homemade garlic bread

[blumooned]

How do make yours?

I usually melt some butter (and/or olive oil) & add chopped garlic, then drizzle/spread that on bread.  I put it in some foil & bake it in the oven for ~10 minutes until it's warmed through.  BUT, this method leaves pieces of garlic on the bread, which taste good to a point but can be a bit overwhelming to keep biting into them.

My favorite store-bought garlic bread is a big loaf, split through the middle & slathered with a garlic butter spread.  (So it's inside the bread.)  You put it in the oven for ~10 minutes until the butter melts/bread is hot.  Anyone do anything like this method at home/DIY?

I love garlic bread & want to be able to make the yummiest kind!  Tell me your tips & tricks.

[Magelet]

I mince lots and lots of garlic, and melt it into lots and lots of butter, and spread that on top of the bread, cut slices most of the way through, then bake it until it's toasty.  I love the garlic chunks.

[velochic]

I take a baguette and slice it on the bias.  I brush a small bit of good Italian extra-virgin olive oil on it and then  toast it in the oven.  When I pull it out, I take a cut clove of garlic and rub it on the bread (no garlic pieces left behind, just the taste), drizzle a bit more extra-virgin olive oil on it and sprinkle with the tiniest bit of sea salt.  That's it.  Just like the Italians do it.  That's where I learned to do this, on a trip a couple of decades ago.  It's still my favorite way of making garlic bread.

[velochic]

Another nice way to have garlic bread, I had the first time, again a very long time ago at Bistro 110 in Chicago, just off of the Magnificent Mile.  They bring a toasted baguette and head of oven-roasted garlic.  The garlic cloves just pull out of the skin with a small cocktail fork and you spread it on the toasted bread like butter. That is quite good garlic bread, too.  I've made it a few times at home, but it's more of a crowd-pleaser or appetizer for a bigger group than for a meal.  (We're only 4 of us, so I end up using the rest of the roasted garlic for something else like mashed potatoes.)

[treemom2]

I know this might be a little more than what you want. . .but. . .I love to roast a couple heads of garlic (take off outer paper but leave head intact, drizzle with olive oil then wrap in foil. . .bake until you can squish it with tongs) then serve those along with my warmed bread and maybe a little puddle of olive oil to dip in as well.  This is my family's absolute fav way to make garlic bread :)

[velochic]

Sorry... a couple of other things I thoughts of.

You could bring your butter up to room temperature rather than melting it.  Then instead of chopping the garlic, mill it into a paste with the back of your chef's knife (use a little coarse kosher salt if you need an abrasive to get it to a paste).  Blend it with the room-temp butter and spread on the bread.  You won't have the big chunks.

The other thing you can do if you want to go with olive oil, is to steep the garlic at a low temp in the olive oil.  Cut the garlic cloves in half, steep, then discard.  The garlic flavor will be in the oil without any garlic chunks.

[HonkyTonka]

Make a creamy caesar salad dressing, slather it on both sides of baguette (pieces cut on the bias) then bbq it. YUM.

[mamalisa]

I cheat and buy this small jar of roasted garlic spread from the specialty aisle at the grocery store.  I melt a stick of butter with two heaping spoonfuls of that and toast it in a 450 oven on a cookie sheet **butter side DOWN**.  The crust gets crunchy and the butter side gets almost a grilled cheese crust.  It's amazing.  I've also done a few smashed up cloves of garlic warmed up in some olive oil and spread across the bread and put under the broiler.  But I usually forget about it and burn it when I use the broiler?

[SpuglyRoo]

I toast some garlic cloves and then mix it with some things like Parmesan, spices, etc. in my mini food processor (recipe here) before spreading it on two halves of a loaf of bread and broiling it, very much like the store bought kind you described.  We like ours crunchy so we broil it, but I know some people prefer theirs to be soft so if that were the case I'd wrap it in foil and bake it for around 10 minutes just to melt the butter.  Sooo good.  Hmm, maybe I should go make some bread so I can make a loaf...   I think that by toasting the garlic you reduce the sharpness (for lack of a better word) of it.  Doesn't take long and is really good.  I've even made a larger batch of the spread and frozen it (both on and off the bread) for easier use later.

[HollyBearsMom]

I make mine with roasted garlic that smoosh into a paste with salt and then whisk into melted kerrygold butter. I keep a small jar of this in fridge so I can make garlic bread anytime.  Yummy!!

I prefer soft garlic bread so I split the bread in half, spread on the garlic butter and then put the two halves back together, wrap in foil and bake. However if I am feeling generous I will then toast one half under the broiler for my husband who prefers it crispy.

[Miasmamma]

I make mine with lots of roasted garlic whipped into lots of butter, then topped with parm cheese. I spread it on a loaf split lengthwise and bake it till it's cripsy and the cheese is melted. I LOVE garlic bread! After reading this, I want some in the worst way! I'll be making it this week with dinner!

[blumooned]

Mmmmm - you have all made me even hungrier for garlic bread!!

I am going to try some of these tips soon - they all sound great!

[katelove]

I use granulated garlic but you could use finely chopped or pounded-to-a-paste fresh garlic as well. You can also add any herbs you like, finely chopped.

Mix granulated garlic with softened butter. Take a french stick or other long loaf. Cut into inch thick slices but don't cut all the way through. Butter each side of each slice. Press all the slices back together. Wrap in foil and bake for 10-15 minutes until the butter is melted and the crust is crunchy.

This is my mum's recipe and my favourite.