subject: How To Make Homemade Garlic Bread [print this page] Making your own homemade garlic bread is a gratifying activity. You will not only be able to feed your family with this satisfying comfort food but practice your creativity in the kitchen as well. Garlic bread is relatively easy to make; you will be able to make a good one within just a few minutes.
Basic Ingredients
The basic ingredients for garlic bread include the following:
Baguette (part-baked). If no baguette is available, you can use bread rolls or other types of bread as alternative.
Butter. If you do not have butter, you can use margarine instead.
Two small cloves of garlic. If not available, garlic salt or garlic powder may be used.
Two tablespoons chopped basil
Salt and black pepper to taste
You can use bakery mixes as alternatives to some of the ingredients. However, it will be much better if you choose the healthy route. Some commercially-sold bakery mixes may contain chemicals that are meant to give the desired bread flavours and desired bread texture. If you are ever going to choose mixes, opt for the organic type.
Apart from the basic ingredients, you may also include other components, such as cheese for that extra taste. If you are really on a tight budget, though, and just want a simple but satisfying garlic bread, the ingredients listed above are more than enough.
The Baking Process
The first thing that you need to do is to pre-heat your oven by setting it to 200 degrees Celsius or 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Once this is done, gather all the ingredients (except the baguette or bread) and mix them well into a batter in a bowl. Set aside.
Get your baguette and make deep cuts on it using a bread knife. Make the cut from the top to the base, but make sure that you are leaving enough breathing space so that the bread will not separate from the base. If you are using sliced bread, though, there is no need to make cuts on the bread, obviously. If you are using bread rolls, you may make any desired cut.
Spread batter evenly on each slice of bread. If you are using slice bread, be sure to put batter only on one side. Wrap each slice individually in tin foil and put in a baking tray. For sliced bread, you can choose to make individual wraps or just put everything in one tin foil. Place on the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Afterwards, open the foil and let the bread bake exposed for about 5 minutes. Serve while hot.
Tips
Each type of bread can have different bread flavours. Therefore, choose the bread that you know will give your garlic bread your desired taste. Baguette is always the recommended choice, but you can always opt for alternatives, especially when no baguette is available or when you simply want a certain bread as base. Be careful in choosing your bread, though, especially if you want to serve only healthy foods to your family. A lot of bread makers nowadays often use bread improvers, the ingredients of which you may not want to know.
Garlic bread is a great comfort food. It can be used as a snack food, as a base for pizza, and even as accompaniment for other dishes, such as pasta. Making this at home instead of buying from stores can greatly help you save more, plus you also get to adjust the taste according to your desires.
