A Homemade Garlic Knots recipe made completely from scratch! We’re keeping the prep simple, too: only 30 minutes of rise-time and there’s no mixer required!
For today’s recipe we start with my easy (from-scratch) pizza dough and add a few garlicky, buttery tweaks. Be sure to check out the video showing you exactly how I make garlic knots in my own kitchen, it’s just below the printable recipe!
As promised, today’s recipe for Garlic Knots is perfect for sopping up flavorful tomato sauce from your new favorite Baked Ziti.
I know that plenty of recipes for garlic knots start with pre-made dough, and I totally understand being in a rush sometimes, but nothing stacks up to the taste of a completely from-scratch recipe. Maybe I’m biased, but homemade is always better!
We start with a simple yeast dough. Don’t be intimidated if you don’t often bake with yeast (like I was for the longest time), this is a great recipe for beginners. If you can stir and can tie a knot, you can make this recipe.
Bread Flour vs All-Purpose Flour in Garlic Knots
You can use either bread flour or all-purpose flour when making garlic knots. Either one will work, but you will get slightly different results.
Bread flour is my preference for this recipe. Using bread flour will give your garlic knots a slightly more crisp exterior and a chewier interior. All-purpose flour will make them softer and fluffier. While I like my cake recipe to be soft and fluffy, I prefer my garlic knots to be a bit chewier and more like a breadstick, so I stick with bread flour here.
Make sure to brush them with just enough olive oil to coax them to turn a beautiful golden brown in the oven.
Melted Garlic Butter
Now let’s get to all that garlicky goodness I talked about earlier.
We are adding a bit of garlic powder (just half a teaspoon) into our dough, but most of the garlic flavor is going to come from our buttery garlic-infused topping. You’ll need just three ingredients for this topping:
- Butter (salted)
- Minced garlic
- Fresh basil
While your garlic knots are baking, combine your butter and garlic on the stove over low heat, cooking until the butter is melted and the garlic is fragrant. Remove from heat and stir in fresh minced basil (parsley will also work).
Once your garlic knots are out of the oven, generously brush them with garlic butter before serving. The butter (and that flavor) will absorb into the garlic knots as they cool down just enough for you to dig in.
Enjoy!
Recipes that pair well with garlic knots:
How to Make Garlic Knots
Garlic Knots
Ingredients
- 2-2 ⅓ cups bread flour* divided (250-295g)
- 1 packet instant yeast 2 ¼ teaspoons
- 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil + additional
- ¾ cup warm water 105-115F [40-46C] (180ml)
Garlic Butter:
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter
- 3 cloves minced garlic about 1 ½ Tablespoons
- 1 Tablespoon minced fresh basil
- Grated parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F (205C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine 1 cup (125g) of flour, instant yeast, sugar, salt, and garlic powder and stir well.
- Add olive oil and warm water and use a wooden spoon to stir until all ingredients are well-combined.
- Gradually add another 1 cup (125g) of flour. Add any additional flour as needed (I've found that sometimes I need as much as an additional ⅓ cup), stirring until the dough forms a cohesive, elastic ball and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the bowl (see video below recipe for visual). The dough will still be tacky but still should be manageable with your hands.
- Drizzle a separate, large, clean bowl generously with olive oil and use a pastry brush to brush up the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer your dough to prepared bowl and roll the dough through the oil until the entire surface of the dough is lightly coated with oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place on top of your oven to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Once the dough has risen, use your hands to gently deflate it and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Form into a log about 15” long and cut into 9 even pieces.
- Roll each piece between your palms and slightly pull it to form a rope about 8” long (lightly dust the dough with flour if needed).
- Carefully tie each rope into a knot (see video for guidance) and place on prepared baking sheet. Lightly brush with olive oil if desired.
- Set tray on top of warm oven and let garlic knots rest/rise for 5 minutes before baking.
- Transfer to oven and bake on 400F (205C) for 13 minutes or until just beginning to turn a light golden brown.
- While garlic knots are baking, prepare Garlic Butter.
Garlic Butter
- Combine butter and garlic in a small saucepan over medium/low heat. Cook until butter is melted and garlic is fragrant.
- Remove from heat and stir in minced basil. Once Garlic Knots have finished baking, use a pastry brush to generously brush garlic butter mixture over each knot. Sprinkle with grated parmesan, if desired.
- Enjoy served warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Jaclyn
My husband made these twice for our son (who always has to order these form our local pizzeria). These are so easy to make and so good! If you’re on the fence about making these, do it! We’ve even used dried minced garlic and dried basil in a pinch! We are going to try to make a pizza with this dough next. Thanks for the recipe!
Alli
I’ve made these twice, and they’ve turned out fantastic both times. Since I rarely have bread flour on hand I use organic AP flour.
FYI — I’ve used my bread machine’s dough cycle both times. Adds to the prep time, but it’s “hands off” time that allows me to toss the ingredients in and do other things while the dough is mixing and rising.
Since we reeeaaally like garlic butter, I made a lot more topping. 8 T. butter + a tablespoon or two of olive oil, a whole bunch of minced garlic, a couple tablespoons of parmesan, a sprinkle of freeze dried basil, oregano and parsley. I brushed some on before baking, and after. Still had a bit left over for dipping. 🙂
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy you’ve enjoyed them, Alli! Thanks for coming back to leave a review–we really appreciate it! ❤️
Lynne
I love how easy this recipe is, and my family devours these whenever I make them! I like shaping them into small nuggets & breadsticks to increase the amount of surface area for the garlic sauce 🙂
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Lynne! There’s never enough garlic sauce if you ask me! 😉
Chloe
Loved these! Made these for my partner and he thought they were a big hit too. Gonna add this to my list of regular recipes. I substituted vegan butter for the butter and used garlic powder instead of fresh for the sauce, but it was still delicious! I could see these being great for a party snack.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Glad you liked them, Chloe! Thanks for letting us know how it went for you 🥰
Sarah Perez
Love this recipe. I’m definitely an amateur when it comes to bread-making, but I have found this recipe to be super fun and simple! I made it for the first time a couple months ago, and today was my third time making it. It has been a hit every time! I have found the video super helpful. Thanks for the great recipe! I no longer buy frozen garlic bread. 🙂
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you’ve mastered this recipe, Sarah! Homemade is always better, even if it takes a bit more time ❤
Christa
I used a cup of warm water as the dough with too stiff with 2 cups of flour. I used dried basil as I didn’t have fresh and only a fraction of the amount as the dried is more concentrated in flavour I baked with the garlic butter on the knots to take any harshness out of the garlic rather than after baking. Also sprinkled with mozzarella cheese prior to baking rather than Parmesan. Will make again. My dinner guests loved them.
Lori Morel
I just finished baking & eating this & it’s the best bread. I definitely added Parmesan. I also made the homemade marinara sauce to dip it in & both are delicious. I used all purpose flour because it was all I had & it turned out so good & I’m not a bread baker.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed them, Lori! Thanks so much for your review ❤
Steph
I use this pizza dough recipe all the time and love it. These garlic knots are so simple and amazing!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you’re loving our recipes, Steph! Thanks for your review 😊
Jen
This recipe looks delicious. Thanks for the tip about the bread flour. I’m
Making these this for this weekend but wanted to know if the could be prepared ahead of time and how I would do that properly? If I freeze them do I do before or after putting garlic butter on them?
Thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jen! We have not frozen them, but if you wanted to freeze them, you could do it before baking. We would suggest you make the dough, roll out the garlic knots, and then wrap them individually and stick in a freezer bag. They would probably need a little more time in the oven when baking from frozen. 🙂
Mary
Thanks for the make ahead freezing tip. Love this recipe.
Rachel
This is by far my favorite garlic knot recipe. My family keeps asking for more!
Madeline
Super easy!! My sister was coming over and wanted to order pizza and garlic knots… The pizzeria doesn’t make garlic knots so I set out to make them myself! They were super easy and quick!
Smriti
I love garlic knots because they taste so amazing!!!!!