Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe, is what all your garlicky, herby, cheesy bread dreams are made of! This simple homemade garlic cheese bread recipe starts with the easiest homemade bread base, a good slather of herb butter and topped with a heaping dose of mozzarella cheese! Serve as a delicious appetizer or dinner side dish with fresh marinara or donair sauce! Recipe includes how to video with step by step instructions!
If you love this recipe, check out my Cheesy Garlic Butter Stuffed Pull-Apart Bread and my yummy Quick & Easy Cheddar Old Bay Biscuits – just like the ones at Red Lobster’s but even better!
Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe
It’s cheesy, it’s garlicky, it’s herby, it’s dang good and so very easy to make! This recipe literally encompasses all the things I love to indulge in from the pizza dough base to the cheesy layer and garlic herb butter spread. Oh, and don’t forget the marinara or donair sauce for dipping!
Here’s Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Perfect Side Dish – it’s the perfect side dish for so many dinner recipes – think pasta, soup or a salad.
- Quick and Easy Recipe – you can cut the time to make this recipe in half by using a store bought pizza crust.
- Comfort Food – it’s indulgent comfort food at its best!
Looking for More Pizza Recipes? Check These Out…
- Homemade Chipotle BBQ Chicken Pizza
- Prosciutto, Arugula, and Herbed Tomato Pizza with Homemade Pizza Dough
- Summer Peach and Prosciutto Pizza with Balsamic Glaze Drizzle
What is Cheesy Garlic Bread?
As the name suggests, cheesy garlic bread is bread topped with a delicious garlic herb butter and cheese. It’s a simple but tasty recipe that can be enjoyed on it’s own or as a side dish.
What You Need to Make Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe – Ingredients
All-Purpose Flour
Garlic Salt or Salt
Active Dry Yeast
Granulated White Sugar
Warm Water
Olive Oil
Salted Butter
Garlic
Salt
Fresh Parsley
Mozzarella Cheese
Fresh Parmesan Cheese, garnish, optional
Marinara or Donair Sauce, for serving, optional
How to Make Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe
Step 1: Combine Pizza Dough Ingredients (skip this step if using store bought crust) – in a large mixing bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer add flour, salt, and yeast. Whisk together until well combined on low speed. Remove whisk attachment, and add dough hook. In a small bowl, combine warm water and sugar (start with 3/4 cup, add more if needed). Mix together until sugar has dissolved. Slowly pour sugar water into the flour mixture. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, and continue mixing all ingredients together on a low speed. Do so until the dough begins to stick together, forming a loose dough ball. The dough should have a tacky, putty-like feel.
Step 2: Knead Pizza Dough & Allow to Rise (skip this step if using store bought crust) – place dough ball on a clean and lightly floured surface, knead (about a minute) until a smooth dough ball forms, which bounces back quickly when poked. Place dough in a large mixing bowl, and drizzle with approx. 1 tbsp olive oil, ensuring surface is fully covered. Cover with dish towel or shower cap, placing in a warm area for an hour or until dough has doubled in size. After an hour, or when dough has doubled in size, remove from bowl and roll out dough to desired size on your pizza stone or baking sheet.
Step 3: Preheat Oven – preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
Step 4: Assemble Cheesy Garlic Bread – In a small bowl, add butter, garlic, salt, and fresh parsley, mix together then brush on dough. Next, add shredded mozzarella cheese, then sprinkle with additional parsley.
Step 5: Bake & Serve – bake for 15-17 minutes or until edges have browned and cheese is melty and golden in spots.
Remove from oven, and cut bread into rectangular sticks. Garnish with fresh parmesan cheese, and serve with marinara sauce or donair sauce.
Cheesy Garlic Bread – The Dough, the Crust, the Base of the Thing!
The ingredients are simple, however there are a few tips and tricks that will improve the quality of your bread base. Do not skip, or ignore these steps as the crust is essentially the foundation, and true essence of the pizza or bread regardless of what you load on top of it!
Bread Flour vs. All Purpose Flour – very quickly, bread flour has a higher gluten content (natural proteins found in wheat, which is activated when flour is moistened and then kneaded or mixed). As such bread flour will produce a crunchier exterior with a chewier interior, whereas all purpose flour will produce a softer dough. Bread flour is great for thin crust pizzas, and all purpose for New York, Neopolitan and deep-dish style pizzas.
All Flour is not the Same – when making your pizza dough, you may not need all the water the recipe calls for, start with 75% (3/4 cup) and add the remainder if needed. Reason being, everyone’s flour is different, it may be older/ newer, your climate, humidity levels all play a part it in. You don’t want your dough to become too sticky or too wet. On that same note, don’t panic when mixing your wet and dry ingredients. It may take a few extra minutes of mixing for the flour to fully hydrate and all the ingredients combine so don’t add more water right away – this is a very common mistake!
The Yeast – without getting too technical, you can use Active Dry Yeast (ADY) or Instant Dry Yeast (IDY) for this recipe. Traditionally, we are use to dissolving the yeast before using it. However this is not necessary for this recipe. Yeast needs 3 things to thrive; moisture (water and oil), food (sugar), and warm temperatures – we still have these components regardless if it is dissolved first or not.
Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe Tips
- I like a garlic bread that’s a little crisp and cheese toasted in some areas. To do this, turn on the oven broiler for the last 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add crushed red chili pepper flakes or cayenne pepper to the herb garlic butter spread to add a little heat
- If you notice the top is baking too quickly, add a tent using aluminum foil to prevent over baking or burning
- This recipe is best to serve warm not straight out the oven. Wait a few minutes before slicing and serving.
Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe (Step by Step How To Video)
More Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipes I Recommend You Should Try!
Quick & Easy Cheddar Old Bay Biscuits & Cheesy Garlic Butter Stuffed Pull-Apart Bread
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Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe
Ingredients
Homemade Dough or Use Store-Bought
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Garlic Salt or Salt
- 2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
- 2 tsp Granulated White Sugar
- 3/4-1 cup Warm Water 105° and 115°F
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
Toppings
- 1/4 cup Salted Butter softened
- 4 Cloves Garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp Salt more or less to taste
- 2 tbsp Fresh Parsley finely chopped + more for garnish
- 2 cups Mozzarella Cheese shredded
- 1 tbsp Fresh Parmesan Cheese garnish, optional
- Marinara or Donair Sauce for serving, optional
Instructions
Dough
- In a large mixing bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer add flour, salt, and yeast. Whisk together until well combined on low speed. Remove whisk attachment, and add dough hook.
- In a small bowl, combine warm water and sugar (start with 3/4 cup, add more if needed). Mix together until sugar has dissolved. Slowly pour sugar water into the flour mixture. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, and continue mixing all ingredients together on a low speed. Do so until the dough begins to stick together, forming a loose dough ball. The dough should have a tacky, putty-like feel.
- Place dough ball on a clean and lightly floured surface, knead (about a minute) until a smooth dough ball forms, which bounces back quickly when poked. Place dough in a large mixing bowl, and drizzle with approx. 1 tbsp olive oil, ensuring surface is fully covered. Cover with dish towel or shower cap, placing in a warm area for an hour or until dough has doubled in size.
- After an hour, or when dough has doubled in size, remove from bowl and roll out dough to desired size on your pizza stone or baking sheet.
Cheesy Garlic Bread
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). In a small bowl, add butter, garlic, salt, and fresh parsley, mix together then brush on dough. Next, add shredded mozzarella cheese, then sprinkle with additional parsley.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or until edges have browned and cheese is melty and golden in spots. Remove from oven, and cut bread into rectangular sticks. Garnish with fresh parmesan cheese, and serve with marinara sauce or donair sauce.
Video
Recipe Notes
Note, the nutritional information is calculated using a nutrition facts calculator. It is a rough estimate and can vary based on products used.
2 Comments
ZK
June 15, 2021 at 4:56 pmAt what oven temperature?
Taneisha Morris
June 15, 2021 at 9:20 pmHello! Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) – thanks so much for your message, hope you enjoy!!