Recipe: Double-Garlic Herb Garlic Bread

Some days you just have to go all out. Maybe you have soft cheeses and crackers before dinner, open a bottle of good wine, make spaghetti and meatballs and then decide that garlic bread is also important. When you can’t stop thinking about garlic bread, this is the recipe for you.

There are two important things to remember when making garlic bread. First, use a good baguette that you like. I’m not a fan of using squishy white sandwich bread. Splurge on a good french baguette that you’d normally eat just plain with butter.

Second, don’t fear the butter. Making garlic bread is not, I repeat, is not the time to be watching fat or calories. It should have butter. Lots of butter. This is why you don’t make it every night and don’t eat an entire loaf on your own: use butter liberally.

The thing I love about this particular recipe is that it has a really nice blend of garlic, herbs, and parsley. The use of both fresh garlic and garlic powder gives it a nice kick as does the little bit of cayenne pepper. For those of you who like a spicier garlic bread, add in some red chili flakes at the very end.

And for those of you with small families or living alone, this garlic bread actually freezes beautifully. You can either freeze it before you bake it and bake straight from its frozen state or freeze it after you bake it. Because I live alone, I’ll bake a loaf of garlic bread, slice it, and wrap it well and freeze it. This way, I’ll have garlic bread at ready when I make homemade soups or pastas and can just thaw one slice at a time. Or maybe two.

Double-Garlic Herb Garlic Bread

16-ounce French baguette, cut in half lengthwise
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (optional)
1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cut the bread in half horizontally. Using the back of a spoon, mix the softened butter, chopped garlic and garlic powder, herbs, and parsley together in a small bowl.

Spread the butter mixture evenly over each half of bread. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Set oven on broil, and allow the loaves to broil on high for 1-2 minutes or until tops are toasty.

Optional: If you are opting to use Parmesan cheese and red chili flakes, sprinkle both over the top of the bread right before broiling. Monitor the bread so as to avoid burning.

Remove from oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes and slice into 2-inich thick slices.

Related: How to Soften Hard Bread

(Image: Megan Gordon)