A Tasty Hedge Hog

If you’ve never tried making garlicky cheese bread, now is the time to start.  This Hedge Hog Bread is DELICIOUS!  Don’t you just love when things are so simple AND so good?  We sure do. This bread is just one of those kinds of things and we think you’ll be making it again and again and again.  Quick, easy and gone before you know it.  It’s that good!

To make this wonderful treat you take a round or oval loaf of French or sourdough bread and slice it, almost but not quite all the way through, making slices about 1″-1 1/2″ apart.  Then turn the bread 90 degrees and make slices using the same spacing going the other direction.  This will form what looks like squares or chunks on the top.  When you lightly bend the bread in either direction you will see the separated pieces that look like the back of a hedge hog, thus the name.

Place the bread on a baking sheet or in a 9″ x 13″ baking pan.  Grate some cheese.  It could be cheddar, or swiss, or mozzarella or a combo;  just use whatever your favorite cheese is.  Stuff the grated cheese in each of the slices or rows running both directions.  The amount of cheese depends on how cheesey you want it to be. We used both mozzarella and some freshly grated parmesan.  Have fun…experiment with combinations.  You might enjoy adding diced green onions, or maybe some fresh oregano or thyme.  There is no end to the possibilities.  This is the basic bread, which is delicious as is but try some other combos to see which is the best to you.

Next melt at least 1 stick of butter with 2 minced cloves of garlic (or more again depending on your taste), about 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder and a couple of shakes of seasoning salt.  Stir all the seasoning and butter until the butter is hot and bubbling.  Immediately pour the hot garlic butter all over the bread making sure it gets down in all the crevices.  Depending on the size of the loaf you are making you may need more butter.

Bake the whole thing in a 375 degree preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted and  the bread is nicely browned on top.

Serve immediately.  To eat, pull wedges of the cut bread out from the loaf.

Make sure you have plenty of napkins. This is perfect for a football game, as an appetizer at a BBQ, or instead of the traditional garlic bread with an Italian dinner.  It would also be perfect for a birthday party.  And speaking of birthdays, we couldn’t let the day go without wishing our dear chum Anouska, (who happens to be Jackie’s daughter-in-law) a very happy birthday and many, many happy returns of the day 🙂

Just like Anouska, this bread will be a VERY big hit with everyone, we are sure 🙂