This recipe for homemade garlic bread uses store-bought, frozen bread dough to cut the prep time in half! A thick layer of butter and a generous shake of garlic salt and Italian seasoning are all you need to make perfect garlic bread right at home!
This garlic bread is the ultimate! It’s quick, easy, and affordable! When I’m short on time but want a delicious loaf of freshly baked garlic bread this is the method I use over and over!
Ingredients for this recipe
- Bread Dough, from frozen
- Salted Butter
- Garlic Salt
- Italian Seasoning
And that is it. Just four ingredients! Less is more when it comes to this garlic bread recipe. Including work! There’s no kneading dough or measuring and mixing dry ingredients. If you can buy bread dough at the store, you can make this dish!
How to make the best homemade garlic bread
- Thaw the dough. In the fridge overnight or in the microwave real quick. Learn how I do that below!
- Let the dough rise. Just for two hours or so in a warm, draft free place.
- Bake the bread. After it’s risen. Brush it with butter and sprinkle with garlic salt and Italian seasoning first.
- Butter the bread. That’s been cut in half after baking. Then add more seasonings!
- Bake the garlic bread. Just for ten minutes or so. The butter will melt into all the nooks and crannies of the bread and get all soft and toasty!
Thaw the frozen bread dough and stretch it just a bit. Let it rise. Brush with butter and sprinkle with seasoning. Bake until golden brown. 
Cut in half, butter, and season. Bake garlic bread until golden brown.
How to quickly thaw frozen bread dough
If you’re like me and you never have your head on straight – it can be hard to have dough prepped and ready to go! On more than one occasion I have wanted to serve garlic bread, only to realize I had no dough thawed out.
I’ve learned how to combat this, though. By thawing the dough in the microwave! Simply take the frozen dough and place it on a plate. Microwave on the “defrost” setting for 3 minutes. Rotate the loaf and microwave on “defrost” for another 3 minutes.
Now just let the dough rise as usual!
Freezing freshly baked bread
To make enjoying garlic bread even easier, I have learned that you can freeze loaves of baked bread. Then, when the craving strikes, you just have to thaw the frozen loaf of bread before slathering it in butter!
To freeze freshly baked bread: Wrap the entire loaf in a layer of tinfoil. Then another layer of tinfoil. Place the wrapped dough in a freezer-safe zip-top bag and place in the freezer for up to six months.
To thaw frozen bread: Remove foil-wrapped bread from bag and place in a 350-degree oven for 10 – 15 minutes. Then proceed with making garlic bread as directed below.
You May Also Enjoy:
- Mom's Best Lasagna Recipe
- Sausage and Tortellini Soup
- Pull Apart Bread Wreath
- Easy Shrimp Scampi Linguine
Homemade Garlic Bread with Frozen Bread Dough
Equipment
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Tray
- Pastry Brush
Ingredients
- 1 loaf Frozen Bread Dough
- 8 tablespoon salted butter at room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp. Garlic Salt
- 2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
Instructions
- 8 – 12 hours before baking: remove bread dough from freezer and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Loosely cover the dough in plastic wrap that has been sprayed with baking spray. Set in the refrigerator for 8 – 12 hours to thaw.
- When ready to bake: Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Remove the plastic wrap and discard. Gently stretch the dough out so the loaf is about 12-inches long. Let rise in a warm, draft free place for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Just before dough has finished rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a microwave-safe dish. Use a pastry brush to spread the melted butter over the risen dough. Sprinkle the dough with a bit of the garlic salt and Italian seasoning. Score the top of the loaf with a knife.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 – 30 minutes, or until deeply golden brown. A good test of bread being baked through is that it will make a hollow sound when the bottom is thumped with a finger.
- Allow bread to cool for about 10 minutes before slicing in half. Spread the remaining butter over each half of bread. Sprinkle with the remaining garlic salt and Italian seasoning (or to your personal taste preference).
- Return to oven for 10 minutes, or until butter is totally melted and edges of bread are toasty.
- Remove from oven and cut into slices before serving.
Notes
- Wrap any leftover garlic bread in tinfoil and store at room temperature for up to three days.
- To reheat garlic bread: Place foil-wrapped bread in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes.
- To quickly thaw frozen bread dough: place frozen dough on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave on the “defrost” setting of the microwave for 3 minutes. Rotate loaf and microwave on “defrost” for another 3 minutes. After 6 minutes the dough should be perfectly defrosted! Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and set the dough out to rise as directed in the recipe above.
Carolyn says
Made this to go with lasagna on Father’s Day. I had forgotten to get garlic bread, but remembered I had a loaf if frozen dough. This fit the bill? Put shredded parmesan cheese on a couple of the pieces for variety. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Amanda Gajdosik says
Shredded cheese on garlic bread is always a hit! Hope you had a wonderful Father's Day celebration, Carolyn. Thanks for commenting! 🙂