Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe

When I first got married, I quickly learnt that my husband is a HUGE bread lover. He comes from a culture that eats bread for breakfast, with lunch, as a snack in late afternoon and then with dinner. Now personally, I’m not that much of a fan of bread. Don’t get me wrong I love a slice of toast in the morning but other than that I don’t eat too much bread.

But there is the one exception of Garlic Bread. I don’t think many people can resist it. It’s the perfect comfort food. It’s the perfect side with pasta or meat or pizza or salad. It’s even great by itself. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Whenever I decide to make this amazingly easy pull apart cheesy garlic bread, our house is full of excitement. It’s a simple recipe and the hardest part is the waiting. Waiting for the dough to rise. Waiting for the bread to cook. Once it’s cooked I can’t leave it unattended otherwise it would be gone before it made it to the table !

All that is ever left of this delicious cheesy garlic bread is crumbs - and quite often they even get licked up. Sometimes I secretly make two loaves because I know the first will go so fast I won’t have a chance to have any. Or sometimes me and my husband hide away in the kitchen and start eating it before we put it out ! I don’t know how much longer we’ll get away with ‘we had to check if it was cooked properly’ excuse.Now if you’re a lover of garlic bread, or want to make it for guests or just want to be introduced to the amazing, mouth watering, tongue melting, taste exploding taste of cheesy garlic bread, you will not find a better recipe than this !

Prep Time: 1 hour 35 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Servings: 1 large loaf

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Table of Contents

Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe

Ingredients

For the dough

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tsp dry yeast
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 - 7 cups flour

For the garlic and cheese topping

• ½ cup butter
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ cup olive oil
• Approx. 200g grated cheese

Instructions

1. Pour a cup of warm water into your mixing bowl, add two tablespoons of sugar and two teaspoons of dried yeast. Leave sit for 10-15 minutes until the mixture is foamy.
2. Add a glass of milk, two tablespoons of olive oil, one teaspoon of salt and 5 cups of flour then mix.
3. Slowly work in the other 1-2 cups of flour until your dough is soft but slightly st.
4. Gently knead for 7 minutes. Then set aside and leave rise for about an hour.
5. In a frying pan melt the butter. Add finely chopped garlic and parsley and gently fry for around 3 minutes. Add half a cup of olive oil and a teaspoon of salt and stir.
6. Preheat oven to 180°C.
7. Once your dough has risen, pull of a small handful of dough. Roll into a ball.
8. Roll your dough ball in the garlic mixture and then in your grated cheese.
9. Put the dough ball in your loaf tin.
10. Repeat steps 6-8 until all your dough is used.
11. Put in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown all over.

The bread part of this recipe is pretty simple. You add some sugar and dried yeast to your warm water. Wait for the yeast to activate. Mix in milk, flour, salt and olive oil. Then leave to rise.

The magic is in the garlic mixture and cheese topping. For the garlic mixture you gently fry garlic in butter with a bit of parsley, then mix in olive oil and salt. Then you just need grated cheese of your choice. I personally like to use strong cheddar, but I’ve used mozzarella, goat’s cheese and even smoked cheese before.

Step One - Activate Dry Yeast

Pour a cup of warm water into a mixing bowl. Add two tablespoons of sugar and two teaspoons of dried yeast. Leave stand for 10-15 minutes until the mixture is foamy.

Step Two - Mix the Dough

Add a cup of milk, two tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspoon of salt and 5 cups of flour. Then mix.

Step Three - Add More Flour

Slowly work in another 1-2 cups of flour until your dough is soft and but slightly sticky.

Step Four - Knead and Rise

Gently knead your dough for about 7 minutes, then set aside and leave rise for about an hour.

Step Five - Chop Garlic and Parsley

On a cutting board finely chop your garlic cloves and your parsley using a sharp knife.

Step Six - Start Garlic Mixture

In a frying pan, melt the butter. Add the finely chopped garlic and parsley. Fry for around 3 minutes.

Step Seven - Finish Garlic Mixture

Add half a cup of olive oil and a teaspoon of salt to your garlic mixture and stir.

Step Eight - Preheat Oven

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Step Nine - Start Assembling

Pinch a small handful of dough.

Step Ten - Roll Dough Ball

Roll the dough between your hands to make a dough ball. It doesn’t have to be a perfect ball and the size of the ball doesn’t have to be exact.

Step Eleven - Roll in Garlic Mixture

Roll your dough ball in your garlic mixture. Try and coat evenly.

Step Twelve - Roll in Cheese

Roll your garlic mixture covered dough ball in the grated cheese of your choice. Again try and coat evenly.

Step Thirteen - Place in Loaf Tin

Place your ball in your tin loaf.

Repeat Steps Ten to Thirteen

Repeat steps ten to thirteen until you have used up all the dough and filled your loaf tin.

Step Fourteen - Bake

Bake in your preheated 180°C oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Step Fifteen - Cool

Leave in the loaf tin for five minutes until cooled. Tip out and try not to eat it before it’s served !

What’s great about this recipe in my opinion is it is so easy to tweak to whatever you fancy on that specific day. You can add oregano in with your parsley. Or add chilli flakes or cayenne pepper to add a bit of a kick. You can even omit the cheese if you’re not a cheese lover. And if I ever have any garlic mixture left over, I add onions and tomatoes and make a pasta sauce.

This really is the perfect recipe. Whether you are making it for yourself, family, friends, guests or even taking it to a potluck, this pull apart cheesy garlic bread will go down a treat and have everyone licking their fingers wanting more.