I used to love eating “cheap grocery store garlic French bread.” You know, the kind that is slathered in bright yellow margarine, overly seasoned with garlic salt, and sprinkled with dried parsley leaves?! Typically, these loaves of garlic bread are packaged in some type of foil bag and you bake it at home. All I know is this… there is a time and place for this type of bread. For me, I haven’t eaten this type of garlic bread in years. I guess I stopped eating it when I stopped attending community dinners which served this type of bread along with spaghetti, and an iceberg lettuce salad covered in ranch. Those were the days.
Fast forward to today. Although I don’t occasionally mind indulging in this type of garlic bread, I’ve moved on to a lighter cheesier version. One where the bread isn’t saturated with margarine but is seasoned with a light coating of butter and minced garlic. I also like to top it off with a little cheese, just for the fun of it.
The end result is a crusty rustic bread, with flecks of minced garlic hiding in the air pockets. Crusty on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Not one element of this bread overwhelms the other. Everything is slightly subtle and noticeably present. I love eating this bread with soup, salad, or by itself. Whatever leftovers I have I stick in a ziplock bag and put in the freezer to use another day. This bread reminds me of a simple black cocktail dress adorned with a single strand pearl necklace – classy, sophisticated, yet simple and beautiful.
If you love eating bread with your meals, this would be the perfect way to dress it up and feel accomplished, even if it was terribly easy to make. My favorite types of recipe. Enjoy!
- 1 baguette, horizontally cut in half
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened or partially melted
- 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1-1.5 cups shredded cheese (any type you like) * I like a blend of Parmesan, provolone, and Mozzarella
- optional 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place both sides of the baguette on a cookie sheet with the crust side down and the cut side up. In a small bowl, combine butter and garlic and spread evenly on baguette halves. Be sure to press the garlic butter down with the back of a spatula or spoon so the small pieces of garlic are pushed into the air pockets of the bread. Bake bread for 15 minutes and remove from oven. Change the oven setting to high broil. Evenly sprinkle cheese over the halves of bread and stick the cookie sheet back in the oven. Broil for 1 minute or until cheese has completed melted and shows a few golden bubble marks. Remove from oven and carefully slice bread in diagonal pieces and serve. Store remaining slices of bread in the freezer in a ziplock bag to use in the future. Enjoy!
realy yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YUM! Very excited to try your version. Did you use salted or unsalted butter? Looks delish. 🙂
Can I make this with nomal cut bread that you can get from the shops?
You need to actually learn how to make bread, when a recipe calls for a loaf of bread it is kinda lame. fyi.
I saw this recipe and I have been making this for any occasion that calls for bread, but the only thing that I do differently is I put the spread on a loaf of Rosemary foccacia bread…and it is heavenly. It just adds another layer of flavor, soooo delicious:)
Nom Nom Nom……..I made this as a part of an office potluck and I had NOTHING LEFT despite the fact that there was an abundance of food and that this wasn’t even meant to be a main course….or even a main attraction for that matter. SOOOOO GOOOOD! VARIATIONS: I used a little extra garlic because I’m an alliophile like that AND instead of just butter, I used Land-O-Lakes Butter with Olive Oil and Sea Salt. I’m still chewing. THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!!!
Hi,
I just use regular French or Italian bread.
Alice
I went to grocery store and their baguettes look drastically diff than the one u have pictured. I got this thin pasty white looking thing. It looks nothing like ur yummy darker airy pitted loaf. What kind of baguette do you use?? Thanks.
I followed this exactly and my bread caught on fire in the broiler!
I’ve never met a garlic bread I didn’t like. Garlic bread is my kryptonite! Can’t wait to try this version!
This was to DIE FOR!!!!!
Hi Alice,
thank you for sharing this really simple and detailed recipe. i love the pictures u have which really serves as an excellent guide.
pls keep up the excellent work. thank u ! i followed it word for word with no changes and all my friends loved it 🙂 thanks again !
This looks divine! I can’t wait to try it!
Hi Roz,
Yes you could but I would reduce the oil quite a bit. Another substitute suggestion would be a healthy butter substitute like earth balance.
It looks wonderful! But would it be possible to make it with olive oil in place of butter? I want to make some for my dad, but he really has to watch his saturated fat intake.
I absolutely love garlic bread! Yours looks delicious…! I make it in a similar way though I use normal bread slices. Its our favourite accompaniment for soups 🙂
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a hit! Super delicious and easy to make.
I tried them! I love them! Easy to make and oh so great! Thanks for sharing!
What a very easy recipe!! I saw your recipe and immediately went to try it since I had the ingredients.
this is yummy Alice! great photos too, the garlic bread looks mouth watering! thanks for sharing 😉
What a fabulous recipe!! this sounds like a great variation.
I love garlic bread! The photos make me drool! Absolutely amazing and easy!
So exciting to have found your site! Just wondering if you can recommend a good homemade baguette recipe to make this from scratch? That would be perfect. 😉
Kristen,
Jim Sullivan’s no knead bread. 🙂
What a great blog you have here. I absolutely love the pictures. Great photography and great story element!