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 1/3 cups bread flour* divided (250-295g)
- 1 packet instant yeast 2 1/4 teaspoons
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil + additional
- 3/4 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 1/3 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.
Mikaru86 says
I’m very happy to see that you are getting more into yeast recipes. I remember back when you were very hesitant to try them and I kept insisting that you should try them more 😉
Those garlic knots look amazing by the way. I think I’ll have to try them some time 🙂
Sam says
It intimidated me for the LONGEST time! Thank you so much for all of your encouragement, it really was a big help to me! And thank you!! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Deeksha says
Garlic knots look awesome!! I am sure going to try this week!
Sam says
Thank you! I hope you LOVE them!!
Valerie L. says
Hi, I have always been intimidated about making recipes that have yeast as one of the ingredients. However, after watching your helpful video, I am definitely going to give this delicious-looking recipe a try. Thanks, Sam!
Sam says
I hope you love it, Valerie! Baking with yeast really isn’t as intimidating as it seems 🙂