NuM NuM

These garlic knots were the perfect accompaniment to the lasagna I made the other night. Warm and fresh out of the oven, soft in the middle, every bite is full of garlicky goodness. If you thought the garlic bread at Olive Garden was good, these will knock your socks off! They were surprisingly easy to make and highly addicting.


Buttery Garlic Knots
Recipe adapted from Repressed Pastry Chef & King Arthur Flour blog & here
Makes 16 knots

Dough
3 cups bread flour
1/4 cup milk (I used 2% milk)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast (Rapid Rise Highly Active Yeast)
1-1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup + 2 tablespoons lukewarm water (warm up water for 8 seconds in microwave)

For the filling/topping...
4 large cloves garlic
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. sea salt
Pizza Seasoning or Italian seasoning, to sprinkle on top of the knots

INSTRUCTIONS
To make dough—
In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the dry ingredients together then add the olive oil, milk and water. Using the paddle attachment or dough hook, mix and knead to form a smooth, elastic dough, adding additional water or flour (I added about 10 more tbs of flour) as needed. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and allow it to rise for about 1 hour, until it’s doubled in bulk. (I heated a cup of water for 45 seconds in the microwave then put my bowl with the dough inside and closed the door to speed up the process. It doubled its size within 40 minutes)

In a small skillet, melt 2 T butter with 2 T extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant but not brown, about 2 minutes. Add the sea salt and mix well. Divide the butter mixture into two bowls. Add rosemary to one of the bowls and use it as the "filling" to glaze over the dough before you knot them. Use the other butter bowl as the glaze when the knots are done baking. Remember to scoop from the bottom of the bowl so the garlic pieces are on top of the knots along with the butter. Finish with a sprinkling of pizza seasoning.

Shape the dough into a rectangle 16" long and 8" wide and flatten dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Divide the dough into 3/4 to 1 inch intervals using a pizza cutter or sharp knife and then divide dough evenly in half vertically. Take each piece and taking the palm of your hand flatten dough to about a 1/4 inch in thickness and spread rosemary butter over dough. Fold dough in half lengthwise and press edges together (taking top part and folding it over bottom half like you would a sheet of paper) then roll into a rope about 10 inches long like this website. If dough is sticking to board or is too wet then add a sprinkling of more flour so it will be easier to work with. Tie each rope into a knot, tucking the loose ends into the center. Place the knots on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover loosely, and let rise for 45 minutes to about an hour, until very puffy looking. (After tying the dough into knots I put them in the fridge over night. An hour before I was ready to serve I removed them from the fridge so they could come to room temperature and then put them in the oven. They did not puff up but stayed the same size)

Before the end of the last rise, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake the knots for about 14-18 minutes, until golden. You do not want them to get too crisp since they should stay soft in the middle. Remove from oven and brush with remaining garlic butter mixture and sprinkle tops with pizza seasoning. Serve rest of sauce as dip.