Cheesy Garlic Bread

This cheesy garlic bread is hands-down my ultimate garlic bread.  

It's pretty much a meal in itself.

Serve it with some marinara sauce and you have an amazing appetizer. 

Or pair it up with a favorite dish like Spasagna or Stuffed Shells...yum!

Recently I was challenged by Smart Balance to switch out my normal butter sticks for Smart Balance Buttery Sticks. If you missed the Apple Cinnamon Snickerdoodle recipe, be sure to check it out. It worked great for the cookies, but I also wondered, how it would work in my favorite garlic bread where butter is a huge part in the tastiness of the bread. So I whipped up this cheesy garlic bread as I usually do and just switched out butter for Smart Balance.

Now, you will notice, this bread also has mayo and lots of cheese so you're probably thinking, 
why even bother with trying to make it a bit healthier?  
And I say, why not?  
I'm gonna make it anyway so why not make it a bit healthier?
About 4 years ago I made the small step to cut soda out of my diet. That's it. 
No other big health changes, just cut out soda. 
I figured it was something I could live without as long as I still had my yummy comfort foods. 
And after two years, I had lost 20 pounds.

 Just by cutting out soda. 

Don't get me wrong, I still sneak in a drink or two of it here and there. 
Hot dogs just aren't the same without an ice cold root beer. 

But really I don't miss it. I drink water - a lot.

So, that's how I look at this Smart Balance. 
It's a small change I can make that won't make a difference in the taste of my cooking and
 baking but is a small step towards better health.

And also, I refuse to give up cheese. Ever.  

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened  

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 1/2-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 loaf italian or french bread

dried parsley flakes (optional)

 Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F degrees

Cut loaf in half lengthwise, and put one half on baking sheet.
(This recipe is for half a loaf.)

 In a small bowl combined softened butter with minced garlic. Stir well.

 In another bowl, combine shredded mozzarella cheese with mayonnaise.

It's a bit glumpy (very technical cooking term there). Just do your best to combine them together with a spoon.

 Spread butter/garlic mixture on loaf.

Next, spread cheese/mayo mixture on top.  I find it easiest to do this part with my hands.

 Sprinkle with some dried parsley flakes for a bit of color. This part is optional.

Bake in 375F degree oven for about 12-15 minutes. Until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Cut into slices and serve.

If you like, serve it with a little marinara dipping sauce and dig in!

Cook's Review: As you can tell, my little guy loved it. We seriously love this bread so I was really keeping my fingers crossed that it would work out well with the Smart Balance. We honestly could not tell a bit of difference between the Smart Balance sticks and my usual butter sticks.  And small steps towards healthy eating is something to feel good about too.
Also, feel free to adjust the cheese amounts to your preference. 

About 1 1/2-2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese should work for half a loaf of french or italian bread.

Enjoy!

Printable Recipe Here

Disclosure: Smart Balance provided me with product vouchers for the purpose of testing out their products. I was compensated for my time in writing the post and was asked to give an honest and fair opinion of the product.  As always, all opinions of any product I test are mine and mine alone.