Your kitchen is going to smell amazing when you make this. The delicious, salty garlic butter makes it so appetizing and it takes only minutes to make. I adapted it slightly from a recipe in The New York Times, mostly to reduce the amount of butter because even after I slathered the bread twice, I had a lot of butter left over. I still had extra when using a long, thin baguette — a wider and larger loaf might use up the full amount. If not, use it to spread on savory toast the next day!

1 French baguette
6 Tbsp. butter (3 oz. or 85g)
3 large garlic cloves
1 heaping Tbsp. finely grated Parmesan cheese (definitely use more if you want)
Lots of salt (maybe 1 tsp.)
Freshly ground pepper

Heat the oven to 400F/200C degrees. Slice the bread into 1-inch slices, making deep cuts but not going all the way through. Transfer bread to a piece of foil.

Melt the butter, then mix in minced garlic, cheese, salt, and pepper. Generously brush the butter inside each slice, then brush the top of the loaf a couple of times. Seal the foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and open the foil, then bake for another 5 minutes.