Easy Homemade Garlic Cheese Bread Recipe
We love cheesy garlic bread, but dont like it to be too greasy. Our recipe makes garlic bread with crisp edges and a soft buttery center. Theres lots of garlic, fresh basil, and just enough cheese to make it extra delicious.
We love cheesy garlic bread, but dont like it to be too greasy. Our recipe makes garlic bread with crisp edges and a soft buttery center. Theres lots of garlic, fresh basil, and just enough cheese to make it extra delicious.
- Carbohydrate 48.9558945094465 g
- Cholesterol 64.6261803702747 mg
- Fat 23.8768463563432 g
- Fiber 2.12666674772898 g
- Protein 17.2371044447156 g
- Saturated Fat 14.5660660934601 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (136g)
- Sodium 875.842668266726 mg
- Sugar 46.8292277617175 g
- Trans Fat 1.60892219621511 g
- Calories 476 calories
Step-by-step
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Smash garlic cloves with the flat side of a knife then remove the skin and discard. Mince the garlic finely then add the salt on top. Use the flat side of a chef’s knife to press and push the garlic and salt across the cutting board, turning it into a fine paste.
- In a small bowl, mix the garlic paste, butter, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, and the chopped basil together until well blended.
- Cut bread in half lengthwise, and cut in half crosswise if very long. Spread the garlic butter mixture over the cut-side of the bread. Place bread cut side up onto the baking sheet.
- Bake bread until the bread is golden around the edges and the cheese has melted, 10 to 15 minutes. Then the oven to broil, until the cheese starts to bubble and turns golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
Smashing raw garlic cloves directly with coarse sea salt on a wooden cutting board creates a friction paste that disperses sulfur compounds evenly without requiring a food processor. Utilizing the flat side of a chef's knife to shear the cells breaks down the pungent allium into a smooth spread that integrates seamlessly into softened dairy fats. Room-temperature butter at precisely sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit incorporates the grated mozzarella and cheddar without splitting the emulsion during mixing.
Baking at three hundred seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit ensures the internal crumb remains tender while the perimeter toasts to a golden brown within fifteen minutes. Transitioning the oven to broil for precisely one to two minutes caramelizes the dairy solids on top, though radiant heat demands close observation to prevent burning. Aluminum foil on the baking sheet catches stray cheese drippings, simplifying cleanup in tight kitchen spaces lacking a dishwasher.
Substituting aged gouda or fontina for cheddar alters the moisture balance significantly, requiring careful monitoring since lower-fat cheeses scorch faster under direct broiler heat. Baguettes with a high crust-to-crumb ratio yield better structural integrity than soft sandwich loaves, preventing the heavy dairy topping from turning the base soggy before baking concludes. Storing leftovers in a sealed container for more than twenty-four hours degrades the crust texture, making toaster-oven reheating essential for reviving crispness.
Measuring exact quantities of grated cheese prevents excess oil pooling on the surface during the final melting phase. Fresh basil loses its volatile aromatic oils if added before baking, but mixing it directly into the fat matrix protects the delicate leaves from burning. Small-format countertop ovens distribute heat differently than commercial ranges, meaning the initial ten-minute baking mark requires visual confirmation rather than strict reliance on timers.
