Back when I cooked monthly dinners at Tartine bakery, I tried to incorporate their extraordinary bread into every menu. At some point, I began scoring loaves destined to become garlic bread vertically rather than halving them horizontally. The brilliance of this small tweak is that it allows for a maximal ratio of garlic butter to bread. The resulting loaf was so laden with garlic, herb, and Parmesan butter that it was, well, criminally good. Friends soon started calling it pane criminale.
This recipe shines when made with a rustic loaf of country bread, but baguettes work well, too. Either way, use the most flavorful, crustiest bread you can find—it’ll make all the difference.
Note: You can prepare, wrap, and refrigerate the loaf up to 1 day ahead. Bring to room temperature before baking.
recipe 
yields
Makes one 1-pound loaf or two 8-ounce baguettes
10 large garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1⁄3 cup finely chopped parsley leaves, basil leaves, and/or chives
1⁄3 heaping cup finely grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
One 1-pound loaf rustic country bread or two 8-ounce baguettes
Ingredients
steps
- Adjust an oven rack to the center position and preheat to 400°F.
- Mince 8 of the garlic cloves. Gently heat a small saucepan over medium-low and add the oil and minced garlic. Cook, stirring and swirling constantly, until the garlic is tender and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Do not allow it to take on any color. (If you sense the garlic is starting to brown, remove the pan from the heat, and add a few drops of water.) Pour the garlic and oil into a medium heatproof bowl and set aside to cool.
- Finely grate the remaining 2 garlic cloves. When the minced garlic and oil have cooled to room temperature, stir in the grated garlic, butter, chopped herbs, Parmesan, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Deeply score the bread in 1-inch slices, but don’t cut all the way through. Use an offset spatula to generously spread garlic butter on one side of each slice, as far down as you can reach. Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and place it on a sheet pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes (10 minutes for baguettes). Unwrap the top of the loaf and bake until the crust is browned and crisp, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.
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Recipe excerpted from
Photographs from Good Things by Aya Brackett. Copyright © 2025 by Aya Brackett. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
