Homemade Garlic Bread
Do you miss the taste of fresh garlic bread from your favorite Italian restaurant? If you want to enjoy delicious and authentic homemade garlic bread, keep on reading as I will show you how to make homemade garlic bread from scratch. Garlic bread is a popular side item mostly available at Italian restaurants. This delicious toast can be eaten as an entree or along with the main course like pasta.
Health Benefits of Garlic
This may come as a surprise but garlic is actually beneficial for your overall health.
It helps to lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure immediately. Not only is garlic rich in antioxidants, but they improve your digestion and lower your risk of getting diabetes and any heart-related diseases.
Along with this, garlic also boosts the immunity system and protects it from a number of viruses. Do you remember the 90s movies where garlic was used to scare off vampires? The fact that raw garlic has a pungent odor cannot be denied. But used in the right way, its strong aroma can turn a basic dish such as a baguette into a delicacy.
Garlic bread is made in a variety of ways. It can be grilled, lightly toasted in an oven, or heated in a frypan. Depending on the method you choose, it will give you a different tasting garlic bread each time.
Originally, garlic bread was made by using olive oil. Since it was a little hard to find, people swapped olive oil with butter. But olive oil is a very healthy form of oil. Olive oil helps in losing weight and contains anti-inflammatory properties. Plus, lower’s down cholesterol levels. So, you can easily use olive oil instead of butter to make it healthier.
You can choose whichever bread you like for making garlic bread. Either choose a crusty bread like a baguette or a slice of white bread. You can even choose stale bread lying around in your house. But if you have enough time at hand, I would definitely recommend you to make your own bread.
GARLIC BREAD HOMEMADE
Ingredients
FOR BREAD:
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- ½ cup Milk
- ¾ teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoons Cooking oil
- 1 teaspoon Dry active yeast
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
FOR TOPPING:
- 4 cloves Garlic finely chopped
- Parsley chopped
- 2 teaspoons Mixed herb seasoning
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted melted butter
- 175 grams Mozzarella cheese grated
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
- In a big mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the bread.
- Mix to form a loose bread dough.
- Then, on a clean flat surface, remove the dough from the bowl and knead. Knead the dough for 10 to 12 minutes until the dough is soft and smooth.
- If you are using a stand mixer, knead the dough for 6 to 10 minutes on the hook attachment. The bread dough should be soft and bouncy to touch.
- Now, apply a little oil to avoid the dough from drying out and let the dough rest for 15 – 20 minutes covered with plastic wrap.
- After the dough has been well-rested, shape the dough into medium size balls. This dough will yield 9 to 12 small to medium-sized dough balls.
- Place these dough balls on a parchment-lined rectangular sheet.
- Combine all the topping ingredients, except the cheese. Now brush the mixture on top of the dough bowls.
- Again, put the dough balls on a baking tray and cover them with plastic wrap. Let them rise for about 30 minutes.
- Once puffed, bake them in a preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. Keep in mind the baking time depends on the depth of the baking tray. So, check after 20 minutes if your tray is not that deep.
- Once golden, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the balls and bake for another 2-3 minutes until the cheese melts.
