How to turn soft homemade French bread into the most delicious homemade garlic bread plus how to freeze it!
Who loves the delicious loaves of garlic bread that you buy from the fridge section of the supermarket? Me! But who doesn't love the price tag that often comes along with these "gourmet" type convenience foods? Also me!
So when I perfected the recipe for easy homemade French bread, I knew it was only a matter of time before it was turned into garlic bread. And I'm telling you, it's the best garlic bread I've ever made (and eaten!)
There are lots of things I love about this recipe.
- My homemade French bread recipe makes 2 loaves - one for eating fresh and one leftover to make garlic bread with!
- This garlic bread is amazing cooked straight away but it also freezes beautifully, meaning you can make a big supply of garlic bread slices and just pull out as many as you need at a time!
- You can make it a couple of different ways - slice the loaf lengthways for big thick loaves of garlic bread, or slice it for individual garlic toasts.
- You can definitely make it with a loaf of your favourite bought bread if you don't have the time to make the bread too. It's still good!
The process couldn't be more simple.
Slice the loaf either lengthways for thick garlic bread that can be cooked and then sliced, or slice the bread into 2cm thick slices and lay them out on the tray.
In a small bowl mix together softened butter and crushed garlic. Spread this generously over the bread. Generous being the key word here!
If desired, sprinkle with dried mixed herbs or fresh parsley.
At this point you can cook the bread if you are wanting to eat it right away or freeze it.
To freeze:
The loaves of bread - place a piece of baking paper on top of one of the garlic butter loaves and put the other half of the loaf on top, garlic butter side down. Wrap tightly in tinfoil, gladwrap or place in a large snaplock bag and freeze.
The slices of bread - cover the bread lightly with gladwrap or something similar and place the whole tray in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer the frozen slices of garlic bread to a large snaplock bag or freezable container and store, pulling out as many slices as you need at a time.
It's the perfect side to have in the freezer ready to have alongside lasagne, spaghetti bolognese or with a BBQ. Even to serve with soups!
The Best Homemade Garlic Bread
Ingredients
- 1 French bread loaf
- 100 grams butter (softened to room temperature)
- 1 ½ Tablespoons crushed garlic
- 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (or dried mixed herbs)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C
- Slice French bread loaf either in half lengthways or into slices about 2cm thick
- Add the softened butter and garlic to a small bowl and mix together well.
- Spread generously on the bread and sprinkle with parsley if desired.
- Place slices on an oven tray lined with baking paper or a silicone liner and bake for 10-15 minutes until the butter is melted and the bread is starting to crisp up.
- Remove from oven and serve hot.
Freezing instructions
- The loaves of bread - place a piece of baking paper on top of one of the garlic butter loaves and put the other half of the loaf on top, garlic butter side down. Wrap tightly in tinfoil, gladwrap or place in a large snaplock bag and freeze. The slices of bread - cover the bread lightly with gladwrap or something similar and place the whole tray in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer the frozen slices of garlic bread to a large snaplock bag or freezable container and store, pulling out as many slices as you need at a time
If you tried and loved this recipe, please leave a comment and a rating below!
Andrew says
Can you crushed garlic from a jar, or do you need to use fresh garlic
Laura says
You can definitely used crushed garlic from the jar!
Sue says
Made this to take down to mums and dads for Christmas lunch. OMG it was soooo good.