Favorite Garlic Knots

These classic tasty garlic knots are a thing of perfection. An absolute crowd pleaser!

You wouldn't believe how good this is!!!

A family favorite. Kids favorite. Neighborhood favorite. Guests favorite. Potluck favorite. 

Has been for at least 10 years. No kidding.  

You could use store bought pizza dough instead but the result might not be as soft. 

It all begins with an amazing pizza dough, that is slightly modified to make these pillowy soft rolls.  

I admit, this is not easy as opening a can of dough and baking. But. I promise, it's so worth it. And this recipe is surprisingly easy to make with a stand mixer. 

Whisk four, yeast and salt together..

Add olive oil and lukewarm water..

Stir together with a spoon or butter knife...

Attach bowl to mixer and knead on high for 2 minutes..

Let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 ½ hours..

Amazing, soft, homemade dough

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Skill level - Intermediate

Favorite Garlic Knots

Ingredients:

Dough:

3 ½ cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled

3 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 ½ teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons lukewarm water, refer notes_1

Garlic butter:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried parsley

¼ teaspoon salt

Additional ingredients:

2-3 tabelpoons grated parmesan cheese

marinara or tomato sauce, for serving

Preparation:

Make dough

1. Add flour, yeast and salt into the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together to combine.

2. Add olive oil and lukewarm water, stir with a butter knife or a spoon, until moistened.

3. Attach bowl to the stand mixer along with the dough hook and knead on high speed for 2 minutes, until smooth. (If dough looks a bit dry then add water by the teaspoons or if it looks very sticky then add 1 or 2 tablespoon flour and knead until it looks smooth again).  

4. Remove dough onto a counter and shape into a ball. Lightly coat the (now empty) bowl with olive oil on all sides. Place dough back into the bowl and turn it around, so it coats with oil on all sides. Cover bowl tightly with a clean kitchen towel and place in the warmest spot of your kitchen for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until doubled in size. 

(During cooler days, I adopt to the oven method to rise the dough : Set the oven temperature to 170 degrees F (or the lowest that your oven can go to). As soon as the oven begins to heat, let it warm up for 20-30 seconds (don’t let it go to 100 degrees). Turn the oven off and place the bowl inside and let rise until doubled. If the oven reaches 100 degrees or higher, leave the oven door open for some time  to cool down a touch before keeping the dough). 

5. Line a standard baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

6. Transfer dough onto a work surface, cut into 24 equal pieces.

7. Shape each into a knot - using both your hands, roll dough into a 6-7 inch rope, loosely tie like a knot, tuck edges underneath and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with all remaining dough and place knots about an inch apart. Loosely cover pan with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 30 minutes.

8. In the mean time (towards the end of 30 minutes), pre heat oven to 400 degrees F or 205 degrees C and make garlic butter - Melt butter in the microwave and stir in garlic powder, dried parsley and salt.

9. After 30 minutes (knots would have risen slightly), brush garlic butter mixture on top of each knot (you will have about half the butter left over which we will use later). Place pan in the middle rack of the oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until golden.

10. Remove pan from oven and place on a wire rack and immediately brush remaining garlic butter (if butter has thickened, then microwave for few seconds to melt) on top of all knots. Sprinkle parmesan on top and serve piping hot with marinara or tomato sauce and watch it disappear.

Makes 24 knots

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Notes:

1. Luke warm water is 105F – 115F. An easy way to check without a thermometer- sprinkle few drops of water on the inside of your wrist. It should neither feel hot nor cold. 

2. Freezer friendly - Store garlic knots in a zip lock bag and freeze for about a month. Microwave as many as you need until thawed and hot.

(garlicknots)