, and squeeze out the cloves of garlic onto the butter.
Add the parsley and salt. Use a spatula or fork to stir the mixture together until it is evenly combined.
Slice your loaf of bread in half lengthwise so you have two long boat shapes.
Use the spatula to smear half the butter mixture on each piece of bread. Grate the Parmesan cheese over the butter mixture.
Gently wrap the bread in foil, with the two coated halves of bread facing each other. Place in your still preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the bread and turn the oven to broil. Open the two halves of bread so that the garlic butter is on top and return it to the oven for three to four minutes, until the cheese has melted a bit and the bread has browned to your liking.
Cut with a serrated knife, and serve immediately.
Roasted Garlic Bread
Ingredients
- 1 loaf fresh French bread
- 12 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 bulb garlic roasted
- 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese fresh grated
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Start by roasting your garlic. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and remove your butter from the fridge to soften.
- Slice the top of your bulb of garlic to expose the cloves. Place them in a square of tin foil, and drizzle with the olive oil. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Crimp together the foil to form a seal with plenty of air inside to circulate.1 bulb garlic, 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
- Place in the oven and roast at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. While the garlic is roasting, chop your parsley.
- When the garlic has roasted, remove from the oven and carefully open the tin foil. Let it cool until you are comfortable handling it. Place the butter into a bowl, and squeeze out the cloves of garlic onto the butter. Add the parsley and salt. Use a spatula or fork to stir the mixture together until it is evenly combined.12 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon salt
- Slice your loaf of bread in half lengthwise so you have two long boat shapes. Use the spatula to smear half the butter mixture on each piece of bread. Grate the Parmesan cheese over the butter mixture.1 loaf fresh French bread, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- Gently wrap the bread in foil, with the two coated halves of bread facing each other. Place in your still preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the bread and turn the oven to broil. Open the two halves of bread so that the garlic butter is on top and return it to the oven for three to four minutes, until the cheese has melted a bit and the bread has browned to your liking.
- Cut with a serrated knife, and serve immediately.
Equipment
Notes
- In making my garlic bread, I make two long boat shapes and bake them that way, cutting slices to eat after the bread has cooked but you can make slices down the loaf without cutting through in any spot and spread the garlic butter on each slice and bake it that way and slice it later.
- For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.
Nutrition
This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.
That looks so good!!! I must try this!
Yes, you must! It’s so good and so easy. I’m tempted to make it again tomorrow night. Because I can!
Definitely looks like a tasty recipe! I like the compound butter you used, especially with roasting the garlic. Stop on by and share with us on Five Friday Finds. 🙂
Compound butter rocks. And roasted garlic makes everything better. I have to wrest it away from my 8 year old daughter so I can use it in my recipes when I make it 🙂