The Best Ways to Easily Make Garlic Bread

Having warm and fragrant garlic bread to add to any meal can really turn an average dinner into a complete experience. Although there are many special recipes and techniques used to make garlic bread, most people prefer to use an easy garlic bread technique and put the majority of their attention towards the main course. If you need to make some simple garlic bread for an upcoming get together, or if your just tired of eating boring meals all the time, keep reading for the easiest way to make garlic bread at home.

You can use any type of bread for this little project, but the best results usually come from baguettes, rolls and tougher breads like sourdough that still retain some sort of moisture or softness. You can still use a couple plain slices of sandwich bread to whip up this quick side dish to go with your pasta or chicken in just a few minutes.

1. Slice the bread you plan to be using. Baguettes can easily be cut in half, but bread rolls might be a bit trickier - especially if they are soft. Make sure that you have relatively flat surfaces on both sides for even cooking in the oven.
2. Cutting small slices halfway into a baguette every four to six inches is a good way to make sure your bread gets an even toasting and retains extra flavor, but this step is only necessary if the bread is rather thick or impenetrable.
3. The seasoning or garlic spread that you use for your bread can be made quite a number of ways. Garlic sprays and juices allow you to simply give the bread a light coating before toasting, but you can always mix garlic powder, seasoning, or just plain garlic cloves into a garlic butter spread. If you are really in a hurry, sprinkling some garlic powder, black pepper and basil onto already buttered bread makes for a quick finish. If you cut slits into the baguette before toasting it, you can apply the majority of the butter and seasoning to these areas for a full flavor. **Skip to the bottom of this page for a time-saver tip and my personal favorite.
4. Many choose to add parmesan or mozzarella cheese to their bread. This would essentially turn your creation into more of a cheese bread, but a slight sprinkle of parmesan can really kick up the flavor levels.
5. Preheat your oven or toaster oven to about 350. This might vary depending on the oven, so set it to a level that you would normally toast bread with.
6. Wrapping your bread in tin foil before placing it in the oven will ensure an even toast when dealing with large baguettes, and you can even combine sandwich bread into one stack to be wrapped and toasted together, but foil is not absolutely necessary. If you choose not to use foil, place your bread on one of the upper racks and allow it to bake for roughly 7-10 minutes. If you do use foil, you might want to remove the foil for a couple of minutes afterwards to allow the bread to brown slightly.

I've made quite a few garlic butters myself. Some were amazing, some not so much. You might not always be able to make it like the pros, and I'll be honest when I say this stuff does take time. Don't plan on getting it done in a couple of seconds between other kitchen tasks. My personal and all-time favorite garlic butter is made by a little company called Garlic Valley Farms. They've got two flavors, and I just can't beat it myself.

Order a couple bottles, spray it onto the bread straight from the bottle, and follow the steps above for perfect garlic bread every time. That is, as long as you don't step away for too long!

You can check out Garlic Valley Farms' recipe for garlic bread specially designed for use with their product here

OR, just visit Garlic Valley Farms