This recipe is a variation of my Easy Crusty Bread recipe on A Duck’s Oven.
I had this gorgeous head of garlic eyeing me from the top of my fridge that had been sitting there for just too long.
I couldn’t go near my kitchen without hearing it call “roast me!” Fine, okay, I broke down, and roast it I did. It wanted it to be more than just minced or tucked into chicken thighs, though.
Inspiration (or just a really intense carb craving) struck and resulted in this beautifully simple roasted garlic bread.
Roasting garlic is super easy. I separated the garlic into cloves so they’d roast more quickly, and since I would be dicing them up a bit anyways.
Just a little olive oil, wrap them up in foil, and bake for about 20 minutes at 400°F until they’re soft. They just smelled so incredibly good, I couldn’t help wishing my kitchen could smell like that all the time.
I gave the garlic cloves a very rough dicing and kneaded them into the dough, which I had already let rise once, after preparing it with my with my lovely KitchenAid Stand Mixer (if you are in the market for one, definitely check out Foodal’s detailed Stand Mixer Reviews).
A fairly powerful food processor would also perform well for working up the dough, or you can do it the old fashion way with “grunt” labor – I suspect child labor may also work well, but I’m pretty sure they’ve changed the laws since I was little…
I saved the oil in the foil packet to rub onto the baking sheet I used.
You could also use a loaf pan or a cast iron skillet to bake this bread – it’s totally up to you!
Then I baked it for about 20 minutes, using my technique of pouring a little water onto a sheet pan at the bottom of the oven to create steam.
This will give your bread a great crust.
The garlic gets so soft and flavorful, and takes this simple bread recipe to a whole new level. There’s definitely no need for butter; maybe serve it with a little olive oil if you’d like.
We had it with my fiance’s favorite dinner, pasta with a meaty red sauce, and it was delicious. It’ll go with just about any dinner you’re serving.
Or you can be like me, and just have a few slices for breakfast. It’s so delicious at any time of day!
For another delicious homemade bread with a tasty garlic flavor, check out our recipes for ramson pull-apart bread and chili oil tomato garlic bread.
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 head garlic paper removed and separated into cloves
- 3 tbsp olive oil divided, plus more for greasing bowl and baking sheet
- 2 1/2-3 cups flour
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer, stir together the water, yeast, and sugar. Set aside for about ten minutes, or until foamy.
- Add the salt, garlic powder, and 1 tablespoon olive oil to the yeast mixture and stir to combine.
- If using a mixer, use the dough hook attachment and add the flour about 1/2 cup at a time. Continuing adding flour until the dough pulls away from the edge of the bowl and is just a little sticky to touch. Knead with the dough hook on low speed for about five minutes. To knead by hand, stir in flour 1/2 cup at a time until it becomes to difficult to stir. Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and continue to knead in the flour a bit at a time, until barely sticky to the touch.
- Oil a large bowl with a little olive oil. Add the dough to the bowl and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled, about an hour to an hour and a half.
- While the dough is rising, roast the garlic. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Arrange the garlic cloves on a piece of foil large enough to wrap around them. Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil over the cloves and wrap the foil tightly around them. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cloves are just soft. Roughly dice the cloves.
- After dough has risen, punch it down. Move one oven rack to the bottom of the oven, another to the middle. Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Lightly oil and flour a baking sheet.
- On a lightly floured surface, knead the garlic cloves into the dough. Form the dough into a loaf on the baking sheet. Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes to an hour.
- Once risen, lightly sprinkle the top with flour. Using a sharp knife, make three diagonal slits in the loaf.
- Place an empty rimmed baking sheet on the bottom rack in the oven. Place the baking sheet with the shaped dough on the middle rack. Before closing the oven door, pour 1/2 cup water onto the empty sheet pan on the bottom rack. Close the oven door quickly to trap the steam. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Photos by Chelsea Miller, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details.
About Chelsea Miller
Chelsea Miller, born and raised in Portland, Oregon, graduated from the University of Oregon where she discovered both her love of football and cooking great food. She's the founder of the food blog "A Duck's Oven" and began writing for Foodal in 2014.
Garlic bread is one of my comfort foods I like to eat alone or with soup or a pasta dish. I’ve never thought about it for breakfast, but why not?
Personally I like some caramelized onions on my bread too and dipped in some chilli oil or some balsamic vinegar.
Yum, this looks great. I am going to make it tonight as I had already planned on making spaghetti and meatballs. I love roasted garlic in and on everything! There’s no better smell than freshly baked bread. It doesn’t last long around my house. 🙂
Home made bread and garlic are too of my favorite things. I hated peeling all the garlic cloves until I discovered a quicker way to do it. I get two mixing bowls, one large and one slightly smaller. Place the whole garlic head in one, and make a lid with the other bowl. You then shake for 30 seconds and all the cloves come up peeled! So quick and easy to do.
oh goodness, is this perfect or what? I’ve been craving garlic bread — not pasta, not pizza, just garlic bread — all week. I know what I’m making tomorrow!
Me too! I love garlic bread. Garlic bread by itself is just perfect. I was planning to make Chicken Alfredo this week and I’ll have to add this recipe to it.
Wow, that bread looks amazing. I love garlic bread, I’d love it more if garlic didn’t give me a serious case of bad breath! Not that it’s going to stop me. I’ve tried doind it at home but it never really comes out right. But I haven’t lost hope. I’ll just have to try this and see how it goes. Thanks!
I do like the sound of this. I love garlic. I know the smell gets to some people, but i love fresh minced garlic in every Italian dish I make. I never thought of adding the garlic to the dough though. I usually would make a nice butter n garlic mix to spread on later after baking. I will have to try this one out soon and see if I can make it work with my family. They aren’t as big on garlic as I am, but perhaps I can find a happy medium to please all our palates.
Comfort food it is. I have been in hiatus for months with baking and now, and I feel so inspired with doing it again after seeing how lovely the bread is. Actually, if i ever try this, it would be my first bread since I have not yet gotten over my initimidation with yeast. Oh well, might asw ell give it a ty since I dont think Ill be failing this one. 🙂
Thanks for the quick recipe.!
That settles it, I’m baking some garlic bread first thing in the morning. If it weren’t for this heat wave I’d make it fresh for dinner tomorrow, but AM bread will just have to make do. I have to say, using the oil from the garlic roasting is genius, something it might never have occurred to me to do. Thanks for the recipe (and the new trick!).
Sounds wonderful. I’ve been looking for a garlic recipe for garlic bread. Will try your recipe. Was wondering if I could use my egg bread recipe? It makes 3-4 loaves, I know I would have to adjust it some with the garlic ingredients. Thank you. God bless you.
About your bread in the KitchenAid mixer, do you have to alter the recipe? I prefer the old fashioned way. Get my frustrations out, haha. I just like making bread. Thank you.
Hi Millie,
No, you don’t need to make any alterations to the recipe, whether you prefer to knead by hand or use your stand mixer. (I like to do it the old fashioned way sometimes as well!)
You should be able to add roasted garlic to whatever bread recipe you like. Follow your recipe’s directions, and knead in the roasted garlic before shaping and proofing.
Please let us know how it turns out! I’m a big fan of egg bagels and other types of bread enriched with egg.
Quite a statement saying it’s the worlds best. .. I may give this a try, I am a fan of olive bread – any chance you can post your own recipe for some?
I’ve been looking for a recipe for bread to go with my signature lasagna, and this is looking good! One of the issues I have with most garlic bread I’ve tried is the garlic tastes too raw, or it feels too separate from the bread (usually because it’s just garlic powder mixed with butter that’s brushed on top of the bread). I’ll definitely be trying this recipe soon.
Now try and imagine wolfing that down with a bowl of thick spiced up chicken soup….the recipe is so easy and looks friendly to me, i ought to try this out very soon, although of late i have been very busy as a bee, i ought to make time and try this delicacy out :)…on my things to do list {just jotted that down }.
Garlic bread is one of my favorite things to eat and make from scratch. This recipe looks like it would be easy and the finished picture looks super yummy. I love to eat garlic bread anytime and I might have to make a few loaves so i can freeze it. This would probably go really well with soup. Looking forward to making this.
Hmmm, yum!
I have made a loaf of bread with minced raw garlic before (and it was delicious) and I’ve roasted garlic before which is also delicious so putting the two together sounds divine!
With a hearty bowl of veggie soup or home made lasagne this would be heaven – what a pity we’re heading into summer so I’ll less inclined to cook such meals for a few months 🙂 But I could see this garlic bread at a BBQ or when eating cheeses and dips with a glass of wine while chatting with friends…
I absolutely adore garlic bread. I borderline throw a hissy fit if I’m served pasta without it! (not really, but you get my point!) I know for a fact that my dad is cooking spaghetti tonight because it’s a tradition in our family to eat spaghetti anytime Alabama and Auburn play against eachother (I have no idea why) so I’m going to go pick up the ingredients for this garlic bread and try it out!
MMM Delicious! I absolutely love Garlic Bread, and this recipe looks world class ( as the title hints). It is very bold though to say it is the worlds best, I will have to see if it passes my test.
I love garlic bread and this recipe looks so quick and easy to make. I prefer GB doent his way, rather than with garlic butter, which can make the bread soggy. Is it really the world’s best though? Well, there’s only one way to find out!
I have a bread maker, and I love to use it to make my own breads. Garlic bread ranks up there on the list of my favorites. The great thing about making your own is that you can play around with it. Adding this or taking that. This is a great recipe I shall try it.
This recipe is serious Chelsea! I am accustomed to spreading garlic seasoned butter onto the bread. This is a whole new level. I can imagine how aromatic and flavorful this bread becomes as this roasted garlic bakes into it. I love garlic bread and I love it with pasta with red sauce and meatballs! I noticed you said you put it in after the bread had rose twice and then it rose again. I need to know this to have success. Thanks for this creativity.
After going to popular Italian restaurant chains for their garlic bread, I am surprised that I haven’t found a recipe to make my own yet! Soft garlic bread with a hard crust is probably the most delicious Italian gourmet I have ever devoured. The right amount of seasoning and garlic can change the whole taste!
I’m too lazy to cook today. Thus, for the last two meals I just ate sweet potatoes cooked in oil and caramelized sugar, bought from somewhere. As I come from a place that can’t go without rice for a meal, reading through the recipe made me more hungry. I can just imagine how good your kitchen smells with the garlic roasting and clinched with the smell of freshly-baked bread. Heaven! Quite the opposite of what I’m having, just French bread and coffee for dinner. 🙁
I don’t know why I don’t roast garlic more often. It is so easy and can be used everywhere. Very smart utilization of the left over olive oil! Imagine just spreading that on a baked and slightly toasted slice of this bread. My mouth is watering. Very nice and easy recipe! I’m inspired.
I don’t understand why there is not a website dedicated to freshly baked bread. If they could do that & somehow incorporate a smell-o-vision option I would never be without a computer on hand. Mmm delicious. The pictures put it over the top.
I love it when I have something specific in mind and its here, at the first place I look. This is going to be so much better than my loaf of French bread with garlic butter. This may take longer, but it looks like its going to taste good enough to be worth it. Thank you
I love the idea of roasting the garlic to sweeten it, and this sounds like a delicious loaf of bread. I haven’t made bread in quite a while, but your picture looks yummy, and now I’m craving it. I don’t have a kitchenaid mixer, so might have to do it the old fashioned way, but I’m adding this to my ‘must make’ list.
Mmm, garlic and bread. We actually have this in Romania, it’s a traditional food related to Dracula (garlic supposedly scares vampires in our tradition, weird huh?). This looks tasty, I’ll definitely give it a go and see if I like it or not!
I usually buy a garlic loaf when we have a barbeque which I wrap in foil and place on the grid to warm up. It always goes down very well with my family and guests. I will definitely try this recipe the next we barbeque or even sooner as it looks so divine and easy to make.. It would be a great accompaniment to most pasta dishes so I think I will try it out with spaghetti bolognese as well.
Oooooh! This sounds so warm and inviting at this time of year. I think I ‘ll try the same thing, except in breadstick form. With end of the season sports banquets upon us, this sounds like a wonderful addition to the table typically filled with pasta offerings. Thanks!
It’s a great idea to incorporate some roasted garlic in a homemade bread, I can’t believe I never thought of it myself. I usually put garlic butter on bread and put them in the oven, but this way I don’t have to use butter. Good idea to separate the garlic before roasting them. We usually have garlic bread with soup or pasta.
Bread is one of my weaknesses. I love a good crusty garlic bread. We tend to have them a lot with pasta dishes like spaghetti. I also like garlic butter so of the bread isn’t made with the cloves then it’s alright. I’m afraid I might eat this bread before serving time!
Hi Chelsea! Thanks for the great recipe for such a delish looking dish! Seriously it looks so yummy! I could eat like 10 of those roasted garlic loaves! One of the things I like most about this recipe is that the ingredients required for are very few and most of us have most, if not all the ingredients necessary in out pantries. I also like the fact that you were so detailed in the cooking instructions. I’ve had a hard, dark and burnt past when it comes down to bread baking LOL. I think that this time around with your careful instructions I’ll be successful!
I love roasted garlic – I usually roast a whole head at the same time as I roast potatoes. And I love garlic bread with just about anything – salads, soups, pasta dishes. But I’ve never though of combining them in this way. It’s a super recipe.
Oh man, I really love garlic bread in general. On Christmas we always eat garlic bread, and every time that I taste or even smell it, it just brings me back all the good memories, so I agree with you with the kitchen smell, it’s one of my favorite smells ever.
But we have a different method, my mom actually bought the bread and she just adds the mixture to it, I guess. But I think that it would be a nice idea to do everything by ourselves maybe the next Christmas.
Let’s see how that turns out, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Do you think this would work in mini loaf pans? I wonder how many loaves from one recipe?
Hi, excited to try this recipe! A couple questions for clarification: 1) you have olive oil listed twice as an ingredient – two different amounts – and it’s not clear how much we’re supposed to put into the mixer initially. 2) what kind of flour do you recommend i.e. all-purpose or bread flour…
Sorry for the confusion, B! This recipe is in need of a bit of an update, and we have it on our list to make improvements soon. The flour should be all-purpose, and 2 tablespoons of oil should be added to the dough. The other measurement is for roasting the garlic.
I bake a lot of bread, and I don’t know what’s different about this, but it came out SO amazing. Came together easily and was perfect! I used a lame (razor) to make some nice cuts on the top, and I remembered to pour the water in the oven for the steam. It is just delicious!
So glad you enjoyed it, Andrea!
My bread had a nice rise the first time but when I folded in the garlic it spread out and didn’t rice high. It came out delicious but I had to rename it flat bread. And when I went to slice the top before baking it collapsed in center? Any ideas?
Hard to say from the given info, but especially as to the collapse before baking, I would say you let it proof too long.
My wife and I have been making bread for quite some time, sourdough included. I decided to try this out and followed your recipe pretty much to a T… My wife’s gut told us not to add the garlic after the first rise but we did it anyway.
You know better than that… Nice one.
Thanks.
Cathy Lauder
I baked the garlic first and added the cooled garlic oil to the bread. Made this and a loaf of plain Italian bread, too. Guess which one disappeared 1st!
Had this tonight. This is my favorite homemade bread yet!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Laura!
I’ve made this bread four times. I’ve always been told not to add the salt to the yeast, as it will kill it. Three times I added the salt to the flour and it turned out beautiful and delicious. This last time I tried adding it to the yeast, has the recipe States. My bread did not rise. So I would advise everybody to add it to the flour not the yeast.