Garlic Knots
Most weekends I spend busy in the kitchen and catching up on all sorts of things. This weekend I wanted nothing more than to stay in bed under the covers, occasionally leaving to work on a puzzle or read. But yesterday morning I woke up and realized I didn’t have a bread to post about. Enter these garlic knots. They are the perfect lazy day food. They are quick, involve little work, and I feel like soft bread with garlic and butter just kind of fits the atmosphere of a lazy day.
I don’t think of garlic knots as something that you eat in a fancy restaurant, but more pulling them apart and eating them on the couch while you watch old episodes of Lost in your Michigan snuggie (you can probably figure out how I spent my Sunday). When I was looking up recipes so many of them told people to just use crescent rolls or something similar from a tube. With about 5 minutes more extra work (and a 90 minute nap while it rises) you can makes these from scratch!
I will admit I had a bit of trouble at first getting the dough strips into a knot. Keeping them well floured helps the from sticking to your hands and the rest of the dough. Don’t worry about stretching it more or creating a loose knot, as the dough rises it will tighten up (similar to bagels).
The base dough recipe used here is also perfect for dinner rolls or any other quick snack bread. The spice and flavor combinations for what you put on these are virtually endless. The obvious compliment to the garlic and oregano I put is cheese. It is incredible the transformation these undergo from when you take them out of the oven to when they are brushed with the topping. Whatever you might decide to do, enjoy!
- ¾ C water
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 1¾ C bread flour (AP will be fine too)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl combine all dough ingredients. Knead for 5-7 minutes on medium speed or 9-10 minutes by hand. Shape the dough into a ball and let rise covered in a lightly oiled bowl until doubled in size.
- Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and pat out into a rectangle roughly 6 inches wide. Cut dough pieces roughly ½ inch thick, you should have about 20.
- Slightly stretch each and then tie into a knot. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat for all strips of dough. Lightly brush the knots with olive oil, then cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, roughly 90 minutes.
- Towards the end of the rising period preheat the oven to 400 F.
- When ready bake the garlic knots 12-15 minutes, until nicely browned on top.
- While baking melt the butter in a small pot and add the garlic and oregano. Brush over knots when they are out of the oven.
