![Garlic Bread](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.foodandwine.com/thmb/4ec54IwucsiwDoKsrXSxCbO05Lo=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Garlic-Bread-FT-RECIPE1023-88811a934ed8423c8828bb0f547f84e2.jpg)
Jordan Provost / Food Styling by Thu Buser
Frequently asked questions
How do you soften butter?
There are a few ways to soften butter. Our preferred method is to leave the butter out at room temperature for a few hours, but if you need to soft butter fast, you can also fill a heatproof glass with hot water, let it sit for five minutes, then dump out the water and turn the glass upside down over the butter. The heat in the glass will soften the butter in about 15 minutes.
How long do you bake garlic bread?
Baking the garlic bread is important for letting the garlicky butter completely melt into the bread, while the crust gets nice and crunchy (this is why we brush olive oil on top of the bread). Wrapping the bread in foil for the first part of the bakig time helps the butter melt, and then uncovering the bread for the last half of the baking time allows the crust to toast. We recommend 10 minutes for each portion of the baking time, 20 minutes in total.
Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen
Grating the garlic on a microplane zester gives you tiny flakes of garlic that melt into the butter and bread, so no one experiences that moment when you bite down on a large piece of garlic and can’t taste anything else.
Make ahead
You can mix the garlic butter up to three days in advance; store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat leftover garlic bread in the oven until it is warmed through and toasty.
Ingredients
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3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
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2 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane
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1 teaspoon kosher salt
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2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
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1 (1 pound) Italian bread loaf
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2 tablespoons olive oil
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Flaky salt
Directions
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Preheat the oven to 400°F. Mash the butter, garlic, salt, and parsley in a bowl until well blended. Without slicing all the way through the bottom crust, cut the loaf lengthwise, and then across into 1-inch slices.
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Spread the butter mixture on both sides of each slice of bread. Brush the top of the bread with the olive oil and sprinkle with flaky salt. Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and bake until the butter has melted, about 10 minutes. Uncover the bread, and continue to bake until it is toasted and golden brown on top, another 10 minutes.