From Scratch to Scrumptious

This garlic bread is wildly delicious! So rich, you’d swear it was from your favorite Italian restaurant! Fresh garlic shines with the decadence of butter soaking into soft bread made from scratch!

It’s so good that my husband once banned this recipe because that was the only way he could stop eating it! We’ve never had leftovers of this after a meal. If I want to save some for the next night, I wrap it up immediately so no one can get to it.

Plus, it’s made with ingredients you probably have on hand. (Especially if your family is Italian and keeps garlic in the house at all times.)

So simple, you probably already have these ingredients in your kitchen. Butter, fresh garlic, dried parsley and salt! Even if you make the ciabatta bread from scratch, you only need flour, water, yeast and salt.

Simple Ciabatta Bread: This is the best bread to use for garlic bread for many reasons. First, it’s a mostly hands-off, no-knead bread that’s easy to bake from scratch.

Secondly, it has a high hydration (less flour, more water) meaning it spreads out to be a flatter loaf. This creates more surface area for the butter. Each bite of garlic bread has lots of garlicky-butter and less bread that way. It’s the perfect ratio! Trust me. You have to try this!

You can bake the bread the same day you want to make garlic bread or the day before. If you bake the same day, let the bread cool at least 30 minutes before cutting it.

Don’t have time to bake bread from scratch? You can substitute with a loaf of French bread or Italian bread from the store.

Butter: I use salted butter for this recipe. If you use unsalted, you may have to increase the salt. Be sure to leave your butter out at room temperature for 30-60 minutes to soften.

Garlic: 2 large cloves, minced. I always have garlic in my fridge, so this is an easy recipe to whip up.

Parsley: Using dried parsley means you can make this bread any time you feel like it.

Salt: Restaurants are known for being liberal with salt and butter, so for this garlic bread, I am too. I use 1/4 tsp salt in addition to the salt in the butter. Adjust the salt to suit your tastes.

If you’re baking the ciabatta bread from scratch, plan for a little more than 3 hours to make it. Don’t worry, most of this time is resting and rising. You’ll only need to work for about 5 minutes over the course of the 3 hours. Then, let it cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing it.

Whether you’re starting with homemade ciabatta bread or a store-bought loaf of bread, cut it horizontally to create 2 flat bread halves.

In a small bowl, mix the softened butter, minced garlic, dried parsley and salt. Spread the mixture over both halves of bread.

Pop it into a warm oven for 10 minutes. As soon as it’s cooled, use a serrated knife to cut it into strips. Serve immediately.

If you have any leftovers, store them tightly covered in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave (for softer bread) or in a 350°F oven (for crispier bread) until warm.

The ciabatta bread and garlic-butter mixture can both be made earlier in the day or the day before. I recommend baking the butter mixture into the bread immediately before serving.

If you are making the butter mixture the day before, store it in the fridge until about an hour before assembling the garlic bread. I store mine in a glass mason jar so the garlic doesn’t make my house smell like an Italian restaurant.