Best Garlic French Bread Dinner Rolls Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is French or Italian better for garlic bread? ›

What is the best bread for garlic bread? French breads and Italian breads top the list for the best bread for garlic bread, but the best choice between these comes down to personal preference. For example, ciabatta is a flat Italian bread with a larger crumb (bigger holes) but still with a crunchy crust.

Too much flour, or not the right kind, could be to blame. Dough made only from flour with a high or even average amount of protein (like bread flour or all-purpose flour) can become tough from overmixing. Protein gives bread structure in the form of gluten—the more you mix and move the dough, the more gluten you get.

If you want a lighter fluffier bread loaf just add 2 Tbsp of dry milk to the flour per loaf of your bread. Vinegar has a very similar effect to the dough as the ascorbic acid. It helps hold the dough together and strengthens the bubbles so they won't pop.

Garlic Bread

The Italians do eat garlic rubbed on toasted bread – with olive oil, not butter – and call it bruschetta. But they will toast an Italian bread such as ciabatta, not a French baguette, as has become popular in the UK and America.

Garlic: fresh garlic cloves (rather than garlic powder) are KEY for that true garlic flavor. The minced garlic gets roasted to perfection in the oven.

In France, bakers pay careful attention to where their flour is made and which grains are used in the milling process. The result is usually softer, heartier, and tastier bread than can be found in other parts of the world. French flour tends to be made with a lower ash content than the flour from other countries.

Too much flour results in a dry, crumbly dough that's unpleasant and difficult to work with. It doesn't stick to itself and tends to fall apart when kneaded.

Flat flavor in bread is almost always because of not enough salt.

Butter basting: Rolls can be brushed with butter before, during, or after baking. While it doesn't brown the surface as much as egg wash will, it does promote browning and adds a lot of flavor.

What is the secret to crispy crust bread? ›

USE RIGHT TEMPERATURE

Bake the bread at high temperature, around 260/270°C, for the first 15 minutes of the baking process so that the crust and its beautiful golden color start developing quickly on the surface. Then lower the temperature to 150°C and continue the baking process for 15-20 minutes.

Steaming the oven has a cooling effect on the dough, and this enables the enzymes to remain active for a longer period of time. This in turn contributes to crust browning through the Maillard reaction, and later through caramelization of the crust.

Leftover French bread can be used in a variety of recipes, from sweet to savory. Bake it for breakfast to indulge in a spice-filled French toast, make a crostini and spread it with a tangy goat cheese mousse, add blue cheese croutons to tomato soup or grill your stale bread and spread it with an avocado-pea topping.

All it takes is a small amount of dough enhancer per loaf to create a much lighter and fluffier result. Using a dough enhancer like Vital Wheat Gluten works to improve the texture and elasticity of the dough and elongate the strands of gluten. Doing so allows more room for the gas in the dough to develop and rise.

Incorrect Activation or Wrong Yeast. For the bread to appear soft and fluffy, You must ensure that your yeast ferments correctly. It's not just the temperature in your kitchen, but also the activity of the yeast. Also, you must add the yeast to warm water to activate it.

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.