Homemade Garlic Knots (Recipe + Video) - Sally's Baking Addiction (2024)

Ingredients

Homemade Dough

• 1and 1/3 cups (320ml)warm water (between 100–110°F, 38–43°C)
• 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) Platinum Yeast from Red Star instant yeast(1standard packet)*
• 1 Tablespoon(13g)granulated sugar
• 3 Tablespoons (45ml) olive oil or (43g) melted butter
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder*
• 3 and 1/2 cups (about 450g) all-purpose flour(), plus more for hands and work surface

Topping

• 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, melted
• 3 garlic cloves, minced; or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning*
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• optional after baking: 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• optional after baking: 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

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1. Whisk the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes. *If you don’t have a stand mixer, simply use a large mixing bowl and mix the dough with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula in the next step.
2. Add the olive oil (or butter), salt, garlic powder, and half of the flour. Beat for 15 seconds, then add the remaining flour. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes.
3. Knead the dough:Keep the dough in the mixer (and switch to the dough hook if using the paddle) and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
4. Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray—just use the same bowl you used for the dough. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 1–2 hours or until double in size. (Tip: For a warm environment on a particularly cold day, heat your oven to 150°F (66°C). Turn the oven off, place the dough inside, and keep the door slightly ajar. This will be a warm environment for your dough to rise. After about 30 minutes, close the oven door to trap the air inside with the rising dough. When it’s doubled in size, remove from the oven.)
5. Shape the dough: Use the video tutorial and step-by-step photos as your guide for this step. When the dough is ready, punch it down to release the air. Using floured hands on a lightly floured work surface, shape the dough into a 16×5-inch (13x41cm) log. (5-inch width really isn’t as important as the 16-inch length here—no need to be exact.) Using a very sharp knife, pizza cutter, or bench scraper, slice into 16 1-inch strips. Roll each strip into 8-inch ropes. Tie each into a knot. You can tuck the 2 ends of the knots underneath or leave them out—that’s up to you. Arrange the knots on 2 baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
6. Lightly cover the shaped knots and let them rest for at least 30 minutes and up to 45 minutes. They will slightly puff up during this time, producing softer rolls.
7. Towards the end of the rise time, preheat oven to 400°F (204°).
8. Make the topping:Stir the melted butter, garlic, Italian seasoning, and salt together. Brush on the knots. Reserve some of the topping for when the knots come out of the oven.
9. Bake for about 20–23 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and brush the warm knots with remaining garlic butter. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and/or parsley, if using.
10. Serve plain or with marinara sauce for dipping.
11. Cover and store leftover knots at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Freeze baked and cooled knots for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter, then reheat as desired. (I usually just microwave them for a few seconds.)

1. Freezing Dough or Overnight Dough Instructions: See Pizza Dough recipe for details; the doughs are almost identical.
2. Freezing Unbaked Shaped Knots: Instead of freezing the dough as a whole, you can freeze the shaped knots before baking them. Shape the knots as directed in step 4. Arrange on a lined baking sheet. Freeze, uncovered, for 1–2 hours. Remove from the freezer. At this point, knots should be frozen and no longer sticky. Place them into a freezer-friendly container or zipped-top bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter. Bring to room temperature, arrange on 2 lined baking sheets, cover lightly, and allow to rest/rise for 1 hour before continuing with step 6.
3. Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer or Glass Mixing Bowl and Wooden Spoon or Silicone Spatula | Dough Scraper | Pizza Cutter | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Pastry Brush
4. Dough: You can make these garlic knots with 2 pounds of store-bought or homemade pizza dough. This recipe yields just about 2 pounds of dough, which is enough for 16 knots or 1 pizza + 8 knots. If you only want to make 8 knots, punch the dough down as directed in step 4. Cut in half. Use the other half of the dough however you’d like or freeze for later. Shape into an 8-inch log and cut into 8 1-inch strips. Continue with the recipe as directed.
5. Garlic Powder: I now add a little garlic powder to the dough. You won’t see that addition to the dough in the recipe video, but it adds a little extra flavor. Highly recommended.
6. Yeast: Platinum Yeast from Red Star is an instant yeast. You can use active dry yeast instead. The 1st rise time may take a little longer. Reference my Baking With Yeast Guidefor answers to common yeast FAQs.
7. Italian Seasoning: If you can’t find a spice labeled “Italian Seasoning” in the spice aisle, use dried oregano, dried basil, and/or dried parsley instead.