Garlic Bread with French Bread: Which Loaf, How to Cut It, How Long to Bake

To make garlic bread with French bread, cut the loaf in half lengthwise, spread the cut sides with soft butter mixed with garlic, parsley and a pinch of salt, and bake it cut side up at 400°F for 8 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden. A soft American-style loaf needs about 1/2 cup of butter; a thin, crusty baguette needs less butter and less time, because it browns faster.

Baguettes are at the heart of what we bake, so this page is about the part most recipes skip: which "French bread" you actually have, how to cut it, and how the oven time changes with the cut. The homemade garlic bread method below works with any loaf. Our half baguettes come in where they fit.

French bread or baguette: which makes better garlic bread?

In an American grocery store, "French bread" usually means a wide, soft loaf with a thin, pale crust and a fluffy, even crumb. A baguette is something else: long and thin, with a crackling crust and an open, chewy crumb full of irregular holes. Both make good homemade garlic bread, but not the same one.

Pick the soft loaf if you want garlic bread that is tender and almost melts. Pick the baguette if you like crunch, if you serve it with soup or a saucy pasta that it has to stand up to, or if you want small, neat pieces for a crowd. (Sourdough makes a tangier, chewier version again; that one deserves its own recipe.) For a tangier loaf, try garlic bread on sourdough.

One rule applies to all of them: start with bread that is fully baked. If your baguette is par-baked, finish it first. With our Parisian Half Baguettes, preheat the oven to 450°F, take one straight from the freezer, remove all the packaging and set it directly on the middle rack, with no baking sheet, for 6 to 10 minutes. Then let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes: it keeps baking inside as it rests. Baker's tip from the product page: run a little water over the back of the baguette before it goes in, so the crust turns crisp without getting too hard. Our other breads do not all bake the same way, so check each one in our Sourdough & Artisan Bread collection.

Parisian Half Baguette, pack of 2

Long fermentation, crisp crust, soft crumb. Bake from frozen at 450°F, right on the rack, for 6 to 10 minutes, rest 5 to 10, then make your garlic bread. One of the 4 to 12 packs in your box (boxes from $89).

See the Parisian Half Baguette

How to cut French bread for garlic bread

The cut decides the texture more than the recipe does. Here are the three that work best on a baguette.

1. Halved lengthwise

Split the bread in two along its length with a serrated knife, like a long sandwich. You get the most surface for the butter and the most golden edge. Bake it in one piece, then cut it crosswise into 2-inch pieces at the table. This is the cut to use for a family dinner.

2. Diagonal slices

Cut the baguette on the bias into slices about 3/4 inch thick, then butter one side. Every slice gets a crisp edge, they bake fast, and they are easy to pass around. On a baguette, the diagonal gives you longer slices than a straight cut, so each one holds more butter.

3. Accordion, or whole loaf

Cut the baguette into slices about 1 inch thick, stopping just before the bottom crust so the loaf stays in one piece. Push garlic butter into every gap, wrap it in foil, bake, then open the foil to crisp the top. The inside stays soft and steamy, the top turns crunchy, and everyone pulls off a piece. It is the best cut for a dinner party because it waits well in the foil.

The garlic butter: how much for a baguette?

A good garlic butter for bread has four things: soft butter, garlic, something green and salt. Here is a ratio for one full baguette or two half baguettes, enough for 4 to 6 people as a side.

• 5 to 6 tablespoons butter, softened at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes. Salted butter seasons the bread on its own.
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced very fine, grated or pressed into a paste.
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional): it gives a rounder, deeper garlic taste and is less likely to scorch than fresh garlic.
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried.
• A pinch of salt, only if your butter is unsalted, and a little black pepper.
• 2 to 3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan (optional).

Mash everything with a fork until smooth. Grate the garlic as fine as you can: big pieces of raw garlic sit on top of the butter, brown in the heat and turn bitter, while a paste melts into the crumb. If you like it very garlicky, add a clove rather than more powder.

How to make garlic bread with French bread, step by step

This is a general garlic bread recipe for the halved baguette, the classic. It makes two halves, for 4 to 6 people; with a soft loaf of French bread, use about 1/2 cup of butter and add 2 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 baguette, or 2 half baguettes, baked and rested
• The garlic butter above (5 to 6 tablespoons butter, 2 to 3 garlic cloves, parsley, salt, pepper)
• Optional: grated Parmesan, or 1 cup shredded mozzarella for a cheesy version

Instructions

1. Heat the oven. Preheat to 400°F with a rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Make the butter. Mix the soft butter with the garlic, parsley, salt and pepper until smooth.
3. Split the bread. Cut the baguette in half lengthwise with a serrated knife. If you just baked it, let it rest first, so the crumb sets and does not tear.
4. Butter to the edges. Spread the butter over both cut sides, right up to the crust. The edges are where the crunch is.
5. Bake. Set the halves cut side up on the sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the butter has melted in and the edges are golden.
6. Broil, if you like. For a darker top, switch to broil for 1 to 2 minutes and stay at the oven door. Garlic and cheese go from golden to burnt in seconds.
7. Cut and serve. Let it sit for a minute, then cut each half crosswise into pieces and serve warm.

From frozen par-baked baguette to garlic bread on the table, count about 35 to 50 minutes, preheating included, most of it oven time and resting. Frozen baguettes you finish in your own oven work well here.

How long to bake garlic bread, by cut

A baguette is thinner than a soft French loaf, so it heats through faster and its crust browns sooner. These times are for a baguette that is already baked; a soft loaf usually needs a few minutes more. Sliced thin and toasted, the same baguette makes crisp crostini for a party.

Why garlic bread goes wrong (and how to fix it)

• The garlic tastes bitter. It burned. Grate it finer so it melts into the butter, keep it under the butter rather than on top, and take the bread out when the edges are golden, not brown.
• The middle is soggy. Too much melted butter on a soft loaf. Use softened butter, not melted, and spread it in an even layer.
• The crust is hard as a rock. The bread stayed in too long, or it was already dry. Shorten the time, or wrap it in foil for the first half of the baking.
• It is pale and soft. The oven was not hot enough, or the bread sat too low. Use the middle rack and finish with a minute under the broiler.
• The pieces are hard to cut. Cut a halved baguette with a serrated knife, crust side down, in a sawing motion.

Two shortcuts when you have no time

A garlic and herb butter that is already made

A compound butter does the mixing for you. We carry the Roasted Garlic, Basil, and Parsley Butter by Banner Butter, a slow-cultured, small-batch butter. Its ingredient list is short: pasteurized cream, basil, parsley, garlic powder, sea salt and cultures. It is already salted and seasoned, so you only soften it, spread it to the edges of a halved baguette and bake as above. The label counts 10 tablespoons per container, enough for 3 to 5 half baguettes depending on how generous you are. For a sharper bite, grate one fresh clove into it. If you prefer to make your own garlic butter from scratch, start from a plain salted butter such as our Sea Salt Butter by Banner Butter and skip the extra salt.

A ficelle that comes filled

A ficelle is a very thin baguette. Our Cheese & Pesto Ficelle is rolled thin, filled with a melty blend of mozzarella and other cheeses, with basil pesto swirled through the crumb, and the pesto contains garlic. It is not garlic bread, but it lands on the table in the same role, with no butter to mix: 450°F, straight from the freezer, packaging off, directly on the middle rack for 6 to 10 minutes, then 5 to 10 minutes of rest. It comes in packs of two.

Roasted Garlic, Basil, and Parsley Butter

Slow-cultured Banner Butter with basil, parsley, garlic and sea salt. Soften it, spread it to the edges of a halved baguette, bake. It goes in your box like any pack.

See the garlic and herb butter

Making it ahead, and what to do with leftovers

The garlic butter keeps in a covered container in the fridge for up to 4 days (never leave garlic butter at room temperature for long); bring it back to room temperature before spreading. You can also butter the halves a few hours ahead, wrap them in foil and keep them in the fridge, then bake them straight from the fridge, adding 2 to 3 minutes.

Garlic bread is best eaten warm, within minutes. Leftover pieces can be warmed for a few minutes in a 350°F oven, then cut into cubes for croutons on a soup or a salad.

The easiest way to have garlic bread on a weeknight is to keep the bread in the freezer. Our half baguettes come in packs of two and keep for up to 6 months in their closed packaging, so you bake one half when you need it and leave the rest frozen. Fresh Baguette started in 2013 as a small neighborhood bakery in Washington, D.C., opened by Florent and Bertrand, who came from France (our story). Our breads are par-baked, frozen and shipped frozen from the Fresh Baguette kitchen in Germantown, Maryland. To see how they go from your freezer to the table, read how it works.

Shop the bakery

Parisian Half BaguetteCrisp outside, soft inside. 450°F, 6 to 10 minutes from frozen.See the baguette →Traditional Half BaguetteA little rye in the dough. Same bake: 450°F, 6 to 10 minutes.See the baguette →Sea Salt Butter by Banner ButterA cultured salted butter to start your own garlic butter.See the butter →

Garlic bread with French bread FAQ

Can I use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic?

Yes. Use about 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder for each clove you replace, a little more if you like it strong. Powder gives a milder, rounder taste and is less likely to burn under the broiler. Many cooks use both: fresh garlic for the bite, a little powder for depth.

Should I use butter or olive oil?

Butter browns and tastes richer; olive oil gives a crisper, more Italian result and soaks in faster. A mix of the two, about 4 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil for a baguette, spreads easily and crisps well.

Can I make garlic bread with a stale baguette?

Yes, and it is a good use for it. A baguette that is a day old is drier, so it drinks up the butter and crisps fast. Slice it on the diagonal, butter it generously and bake it at 400°F for 6 to 8 minutes. If it is very hard, wrap it in foil for the first 5 minutes.

Which of your breads should I use for garlic bread?

For a baguette-style garlic bread, the Parisian Half Baguette, made with a long fermentation, crisp outside and soft inside. The Traditional Half Baguette, which has some rye flour in the dough, works the same way and bakes at the same 450°F for 6 to 10 minutes. Our breads are available in the Eastern US: enter your zip code on our site to check delivery to your address.