In news that will surprise absolutely no one: I love carbs. What’s somewhat interesting about that is that I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, rather the carbs I crave are savory: pastas, potatoes, and one of my absolute favorite indulgences, garlic bread.
But the problem with garlic bread is that it doesn’t really work in small batches. Garlic bread is undeniably best when you take a big fresh loaf of French bread and then spread at least a whole stick of butter all over it. And that doesn’t make much sense for just the two of us.
So what’s a garlic bread lover to do? Well I have news for you, my friends. You can freeze bread.
Crazy, I know.
So next time you’re at the store, grab that giant loaf of your favorite bread. I prefer French bread, but some prefer baguettes or even challah. Take it home, slice it in whatever size chunks you like best, and arrange it on a cookie sheet.
Next, make a compound butter. Here’s what goes in mine:
- 1 stick of butter (must be room temperature!)
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 & 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp dried herbs of your choice – I like basil, parsley, and oregano for this.
Then, just mix it all together. You can either go high-tech and use a hand mixer, or just use a fork and some elbow grease. Once the compound butter is complete, spread it on the individual pieces generously.
Next, stick that cookie sheet in your freezer. Once the individual pieces are frozen solid, you can removed them from the cookie sheet and pop them into a freezer bag for easier storage.
When your next garlic bread craving hits, just take the number of pieces you’d like out of the bag, put them back on a cookie tray, and heat them for 3-5 minutes in a 400-degree oven, until the edges are just starting to brown. You don’t even need to defrost them first — they go straight from freezer to oven to plate.
And there you have it! Freezer garlic bread is also a great way to use up leftover bread from a dinner party, and the best part is you’re never more than a few minutes away from your garlic bread fix.
