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.

How to make your bread fluffy and soft?

Adding dry milk powder to your bread dough will help your loaf rise higher. In addition, the loaf will stay soft and hold moisture longer which again means it will last longer. It also helps brown the crust. If you want a lighter fluffier bread loaf just add 2 Tbsp of dry milk to the flour per loaf of your bread.

What makes bread soft?

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

How to make your bread crispy?

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.

How would you describe garlic bread?

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.

Does garlic bread get soggy?

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.

How do you're cook garlic bread?

Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Wrap the garlic bread in foil, making sure it's sealed tightly. Place the wrapped garlic bread on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the bread is warm and crispy.

Is garlic bread good or bad?

Garlic bread's benefits depend on the type of bread used to make it. Wheat garlic bread is loaded with healthy fibre and nutrients that regulate blood sugar levels and boost metabolism. Most garlic bread recipes are high in fat, but a few minor adjustments can make this tasty appetizer very healthy.

Is it safe to eat garlic bread?

Bacteria can multiply rapidly in perishable foods like garlic bread when left unrefrigerated for an extended time. As a safety precaution, it's recommended not to consume garlic bread or any perishable food that has been left out at room temperature for more than two hours.

Why is my garlic bread hard?

Garlic bread will get hard in the fridge, which is why I will usually put it in the freezer so it maintains its integrity until we're ready to eat it again.

How do you make bread less crispy?

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.

What causes crispy bread to become soft or soggy?

If that moisture reaches the surface and hits cool air – e.g., typical room temperature – it condenses on the outer crust, making it soggy. If it hits warm air (your still-warm oven), it evaporates – leaving the crust crisp.

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

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Here are two easy methods for making garlic bread: toasted or broiled.

Elise Bauer

Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.

Learn about Simply Recipes'Editorial Process

Updated January 21, 2024

33 Ratings

In This Recipe

1 Recipe, 2 Methods
Storing and Freezing
Method 1: Toasted Garlic Bread
Method 2: Soft Garlic Bread

Toasty or Soft Garlic Bread?

The methods for making toasty garlic bread or soft garlic bread are slightly different:

Crispy, toasty garlic bread gets sliced in half down its length, spread with butter and garlic, and then baked open-faced in the oven. Broil it at the end for extra crispiness.
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.

Do You Like Your Garlic Bread Soft or Crispy ? With This Recipe, You Can Have Both (4)

Make Ahead (And Even Freezing!)

Crispy or soft, garlic bread is really at its best eaten right out of the oven. The leftovers don't keep particularly well.

If you'd like to make garlic bread ahead, you could prep the garlic bread up to the baking stage, then wrap in foil and store in the freezer for up to three months. This makes a great housewarming gift or for new parents, especially paired with a batch of frozen meatballs and sauce.

To reheat crispy garlic bread, unwrap the bread and place the halves buttered side up on a baking sheet. Cover loosely with foil and bake until the bread is warmed through and the butter starting to melt. Remove the foil and continue baking and broiling as directed.
To reheat soft garlic bread, loosen the foil a little bit so it's not so tightly wrapped but still enclosed in foil, then place the bread in the oven and bake until warmed through.

Our Favorite Dishes to Serve With Garlic Bread

The Best Homemade Lasagna
Chicken Piccata
Eggplant Parmesan
Baked Spaghetti
Italian Meatballs

Do You Like Your Garlic Bread Soft or Crispy ? With This Recipe, You Can Have Both (5)

The Best Garlic Bread

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time13 mins

Ingredients

1 16-ounce (450 g) loaf Italian bread or French bread
1/2 cup (1 stick, 112 g) unsalted butter, softened
2 large cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1 heaping tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup (25 g) freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Method

Method 1: Toasted Garlic Bread

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Prepare the garlic bread:
Cut the loaf in half, horizontally. Mix the butter, garlic, and parsley together in a small bowl. Spread butter mixture over the the two bread halves.
Heat in the oven for 10 minutes:
Place on a sturdy baking pan (one that can handle high temperatures, not a cookie sheet) and heat in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 10 minutes.
Sprinkle with Parmesan (optional) and broil:
Remove pan from oven. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over bread if you want. Return to oven on the highest rack.
Broil on high heat for 2 to 3 minutes until the edges of the bread begin to toast and the cheese (if you are using cheese) bubbles. Watch very carefully while broiling. The bread can easily go from un-toasted to burnt.
Slice:
Remove from oven, let cool a minute. Remove from pan and use a bread knife to cut into 1-inch thick slices. Serve immediately.

Method 2: Soft Garlic Bread

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Make the butter, garlic, parsley mixture as above
Slice the bread and insert butter mixture:
Make 1-inch thick slices into the bread, but do not go all the way through, just to the bottom crust. Put a teaspoon or two of the butter mixture between each slice, or between every other slice if you only want the garlic mixture on one side of the bread.
Bake the garlic bread:
Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and heat for 15 minutes in the 350°F (175°C) oven, until the butter has melted and the bread is warmed.
Serve:
To serve, remove from foil and present the loaf wrapped in a clean tea towel. Tear off slices to eat.
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Nutrition Facts (per serving)
254	Calories
13g	Fat
28g	Carbs
5g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4to 8
Amount per serving
Calories	254
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13g	17%
Saturated Fat 7g	35%
Cholesterol 30mg	10%
Sodium 311mg	14%
Total Carbohydrate 28g	10%
Dietary Fiber 2g	7%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 1mg	4%
Calcium 49mg	4%
Iron 2mg	9%
Potassium 71mg	2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.