Do You Like Your Garlic Bread Soft or Crispy ? With This Recipe, You Can Have Both (2024)

FAQs

How do you soften crispy garlic bread? ›

In the oven: Preheat oven to 200° or Warm setting. Wrap the bread in a damp (not soaking) towel, place on a baking sheet, and pop it in the oven for 5-10 minutes. In the microwave: Wrap the bread in a damp (not soaking) towel, place it on a microwave-safe dish, and microwave on high for 10 seconds.

Garlic bread (also called garlic toast) consists of bread (usually a baguette, sour dough, or bread such as ciabatta), topped with garlic and occasionally olive oil or butter and may include additional herbs, such as oregano or chives. It is then either grilled until toasted or baked in a conventional or bread oven.

Soft garlic bread gets sliced like an accordion (slice as if cutting slices, but don't go all the way through), then slather the butter mixer between the slices. Wrap the bread up in foil, then bake. This will keep the bread soft while infusing garlicky-butter into each slice.

Instant milk powder makes bread dough super soft and fluffy and also helps to give it a good rise. It also contributes to the dough staying nice and soft after baking for a little longer than a recipe that does not use milk powder.

The best way to brown and crisp your bread's bottom crust – as well as enhance its rise – is to bake it on a preheated pizza stone or baking steel. The stone or steel, super-hot from your oven's heat, delivers a jolt of that heat to the loaf, causing it to rise quickly.

OVEN: Wrap leftover Garlic Bread in foil and place on a baking sheet – you can do this whether it's sliced or a whole loaf. If the bread is sliced, keep it in a single layer in the foil. Bake at 350 degrees F until warmed through, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Adding already-melted butter to your pieces of bread can often result in a soggy texture because the bread absorbs too much moisture before going into the oven, which makes it much harder to achieve that crunchy, toasted top layer on each piece.

Problem: Garlic bread is often soggy, with too much raw garlic flavor. Goal: Crisp garlic bread, with sweet, nutty garlic flavor. Solution: Toast whole garlic cloves for optimal flavor, add a bit of Parmesan cheese, and slice the loaf of bread horizontally.

What is the best bread for garlic bread? French breads and Italian breads top the list for the best bread for garlic bread, but the best choice between these comes down to personal preference. For example, ciabatta is a flat Italian bread with a larger crumb (bigger holes) but still with a crunchy crust.

Is it OK to eat garlic bread everyday? ›

True to form, moderation is key. Enjoying the occasional slice of traditional indulgent garlic bread is perfectly fine — good even, for the soul. Just balance it out with more nutritious choices for the rest of your meals that day, like a fiber-full salad. Consider it a special treat, not an everyday side.

It's parsley

Yep, the green flecks are finely-chopped parsley. Recipe after recipe calls for the addition of the herb to the top of the bread ―- and if Mary Berry says it's parsley, then parsley it surely is.

By baking the bread in foil for the first 10 minutes, you allow the ciabatta to soften, which will give you a pillowy, chewy inside. Wrapping the bread also keeps the garlic from burning. Unwrapping the bread and baking it more adds color and will crisp up the crust for the perfect crunchy outside.

Leaving garlic bread (or any perishable food) out at room temperature for an extended period, such as overnight, increases the risk of bacterial growth and potential foodborne illness. Bacteria can multiply rapidly in perishable foods like garlic bread when left unrefrigerated for an extended time.

OVEN: Wrap leftover Garlic Bread in foil and place on a baking sheet – you can do this whether it's sliced or a whole loaf. If the bread is sliced, keep it in a single layer in the foil. Bake at 350 degrees F until warmed through, about 10 to 15 minutes.

But one really simple thing you can do is just put the loaf into a plastic bag after it has finished cooling down. So maybe 2-3 hours after it comes out of the oven, just put the loaf into a plastic bag and leave it in there. The crust will soften due to the internal moisture content.

Adjust the water amount slightly

As the loaf cools, any moisture which is left in the loaf escapes through the crust as steam and this is what causes the softening. You can help to prevent this from happening by reducing the water content of the loaf.