This is one of my favorite ways to make garlic bread and it is super simple. This recipe really only involves two ingredients, bread and garlic butter. You can purchase both of these at the store or make them from scratch. I decided to make my own garlic butter but buy my bread from the store.
This is actually inspired by one that I used to buy at a Chinese grocery store. They would cut off the crust on the bread which made the bread extremely soft. It allowed for garlic butter on all 6 sides of the bread which maximized flavor.
The difference between mine and the one I used to buy is the size and shape. I am making one that’s a box shape almost like a cake and the ones I used to buy looked like gold bars. Both ways work well, however, making them in a large box shape makes it slightly harder to cook evenly. Especially if you have a small air fryer because the heat circulates from the top down. This means you will have to flip it a couple times.
Keys for the perfect garlic bread
Olive oil in garlic butter
Adding olive oil to the butter is important because it softens the butter even more and makes it easier to spread on the bread. This is important because the bread is very delicate and it will deform if the butter is too hard.
Type of bread
I used a Japanese shokupan milk bread for this recipe. It is very light and soft but if you cannot find it then a brioche loaf works great as well.
Method of cooking garlic bread
I found that using the air fryer allows for the bread to crisp up and get golden faster. It heats up very evenly which is why I prefer it. If you don’t have an air fryer, I would recommend baking at the convection bake setting over a wire rack at 420F instead.
Garlic bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup softened butter
- 2½ tbsp olive oil
- 10 cloves finely chopped garlic
- 1 stalk chopped cilantro
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp grated parmesan
- 1 loaf shokupan or brioche (cut into 6 inch slices)
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together to make homemade garlic butter.1 cup softened butter, 2½ tbsp olive oil, 10 cloves finely chopped garlic, 1 stalk chopped cilantro, ½ tsp salt, 1 tbsp grated parmesan
- Cut bread to your desired size and remove crust.
- Spread garlic butter onto all sides of the bread.
- Air fry at 360F for 5 minutes of until golden. You might need to flip it a few times to ensure even cooking on all sides.
