The Best Garlic Bread

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Prepare the garlic bread: Cut the loaf in half, horizontally. Mix the butter, garlic, and parsley together in a small bowl. Spread butter mixture over the the two bread halves.

Heat in the oven for 10 minutes: Place on a sturdy baking pan (one that can handle high temperatures, not a cookie sheet) and heat in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle with Parmesan (optional) and broil: Remove pan from oven. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over bread if you want. Return to oven on the highest rack. Broil on high heat for 2 to 3 minutes until the edges of the bread begin to toast and the cheese (if you are using cheese) bubbles. Watch very carefully while broiling. The bread can easily go from un-toasted to burnt.

Slice: Remove from oven, let cool a minute. Remove from pan and use a bread knife to cut into 1-inch thick slices. Serve immediately.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Make the butter, garlic, parsley mixture as above

Slice the bread and insert butter mixture: Make 1-inch thick slices into the bread, but do not go all the way through, just to the bottom crust. Put a teaspoon or two of the butter mixture between each slice, or between every other slice if you only want the garlic mixture on one side of the bread.

Bake the garlic bread: Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and heat for 15 minutes in the 350°F (175°C) oven, until the butter has melted and the bread is warmed.

Serve: To serve, remove from foil and present the loaf wrapped in a clean tea towel. Tear off slices to eat. Which method do you prefer? Let us know in the comments below!