“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight.” —M.F.K. Fisher
There are some pretty special moments in one’s food life. A bowl of hot soup on a freezing winter’s day, freshly-baked cookies as you decorate the holiday tree, and warm maple syrup pooled around fresh pancakes come to mind. (I’d add candy corn on Halloween but I know that candy corn can be “polarizing.”)
The ultimate food moment for me is the split second when I bite into warm yeasty bread fresh from the oven–just before the melted butter drips down my chin and onto my shirt. Bliss.
So, here is a “food moment” recipe: Garlic Knots. These Garlic Knots are sure to become one of your favorite food moments. They are incredibly easy to bake, fast to proof and delicious in that special yeasty kind of way. The recipe is adapted from one you can find on the King Arthur Baking site here. Be sure to add lots of butter.
Why not up your quality bread game with these delicious rolls? You deserve to have good tasting fresh-baked bread in your life. As the sainted Julia Child so wisely asked: “How can a nation be great if its bread tastes like Kleenex?”
Here’s the recipe:
Garlic Knots
Ingredients
- For the Bread
- 1 C. lukewarm water
- 2 t. instant yeast
- 1 T. sugar
- 3 C. all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 t. salt
- 2 T. olive oil
- For the Bread Glaze
- 3 cloves peeled, crushed garlic
- 4 T. butter
- Grated Parmesan
- Finely chopped parsley
- 1 t. Italian seasoning
Directions
- Step 1 Combine lukewarm water, yeast, and sugar in a bowl. Stir to combine and set aside for 10 minutes or so. At the end of ten minutes, your water/yeast mixture should be foamy.
- Step 2 Combine flour, yeast mixture, salt and olive oil in the bowl of your stand mixer using the bread hook attachment on low speed. Knead with the attachment for 6 to 8 minutes until you have a soft and somewhat sticky dough. Put the dough into a lightly-greased glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough sit for about an hour. It should double in size.
- Step 3 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Step 4 When the dough has doubled in size, gently deflate it. Divide the dough into sixteen pieces and roll each piece into a 11-inch rope. Tie each dough rope into a knot and place the pieces on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover the sheet and let the dough double in size. This should take about an hour.
- Step 5 Meanwhile, whisk the melted butter, Italian seasoning, and the minced garlic together.
- Step 6 When the dough knots have doubled in size, brush them with the garlic-butter mixture and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until the knots are a light golden brown in color.
- Step 7 Remove the knots from the oven and toss them in the remaining garlic butter mixture. Add grated parmesan and chopped parsley to the bowl and toss the knots in the parmesan.
