How to Make Italian Garlic Bread Fast and Easy

First things first... Italian garlic bread does not have to be on Italian bread. You can use french bread, sour dough bread or Italian bread. I like french bread and even baguettes sometimes. The goal here is to make it fast and simple and yet have it look like it took an authentic Italian chef to make it taste so good.
Ingredients you will need: 2 cloves minced garlic, 3- 4 Tablespoons olive oil, 2 Tablespoons butter and a loaf of suitable bread.
If you have those you are all set and in about 10 minutes it will be ready.
Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. NOTE: As with most of my recipes, I always promote flexibility. If you are concerned 450 is too high choose a lower temperature such as 375 and simply bake longer.
2. Slice the loaf of bread lengthwise on its side so you have 2 long pieces of bread side by side.
3. Melt the butter and mix with the olive oil and the minced garlic.
4. Use a brush or spoon to spread the mixture over the bread as evenly as possible.
5. Place bread face up on baking pan and place in oven. Some people will wrap the bread in foil leaving the face of the bread exposed. This will take longer, but is a good tip for preventing the bread from becoming too crispy on the sides.
6. Bake about 5 minutes or until it is done to your desire. Keep a close eye on the baking so you do not end up with burnt toast!
7. When finished, remove from the oven and slice into desired thickness. 1 inch thickness is fairly standard.

TIP #1: If the bread is done before you are ready to serve, wrap it in foil to keep warm.TIP #2: I recommend doing the bread when you do not have a zillion other things going on at once. Simply because it is easy to forget about it until the smoke alarm goes off. Use a timer to remember to check the bread!
Tip #3: If you are trying to reduce the caloric intake, simply use olive oil and leave out the butter.

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