Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Step 1: Take a large bowl and add flour, dry yeast, and salt. Briefly mix the dry ingredients.
- Step 2: Now comes the star: the finely minced garlic. Add it to the dry ingredients in the bowl. Adding small garlic pieces gives extra flavor!
- Step 3: Pour in the warm water and olive oil. You don't have to knead! Just take a sturdy spoon or a dough scraper and stir everything vigorously until no dry flour is visible and you have a very sticky, but homogeneous dough. This takes maybe 1-2 minutes of intensive stirring.
- Step 4: Cover the bowl well, preferably with cling film or a damp tea towel. Place it in a warm spot – next to the heater, in the turned-off, slightly warm oven, or simply on the kitchen counter if it's warm enough there. Now let the dough do its work undisturbed and rise for about an hour until it has visibly increased in size (at least doubled!).
- Step 5: While the dough is comfortably rising, preheat your oven to 220°C (top/bottom heat).
- Step 6: Grease a loaf pan or a round oven-safe dish (approx. 24-26 cm diameter) well. Carefully put the sticky dough into it and smooth the surface as best as possible. Don't worry, it doesn't have to look perfect, the rustic look fits perfectly!
- Step 7: Place in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. It is ready when it has a beautiful golden brown color and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Step 8: Take the fragrant wonder out of the oven. Let it rest in the form for a short while, maybe 5-10 minutes, before carefully removing it. The hardest part now is waiting until it's no longer boiling hot. It tastes best lukewarm, cut into thick slices and maybe spread with a little butter... heavenly!
Notes
Variations & Additions: This lazy garlic bread is a great base that you can jazz up as you like. Add a handful of grated cheese (Cheddar, Gouda, Parmesan, Mozzarella, etc.) into the dough or sprinkle a good portion on top before baking for a crispy cheese crust. Fresh or dried herbs like rosemary, thyme, chives, or chopped parsley go well with garlic – just add them to the dough along with the garlic. Chopped black or green olives or well-drained, finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes give the bread a wonderfully Mediterranean note. A pinch of chili flakes in the dough gives the bread a little kick. Replace some of the white flour (e.g., 100-150g) with whole wheat or spelt flour for a more rustic texture and more fiber.
Tips for your Perfect Garlic Bread: The correct water temperature is really the most important point with yeast. The water should be lukewarm, not hot. Imagine a baby bottle, about that warm. Even if you don't knead, stir the dough with the spoon or scraper really vigorously and long enough (approx. 1-2 minutes) until all ingredients are well combined and no flour sticks to the bottom or sides. Yeast likes it warm for rising. If your kitchen is rather cool, place the bowl, for example, in the turned-off oven that you have briefly heated to 30-40°C beforehand. Drafts are also not good for the dough. Keep an eye on the baking time. Every oven bakes differently. Keep an eye on the bread after 20 minutes. It should be nicely golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, which is a sign that it is baked through. You can weigh and mix the dry ingredients (flour, yeast, salt, garlic) the day before. When you mix the dough, you can also let it rise in the refrigerator overnight (then it takes longer, but develops more aroma and you can bake it fresh the next morning).
Storage: This garlic bread tastes best fresh and lukewarm straight from the oven. But if, contrary to expectations, leftovers remain, you can store it well wrapped (in cling film or a bread box) at room temperature. This way it stays fresh and moist for 1-2 days. In the refrigerator, it keeps a little longer, but can dry out faster. You can also slice the bread and freeze it in an airtight container. Then simply thaw portions and reheat briefly. To reheat, it's best to briefly bake it in the toaster (slices) or in the oven. This makes the crust crispy again. A minute in the microwave is also possible, but makes the crust soft.