Most of my life has been surrounded by bread, somehow. Which is odd that I recently had gone through The Whole 30, which meant I couldn’t eat any bread. I remember proofing dough on the radiators in our kitchen when my mom and I lived in Pennsylvania. And I remember putting all the ingredients in the bread machine for poppy seed bread with my grandmother when we lived at the campground (they owned it). My favorite part was getting the end of the bread, fresh out of the oven or the bread machine, slathering it in butter and eating it. It truly is the best part about bread, that warm end piece.
So while we’re not on The Whole 30 anymore, I opted to raid our cabinets and make my own since we’re refusing to buy it right now. And we had just enough flour to make two loaves. I didn’t need two loaves, but I didn’t think through dividing the recipe in half. Whoops. And because my grandmother always made flavored breads, I had to do something different, which is how the garlic came into play. Dusted on the top of the bread, it’s delicious.
Homemade Garlic Bread
Gather
1 (1/4 oz) package of active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups of warm water
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of salt
1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
4 1/2 to 5 cups of all-purpose flour
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, salt, oil, garlic powder, and flour (1 cup at a time as you combine it( into bowl. Combine to form a soft dough ball.
Turn onto floured surface and knead until smooth, about 8 minutes. Place into a lightly greased bowl and cover with a towel. Place in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1 to 1/2 hours.
Divide dough in half and shape into loaf. Lightly grease loaves with oil and place in two 9-in x 5-in loaf pans. Cover and let rise again, about 30 minutes. Lightly sprinkle garlic powder on top of dough.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove loaves from pans and let cool on wire racks.