We’ve all had it – the store bought garlic loaves that come in a paper and tinfoil bag that you find in the bakery section and bake yourself at home. They are slathered up with butter in the middle and the bread is oh so soft and yummy.
For an Italian based pot luck meal I opted to bring the garlic bread and used the grocery store version as my basis, but as always I want to make it better. I think the grocery stores tend to use garlic salt and/or garlic powder, but I feel that’s missing the boat a bit. Fresh garlic is such an awesome flavor to begin with, and we get far too much sodium in our diet as it is, so why go the “fake” route when we don’t have to?
Everyone that had my version of this store bought favorite couldn’t get enough of it. The bread it self was perfectly soft and full of fresh bread flavor, and my garlic butter spread is simply amazing (yes I’m bragging, I’m aware).
French Bread
Technically speaking any loaf of french bread will suffice for this recipe. But if you really want to full experience and truly experience the flavor experience that this recipe offers, there’s no substitution but to make your own fresh loaves of french bread.
I suggest using my french baguette recipe to make two large loaves of bread. And the trick is to pull them out of the oven about 1/2 hour before you are going to cut them in half to make the garlic bread loaves. This ensures that you have the freshest bread possible while not burning your hands while working with it.
If you’ve never explored fresh bread making you really are missing out on how amazing a fresh loaf of bread can be. I really encourage you to break into this new venture if you haven’t done so before – you won’t regret it!
Print Recipe |
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 16 people | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 15 minutes |
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French Baguette Garlic Loaves
Garlic bread is the perfect compliment to any italian meals, or great along side steak and potatoes. Making it from scratch ensures that you get the freshest flavor and the softest and best bread possible. This recipe tantalizes the taste buds with the perfect touch of fresh garlic delivered to your pallet on a soft fresh french baguette. Once you've made these loaves of fresh garlic bread, your family will never let you serve store-bought garlic bread again!
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- 2 Loaves French Baguette
- 4 Large Cloves Garlic Chopped
- 1 stick Butter softened
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 tbsp Onion Salt
- Using my French Baguette recipe, make two long baguette loaves.
- Once the loaves have cooled, split the loaves down the middle length wise.
- In a hot pan coated with olive oil, lightly sauté the garlic. Stir it every so often – you don’t want to burn the garlic. Once the edges just start to brown it is time to get it out of the hot pan and onto a cutting board. The idea is to soften the garlic a bit, add a bit of sweetness, and take off a bit of the “harshness” of the garlic. But once it starts to brown beyond the edges it starts to burn and the flavor is not desirable at that point. Taking it out of the pan once cooked enough will stop the cooking process.
- Now turn the garlic into a paste by running a knife through it to finely mince it. Then turn the knife blade on it’s side to smash the garlic. Repeat this a few times until it is mashed into a paste. You can press down firmly on the garlic and slide the knife over it to really mash it up.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the garlic, butter, olive oil, italian seasoning and onion salt.
- Spread the butter mixture on the inside surfaces of each of the loaves of bread. Be generous – the bread will soak it up as it melts.
- Stack the top half of the loaf back on top of the bottom half making a complete loaf again.
- Wrap each of the loaves in tinfoil ensuring you create a good seal at the edges.
- Bake in an oven at 350°F oven for 15 minutes.
- Unwrap from the tinfoil and using a towel or oven mitt to hold the loaves, cut into 2 inch wide strips, keeping the top and bottoms together. Place in a bread basket wrapped in a towel and serve!
