Make spaghetti night even easier with this make-ahead crispy, buttery garlic bread. It is buttery and garlicky, and it has the most perfect touch of crunch!

I made this garlic bread to serve with the Manicotti. Well, let me rephrase that, I made this garlic bread weeks ago and stored it in the freezer to be quickly baked the night I made the Manicotti.

I love garlic bread, but rarely do I keep a loaf of fresh french bread on hand to whip up on a whim.

Slice of buttered garlic bread on a white plate.

Even when I do plan garlic bread into my menu, often it isn’t until a later meal, days after the grocery shopping is done and I know the bread will long be stale before I use it.

I was ecstatic to see this make-ahead garlic bread recipe in the latest issue of Cook’s Country. I made it the very next day after picking up some french bread, froze the slices for a few weeks and whipped it out the night I wanted to serve it.

It was fantastic. A thousand times better than the garlic bread I usually wing when the craving calls.

It was buttery and oh, so garlicky, and it had the most perfect touch of crunch and brown. Another carb-loaded item that I could not stop eating.

I would gladly have eaten every piece of this and left the main meal to my kids. You should not be surprised to learn that my entire freezer downstairs is stocked with this manna from garlic-bread heaven!

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Make-Ahead Crispy, Buttery Garlic Bread

4.44 stars (23 ratings)

Ingredients

  • 12 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 4 garlic cloves, very finely minced
  • ¼ teaspoon sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 12 (1-inch slices) Italian or French bread

Instructions 

  • Using a fork, beat butter, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in small bowl until combined. Spread butter mixture evenly over both sides of bread.
  • Freeze the slices on a large baking sheet or plate until firm, about 15 minutes. After they are firm, transfer the slices to a freezer ziploc bag and freeze for up to one month.
  • To serve, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange bread on rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown on the first side, about 10 minutes. Flip and bake until golden brown on the second side, 6-7 minutes more. Serve.

Notes

Baking the Bread: to serve the bread immediately instead of freezing, bake buttered bread on rimmed baking sheet at 425 degrees for 8 minutes then flip and bake 5 more minutes on the second side.
Serving: 1 Serving, Calories: 575kcal, Carbohydrates: 73g, Protein: 15g, Fat: 25g, Saturated Fat: 15g, Cholesterol: 60mg, Sodium: 954mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 3g

Recipe Source: slightly adapted from Cook’s Country