Cheese and Garlic Crack Bread

A decadent garlic bread perfect for sharing, with melted cheese tucked into every crack. Crusty on the outside, soft and flavorful inside, this pull-apart bread is ideal as an appetizer or a side for dinner. Simple to make ahead and reheat, it delivers maximum flavor with minimal effort.

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F.

2. 2

   Combine butter, garlic, and salt in a heatproof bowl and melt in microwave. Stir in parsley.

3. 3

   Cut the bread diagonally into 2 cm / 1" diamonds, but do not slice all the way through.

4. 4

   Open each crack with fingers or a knife. Drizzle in a teaspoon of butter and stuff a pinch of cheese into each slit.

5. 5

   Brush surface with remaining butter.

6. 6

   Wrap bread in foil and bake for 20 minutes until cheese mostly melts.

7. 7

   Unwrap and bake 5–10 minutes more to achieve a crusty top.

8. 8

   Serve immediately. Optionally, make ahead using softened butter and refrigerate or freeze. Reheat as described in notes.

Recipe Notes

• Make Ahead – Use softened butter instead of melted butter. Mix with garlic, salt, and parsley, smear into the cracks, stuff with cheese, wrap, and refrigerate or freeze. To cook, thaw and bake as instructed.

• For a brief reheat, bake bread first including unwrapped stage, then wrap in foil. Refrigerate up to 3 days. Microwave 1 1/2–2 minutes to serve; crust stays crusty.

• Bread type – Denser bread like sourdough works best. Use baked bread, not raw dough.

• Speedy tip – Cream butter instead of melting. Cut diagonal slices one way and spread butter in each crack. Then cut diamonds, and knife distributes butter into new crevices. Slightly less even coverage but faster.