Throughout my childhood, dinners at my grandmother’s house were always accompanied by warm, garlic bread. However, she didn’t make this from scratch, instead buying frozen bread at the store and heating it before we arrived at her home. Her favorite was the New York Bakery garlic Texas Toast, and that yellow box was always my favorite thing to see her pull out of her freezer. 

In the grocery store with my father, I always saw the same yellow box but with a few extra words added, “five cheese.” To me, these words were nothing short of holy, as the combination of garlic bread and cheese was nothing short of genius.

Alas, I’d been burned by frozen melted cheese products before, so my parents would not let me buy the bread.

So, my younger self decided to make my own version of cheesy garlic bread. After a couple different internet searches, I settled on a recipe by a woman named Amanda Rettke. The first time I made the bread, I followed the recipe to the letter, but in the years since the recipe has changed. 

In the original version, garlic is added to butter, but the two are never cooked together. Even though it’s an added step, I’ve found it allows the garlic flavor to seep into the bread while it cooks. Also, I’ve changed the cheese ratios slightly purely because I like cheddar a lot. 

Even though this recipe is slightly time-consuming, I think it’s pretty simple and is usually quite successful. It’s by far one of my favorite dishes to eat.

Ingredients 

• 2 ¼ cups flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 
• 2 teaspoons or one packet of instant yeast 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• ¾ cups warm whole milk
• 3 tablespoons softened butter 
• ½ cup softened butter 
• 6-8 large cloves garlic 
• 1 tablespoon parsley 
• ½ teaspoon salt 
• 1 cup mozzarella, shredded 
• ¾ cup cheddar cheese, shredded 

Instructions 

1. Start by combining the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix at low speed. 
2. Add in the milk and 3 tablespoons butter and mix on medium speed for 6 minutes until smooth. 
3. Cover in a greased bowl and let rise for about an hour and a half. 
4. While this is rising, chop the garlic and cook it in the ½ cup butter on low or medium heat for several minutes. Don’t let the garlic brown or burn. 
5. Take the butter off of the stove, add in the parsley, and let it solidify at room temperature. 
6. Mix the cheeses. 
7. When the dough is done rising and the butter has solidified, cut the dough into 12 roughly equal pieces.
8. Layer the dough pieces with cheese and butter between each layer. Put the stack into a 8 ½ by 4 ½ sprayed pan. 
9. Let rise for 45 minutes. 
10. Preheat the oven to 325 F and cook for 45 minutes. 
11. Let cool and eat.