Made with soft French bread, this irresistible garlic bread includes a butter-drenched, pillowy interior with a crispy crust that is a joy to sink your teeth into.
I get giddy about garlic bread. Whenever we sit down to a meal at my parents’ that includes my mom’s garlic bread, I am the first one to enthusiastically say, “please pass the bread.” Next, I immediately assess the bread-to-person ratio to determine how many pieces I can take.
Carol’s Garlic Bread usually accompanies her Italian Shells or spaghetti, two of our family’s most beloved dishes from my mom’s kitchen. While those main dishes are amazing in their own right, the garlic bread consistently outdoes itself and achieves what any supporting side dish should do—it makes the whole meal better!
My mom uses a soft loaf of French bread (not a baguette!) and a combination of ½ butter and ½ margarine for the spread which gives the bread its irresistible texture. She is also known to add a splash of olive oil to the buttery spread to give it a perfectly spreadable texture. The resulting baked-up bread has a crispy, slightly greasy crust (in the best way) that you bite through on your way to the soft, pillowy interior that delivers a flavor blast of buttery goodness that’s been seasoned with garlic salt, garlic powder and parsley.
One more hot tip from Carol is to freeze any leftover garlic bread so you have it at the ready when you need a scrumptious side to go with an Italian dish or some soup. She often has a loaf or partial loaf in her freezer and throws it in her toaster oven to warm it up before serving. However, good luck with that as I doubt there will be any leftovers!