Garlic Knots – simple ingredients come together to create BIG flavor. Basil and garlic are married together to transform this basic roll into a show stopping side. As these rolls bake, your house will smell heavenly.
The Best Homemade Garlic Knots Recipe
Baking is one of my all time favorite things to do! Especially when I bake something as adorable and delicious as these Garlic Knots! Don’t let the knots scare you, they are incredibly easy to make. I’ve baked my share of rolls in my day, from these Classic Dinner Rolls, to Best Ever Dinner Crescents to these Brioche Buns, but I have to say these garlic knots are some of my favorite!
Requiring just a handful of simple, kitchen staple ingredients, you will be blown away by how spectacular and easy this dough is to put together!
Why We Love These Garlic Knots
- Simple Bread Recipe! This recipe proves that making homemade bread can be easy. You don’t need any fancy ingredients or expert knowledge. Just a hot oven and an afternoon.
- Soft Garlicky Goodness! First brushed with a delicious garlic basil butter and then baked to perfection. These buttery bread knots are super soft on the inside and golden on the outside.
- Dinner Ready! Garlic knots pair perfectly with any meal from pasta to salad. You can even make a batch and freeze them so they are dinner ready at any time.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Knots
- Water – It’s super important to make sure your water is lukewarm. The best temperature of the water should be anywhere from 95°F to 105°F for this. You don’t really want anything warmer, as it will kill the yeast.
- Butter – I always use unsalted butter, especially in breads, because we already add salt, so this way I can control how much salt is added to my bread. Did you know that small quantities of butter is added to breads because it results in a higher rise and a crisper crust!
- Egg – I used a large egg.
- Flour – All purpose flour or you can use bread flour.
- Sugar – Sugar is important when making bread, it’s what makes it soft and tender by absorbing some of the water and slowing down the formation of gluten strands. Sugar is what feeds the yeast.
- Salt – To taste, but a must in any baked good.
- Yeast – Regular active dry yeast, though you can use instant yeast as well, you just don’t need to activate it.
Garlic Butter
- Butter – I used unsalted, melted butter.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic is best! Minced.
- Basil – Freshly chopped basil. Feel free to sub with parsley.
How To Make Garlic Knots
The most important part of a garlic knot recipe from scratch is activating the yeast. Once that’s done, all you have to do is make a simple dough with the help of a stand mixer, form the knots, and bake! Super easy and delicious!
Activate The Yeast
To make any type of yeast bread you have to bloom the yeast properly before you can even begin your dough. To do this, start by whisking the active dry yeast, sugar, and warm water together in a bowl. Then let it sit for 10 minutes undisturbed until the yeast foams up. The water must be warm for this step or the yeast will not activate.
Don’t move forward with the recipe if your yeast doesn’t foam up. This means that your yeast is dead and you need to buy new yeast.
Make The Dough And Let It Rise
Once the yeast has bloomed, you can make the dough. First, mix the flour and salt together in the bowl of your stand mixer. Then add the egg, butter, and yeast mixture. Next, using the paddle attachment, mix the ingredients together until they are well incorporated and a soft dough has formed.
Now, place the dough in a well oiled large bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Then set it in a warm dark place for about 1 to 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
Preheat The Oven And Prep The Pan
When the dough has doubled in size you can preheat your oven to 400°F (204°C) to prepare to bake the garlic knots. Then line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. You must line the sheet pan or the rolls will stick.
Form The Garlic Knots
Forming the knots is pretty simple if you just follow a few easy steps. To begin, punch down the dough to let some of the air out and knead it a couple of times with your hands. Now, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it’s about ½ inch in thickness. Then cut the dough into 15 long pieces each about the same size.
Next, shape the knots by rolling out each piece of cut dough into a long rope about 8 inches in length and tying it into a knot. Then place the formed knot on the prepared baking pan and repeat with the remaining pieces of cut dough.
Brush With Garlic Butter And Bake
With your knots formed it’s time to make the tasty garlic butter! So mix the melted butter, minced garlic, and chopped basil together in a small bowl. Next, generously brush all the knots on the baking sheet with the butter mixture.
Now, allow the knots to rest on the pan for another 10 minutes. Then pop them in the oven to bake for about 9 to 12 minutes or until golden brown in color.
Serve
When the garlic knots are done baking, brush them once again with any of the leftover basil butter before serving.
What To Serve With Your Garlic Knots
These garlic knots pair well with any meal! I mean garlic, basil and butter, you can’t go wrong. I would highly recommend pairing this with any Italian cuisine! Try these options:
- Pair them with a comforting bowl of Tomato Bisque
- Sop up all that extra goodness of these Italian Stuffed Peppers
- Dipped in marinara sauce!
- Or of course, with the Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs!
Whatever you choose to pair these knots with, you’ll be glad you did.
Expert Tips
- Check the date on your yeast. The main reason that dough doesn’t rise is due to using yeast that is old or has expired yeast. So if your yeast does not bloom and foam up it means that it is dead and the recipe will not work.
- Warm water is a must. If your water is too cold or too hot the yeast won’t activate. The water needs to be just warm to bloom the yeast properly.
- Use room temperature butter and eggs. It helps the dough to emulsify and come together. I always suggest taking the butter and eggs out of the fridge a couple of hours before making any bread recipe.
- Don’t overwork your dough. Try to only roll out the dough once and then cut the strips. If you roll it too much you will push the air out of the risen dough and the knots will be tough.
Can I Make These In Advance?
These knots can definitely be made ahead! Prepare everything as stated in the recipe up until step 5 where you place the knots on the baking sheet. Make sure to wrap them up tightly with plastic wrap and store them in the fridge overnight.
The next day, transfer the pan to the preheated oven and bake them as instructed.
Make Ahead Freezing Instructions
Same thing applies, complete the recipe up to step 5 and place the knots on the baking sheet. Wrap the pan in two layers of plastic wrap and make sure they are sealed to prevent freezer burn. Your garlic knots will keep for 2-3 months.
The night before you want to bake them, thaw them out in the refrigerator overnight, still wrapped. Finish the rest of the steps and voila!
How To Store
Store garlic knots sealed in an airtight container or bag for up to 5 days.
Freezing
If you’ve already baked your garlic knots, but still want to freeze them: let them cool completely before wrapping tightly in plastic wrap or a freezer bag and store in the freezer for 2-3 months.
Other Delicious Rolls To Try
- Quick Yeast Dinner Rolls
- Butter Biscuits
- Parker House Rolls
- Texas Roadhouse Rolls
- Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
- Finnish Cardamom Rolls
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Garlic Knots
Ingredients
Knots
- 1 cup water warm
- 2 tablespoons butter unsalted, softened
- 1 egg
- 3¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoon active dry yeast
Garlic Basil Butter
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon basil chopped
Instructions
- Activate the yeast: In a bowl whisk the yeast, sugar and warm water together. Stir and let it sit for 10 minutes until the yeast foams up.
- Make the dough: In the bowl of your mixer, mix the flour and salt together. To it, add egg, butter and yeast mixture. Mix using paddle attachment until it's all well incorporated. The dough will be a bit soft.
- Rise: Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, cover up with plastic wrap and let sit until doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven: Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut & Roll: Punch down dough to let out some of the air and knead it a couple times. Roll it out a bit so that it's about ½-inch in thickness, then cut the dough into 15 long pieces, as seen in the pictures. Roll each piece into long ropes about 8 inches long and tie each rope into a knot. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Finish & Bake: Mix the butter ingredients together and brush generously over the knots. Let the knots rest for another 10 minutes then bake for 9 to 12 minutes or until golden.
- Serve: If there's any garlic basil butter left, brush again on knots before serving.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Check the date on your yeast. The main reason that dough doesn’t rise is due to using yeast that is old or has expired yeast. So if your yeast does not bloom and foam up it means that it is dead and the recipe will not work.
- Warm water is a must. If your water is too cold or too hot the yeast won’t activate. The water needs to be just warm to bloom the yeast properly.
- Use room temperature butter and eggs. It helps the dough to emulsify and come together. I always suggest taking the butter and eggs out of the fridge a couple of hours before making any bread recipe.
- Don’t overwork your dough. Try to only roll out the dough once and then cut the strips. If you roll it too much you will push the air out of the risen dough and the knots will be tough.
- Store knots sealed in an airtight container or bag for up to 5 days.
- To freeze let them cool completely before wrapping tightly in plastic wrap or a freezer bag and store in the freezer for 2-3 months.
Nutrition Information:
Recipe adapted from For the Love of Cooking
These look so good! definitely making these to go with dinner tonight! thanks
The instructions say to use a mixer with paddle attachment, but the pictures here look like you’re using a food processor??
Actually it’s a food processor/mixer. So unless your food processor can do dough, I wouldn’t use it.
Planning to make garlic knots since ages!! Your spectacular garlic knots inspired me a lot! Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure, let me know how they turn out!
Mmmmm… Delish, little, real bread knots! We loved these Jo! Had to bake mine for about 21 minutes, doubled the melted butter ( sounds just like me 🙂 ) and they were delicious. Everyone Loved them! Thanks again Jo 🙂 <3
So happy to hear this!
Any changes needed if I use my bread machine to make the dough?
You would have to follow your bread machine’s instructions for that.
My daughter made this recipe and really loves it!
Unsure how to make the knots look like yours in the picture.
Can whole wheat flour be used for these?
Absolutely!
Do you think these could be made in advance and frozen before baking?
You can, just let them thaw out before placing them in the oven.
I don’t consider a pizzeria legit unless they make their own garlic knots. These look amazing! I’m going to try them immediately! Thanks so much for sharing!
Tried to do 3 batches of dough. Yeast bubbles beautifully but when I put it all together it was extremely dry and wouldn’t rise. Asked a baker about it and the answer was that there wasn’t enough liquid in the batter. There is only 1 cup of water listed. What should the other amount be that is added to the flour?
Water is the only liquid needed it for this recipe. However keep in mind that a lot of other things could come into play when you’re baking such as altitude, how you measure flour, etc. My advice to people is always that if your dough is too dry when you’ve used the ingredients in the recipe, add a bit more water until the dough feels right, if it’s too wet add more flour. Hope this helps.
Hi Jo, what is the proper way to measure flour?
Easiest way is to just use measuring cups and use a knife to level off the flour.
Made it along with the Cajun Honey Pork Tenderloin – where I substituted Pork with Beef. Those were delicious, though I overbaked the rolls a bit ! Since we are great fans of garlic in the family, I was wondering if we could garlic paste/finely chopped garlic inside the dough itself? Any idea how to go about?
Sure you can, great idea. 🙂