Cheesy Garlic Bread

The best Cheesy Garlic Bread you’ll ever make. The combination of garlic butter, herbs, cream cheese, and cheese makes this extra special.

Cheesy Garlic Bread

When it comes to cheesy garlic bread, I feel like there needs to be an equal emphasis on the cheese as there is on the garlic. And that’s exactly what this recipe delivers. We’ve using what I would call the ultimate garlic cream cheese butter.

It’s cheesy, garlicy, buttery, and satisfyingly creamy. This epic garlic butter gets spread on some pizza dough and baked till golden and crisp, before being finished with a healthy hit of freshly grated pecorino.

What makes this Cheesy Garlic Bread extra special

Without a doubt the best cheesy garlic bread I’ve ever made or eaten. And I know I’m biased here, but I’ve eaten enough garlic bread in my life to make that statement.

• The combination of cream cheese and garlic butter – this enhances the cheesiness and creaminess. Plus, we’re using the garlic and herb Boursin which is one of my all-time favourite cream cheeses
• Using a mixture of fresh herbs – for an extra herby garlic butter, I love to use a combination of fresh basil, parsley, and oregano
• Using a mixture of cheeses – there’s 3 cheeses here, the garlic and herb Boursin, mozzarella, and pecorino. With these we get creaminess, cheesiness, and salty umami-ness (from the pecorino)
• The crust – the base of this cheesy garlic bread is a crisp, light, and airy pizza base. Which is most definitely the best vehicle here, though you could totally use some ciabatta/baguette/any flatbread instead, if you wanted

The secret ingredient is garlic and herb cream cheese

I love using the Boursin packs, and it works so well here. It adds extra flavour, richness, and creaminess to the garlic butter. The cream cheese also has a very slight acidity which balances the garlic butter perfectly.

If you wanted to leave this out, by all means feel free to skip the cream cheese. But I highly recommend adding it in to all of your garlic butters from here onwards.

I like to use my pizza dough recipe as the base

This is my go-to pizza dough recipe that I’ve been using for years. It’s a cold proofed dough so it needs to be prepped 2-3 days in advance to ferment in the fridge. But it produces the most flavourful, airy, and light pizza dough. It’s also incredibly easy to work with!

This recipe is also easily customisable!

• Substitute the herbs for any of your favourites
• Use any cheeses you like – if you want some mature cheddar, go for it. Or perhaps even some Monterey Jack, parmesan, or asiago. You can also keep it simple and just use mozzarella if you wanted to
• Throw in some chillies for heat – add in some fresh red or green chillies into the cream cheese garlic butter mix for a good hit of spice
• Use some ciabatta, baguette, or any flatbread if you don’t want to make pizza dough

Let’s talk about some of the ingredients

I’ll cover the main ones below but the full recipe can be found at the end

• Pizza dough – you can find my recipe here
• Butter
• Garlic and herb cream cheese – I like to use the ‘Boursin’ variety, it has a great flavour and texture. It adds to the creaminess and cheesiness of the garlic butter
• Herbs – I love to use fresh parsley, fresh basil, and fresh oregano
• Cheeses – use any melting cheese you like, I love using mozzarella and pecorino

The KEY tips for making Cheesy Garlic Bread

1. Use fresh herbs – they have a much brighter flavour without being overpowering, and generally work the best for herb butters
2. Use a pizza stone or pizza peel – this is KEY for a crisp and well browned base due to the immediate transference of heat. This also drastically reduces the bake time which in turn keeps the dough light and airy. The longer the bake time -> the drier the crust
3. Bake at the highest temperature your oven can go – this keeps the bake time short for the same reason as above
4. Use a combination of bake and grill/broil – (only for pizza stone/steel users) bake until the crust is puffy and just starting to develop some colour, then immediately switch to the grill or broil setting to finish
5. Don’t use pre-shredded cheese – these are coated in starch to prevent clumping in the bag, but that starch also impacts the way the cheese melts

How to make this Cheesy Garlic Bread

I’ll cover the process steps below but the full recipe can be found at the end

1) Start by placing the butter, cream cheese, garlic, herbs, and salt into a food processor

2) Blitz until the mixture turns a vibrant shade of green and everything is well combined

3) Check for seasoning and add an extra pinch of salt (if needed!)

4) Stretch out some pizza dough (skip if you’re using a pre-made pizza base/ciabatta)

5) Top tip – use your knuckles to lift the pizza dough and rotate it around. Let gravity help you stretch it out!

6) Spread a generous dollop of the cream cheese garlic butter all over (leaving room for the crust)

7+8) Grate over some mozzarella and pecorino, or your cheeses of choice

9+10) Slide the cheesy garlic bread on to a floured pizza peel. You can alternatively prepare the garlic bread on a baking tray if you don’t have a pizza peel or pizza stone/steel

11) Give the cheesy garlic bread one final stretch by placing your fingers under the sides and gently stretching out. This is a common final step for Neapolitan and ‘Neapolitan-style’ pizza

12) Slide onto your preheated pizza stone/steel and bake in a HOT oven (the hottest your oven will go) till the crust is your desired shade of golden brown

13) Slide onto a wire rack for 60 seconds before transferring on to a cutting board. This helps the initial burst of steam to escape which keeps the crust crispy

Frequently asked questions

Can this cheesy garlic bread be made without pizza dough?

Totally, you can use a pre-made pizza base or ciabatta. You could even use a slice of toast if that’s all you have. They’re all just vehicles for the insanely delicious cream cheese garlic butter.

How to make cheesy garlic bread without a pizza stone or steel?

You could preheat a baking tray/sheet upside down in the oven and assemble the garlic bread on baking paper. Then slide both the paper and garlic bread onto the preheated tray with a pizza peel or another tray. It won’t work anywhere near as well as a pizza stone or steel but it’s better than nothing!

Otherwise just assemble the garlic bread on a baking tray and pop the tray into the oven.

How long does garlic bread keep? What’s the best way to store/reheat it?

It technically will keep for 3-4 days in an air tight container and refrigerated. Although I have never encountered a situation where there have been cheesy garlic bread leftovers. It simply does not happen.

Top tip for reheating:

1. First, heat a wide frying pan over a medium heat
2. Once hot, add the garlic bread slices (slightly spaced apart), followed by a splash of water (about 2tbsp). Add the water to the gaps in the pan, not on top of the garlic bread
3. Immediately cover with a lid and cook until the water has evaporated, then remove the lid and cook for a further 30-45 seconds

If you enjoyed this recipe

Please do let me know! Leave a review and a rating below, I’d love to know how you got on.

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Until then, happy cooking!