The Best And Worst Types Of Bread To Use For Garlic Bread

Seeing as it combines three ingredients that everyone loves — bread, garlic, and butter — garlic bread is understandably a universally popular dish. Whether you're using it to mop up spaghetti sauce or eating it alongside one of the other great dishes that pair well with garlic bread, like soup, stew, or salad, it can turn a simple meal into a satisfying feast. With this in mind, it's a good idea to learn some tips for making the best garlic bread at home. One of the most important involves the star of the show: the bread itself. For advice on the type of bread that's the best to use (and which is the worst), Daily Meal got some advice from an expert: Kieron Hales, the executive chef and managing partner of Cornman Farms in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Hales told Daily Meal his three picks for the ideal types of bread to use: ciabatta, baguette, and sourdough. "Ciabatta — its open crumb structure allows the garlic butter to seep in while still maintaining a crisp crust," he explains. "Baguette — perfect for individual slices with a crispy exterior and soft interior. The texture-to-butter ratio is spot-on." As for sourdough, Hales explains that it's as much about flavor as it is about texture, noting, "The tangy flavor complements the richness of garlic butter, and its sturdy structure holds up well under heat." 

Overall, Hales says that any "sturdier Italian bread" should work just fine, listing focaccia as one more example that will hold up to the moisture of the butter. If you need a recipe to get you started, check out our recipe for easy garlic bread, which uses a baguette.

You may find all types of bread delicious, but that doesn't mean that they'll all work well for a batch of garlic bread. According to Kieron Hales, the worst kind is soft sandwich bread: "It soaks up the butter too quickly, making the bread greasy and soggy." The shape and thinness of the slices also make sandwich bread unsuitable, as they will fall apart during the buttering and baking process and aren't substantial enough to stand up to any pasta sauce you might want to mop up with them. 

Another bread to avoid? Brioche. Hales told Daily Meal, "It's too sweet and delicate to balance the savory garlic butter." Brioche also has quite a soft texture, so it might have the same soggy result that you would get by using sandwich bread. With both taste and texture in mind, you'll also want to avoid something like Japanese milk bread, which is known for being ultra fluffy with some sweetness to it; in other words, it will seriously clash with the elements of garlic bread. 

The type of bread that you use is key for the best homemade garlic bread — as is the cooking process. For the best garlic bread, Kieron Hales suggests using the "double toast method." Essentially, you'll want to lightly toast the (already sliced) bread — either in the toaster or the oven — before adding the butter and garlic. 

According to Hales' instructions, after lightly toasting the bread, set the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the garlic butter to the pre-toasted bread and bake for about 10 or 12 minutes. Hales notes, "This allows the butter to melt into the bread slowly without burning." For the last step, either broil the bread for a couple minutes or pop it on the grill to "achieve a golden, crispy top." For a slightly softer bread, wrap it in tin foil after buttering and before popping it in the oven. 

The type of bread that you use may affect the baking time as well. Ciabatta and a baguette, for example, are probably the sturdiest out of the sturdy breads, so they might require more time than, say, focaccia. The cooking time will also depend on how thick you slice the bread. Just keep an eye on the bread after popping it in the oven so you're ready to take it out when it reaches your desired level of browning. And if you want to turn up the flavor, Daily Meal suggests adding a dash of Italian dressing to your garlic bread.