These Garlic Knots are the perfect rolls for your Thanksgiving (or Easter) table! They are chewy and soft, and have TONS of garlicky, buttery flavor! You can’t eat just one. (At least I can’t. A batch of these rolls is basically a meal for me.)
Originally posted November 9, 2017
One time in college my best friend Sarah taught a session at a church activity. It was called “How to Make an Impressive Dinner,” and we made it all, from main dish to sides to dessert. A bunch of 19 and 20 year old girls cooking fancy food in a run down apartment in Provo, Utah. Good times.
She made homemade rolls and I thought it was the most amazing thing ever (or dare I say, impressive). I didn’t know making yeasty bread was a thing you could actually DO. My mom never baked anything with yeast. I think she was just always too offended by the “knead for 8 minutes” part.
When we left for college, Mom gave each of her kids a little booklet of typed up recipes. Easy stuff that was cheap and quick, like Chicken and Broccoli Stuff and “Chicken Patties and Mashed Potatoes” (literally just frozen chicken patties paired with homemade mashed potatoes. A last-minute staple growing up. I think this is one of my mom’s favorite meals to this day.)
There is a table of contents at the front (I still have my copy) and there’s a category for bread. But when you turn to the bread page, instead of recipes it says:
BREADS: Go to the bread aisle of the grocery store or day-old bread store. Pick out something that looks good, like garlic or French bread for Italian dishes, whole wheat or cracked wheat for toast and sandwiches, soft rolls for most everything else, though sourdough is also good. (Sorry–I don’t do yeast. If you want recipes for actual homemade bread and rolls, I suggest calling your aunt Shirley.)
So there you have it guys. If this recipe has too much kneading for you, follow Mom’s instructions above.
How to make Garlic Knots
This recipe is from Sarah’s mom, Anne, (aren’t moms the best?) who also gave me her recipe for Garlic and Rosemary Skillet Bread. What can I say, this woman knows her garlicky yeast breads. (She does sweet yeast too. Her Maple Butter Twist Coffee Cake is amazing.) And I gotta admit, making these is a lot of fun. Check out the fun stuff you get to do with the dough:
How can you say no to a chewy, fresh baked roll that has just been dunked in garlicky butter and olive oil? You can’t, really. These would be great to make ahead for Thanksgiving. You could make them today and freeze them.* Fresh bread is one of the best parts of Thanksgiving!
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One year ago: Oven Roasted Cranberry Dijon Glazed Ham
Three years ago: Bacon Ricotta Crostini
Six years ago: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Garlic Knots
Ingredients
For the dough
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 cup water, warm
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 & 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 & 1/2 cups bread flour
For the garlic butter
- 1/4 cup butter, (half stick)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, add the yeast, warm water and sugar. Make sure the water isn't too hot. It should feel like nice bath water. Not hot-tub hot. Let this mixture sit for 5 minutes to proof. You are "proving" that the yeast hasn't been killed. If the yeast has puffed up, you're good to go. If the water is still flat after 5 minutes, then toss it out and start over.
- Stir in the salt, olive oil, and 1 cup of flour.
- Switch to the dough hook if you're using a mixer. Stir in another 1 and 1/2 cups flour.
- Knead for 7-8 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour a few tablespoons at a time if the dough is sticking to the sides and bottom. You want the dough to be smooth and elastic. It should not stick (much) to your fingers. Stop adding flour when you have reached this stage.
- Grease a large bowl with nonstick spray or rub with olive oil.
- Shape the dough into a ball and place it in the greased bowl. Turn it over so that the top half gets oiled.
- Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place for about 1 and 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size. I like to let dough rise in the oven: before you put the dough in, turn the oven on to the warm setting for a couple minutes, then turn the oven off. Once the oven is off, you can put the dough inside for a good rising environment.
- Once the dough is risen, punch down and let rest another 10 minutes.
- Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick spray.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. I weighed mine, they were each a little less than 2 ounces. Roll each piece into an 8-inch snake. It should be between 1/2 and 1 inch thick.
- Carefully tie each rolled-out piece into a knot.
- Place each knot on the prepared baking sheets.
- Cover with tea towels and let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden and the bottoms are brown. I used 2 oven racks and switched pans halfway through baking time. Remove from the oven and let the rolls cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
- While the rolls are baking, make the garlic butter sauce. In a small saucepan, add butter, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook over low heat for about 3-5 minutes, until the garlic has just barely started to brown. Keep an eye on it, you don't want the garlic to get dark. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley. Let cool slightly.
- Dip each roll in the garlic butter sauce. It helps to spoon some on top to make sure you get garlic in the knot crevices. Place on a wire rack. Serve warm.
Notes
This recipe is from my BFF Sarah's mom, Anne. Thanks Anne!
Nutrition
More yeasty bread! Give me all the bread!
Buttery Sweet Potato Rolls << these would be perfect for Thanksgiving too!
Garlic and Rosemary Skillet Bread < can there ever be too many garlic bread recipes? No, no there cannot.
Aunt Shirley’s Famous Buttery Dinner Rolls << seriously, SO pillowy and soft. I also just posted Shirley’s Famous Creamy Mashed Potatoes. What can I say, the woman has a lot of famous recipe (with good reason.)
More garlicky rolls from blog friends!
Buffalo Garlic Knots from Foodie with Family
Skillet Baked Pepperoni Garlic Knots from Fifteen Spatulas
Stuffed Garlic Knots from Crunchy Creamy Sweet
I would love to use this in my classroom. Can I do this in two days rather than one?
Deborah
Hi Deborah! I haven’t tried making these garlic knots over two days before, but if you’re going to split up the process, here’s my recommendation. After making the dough, tightly seal it in a container or with plastic wrap over the bowl. Let it rise on the counter for 30 minutes or so just to get the yeast going, then put it in the fridge overnight. The next day, you can let it warm up for 30-40 minutes, then shape the rolls and continue the recipe as directed. Let us know if you give it a try! Enjoy :-)
these garlic knots looks so good and i really wanna make them but, bread flour is sold out do you think i can use all purpose flour instead?
Hi Sophie! Yes all purpose flour will work great for this recipe! Bread flour has a little more protein in it. This gives a slightly higher rise and produces just a little more gluten. But your garlic knots are still going to turn out wonderful with all-purpose!! Enjoy! PS you are not the only one. the shortages right now are still so unreal!
I have made these 4 times & they are just wonderful. Definitely don’t wait for thanksgiving to make them! They pair well with so many meals. We warm the leftovers in the microwave under a moist paper towel for about 20-30 seconds and they are delicious & soft. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Ooh I love your microwave tip Glenda! I will totally try that next time! Thanks for sharing, and thanks for reviewing!
These were absolutely delicious. I made mine only oz each so it more than doubled the recipe because I was making them as little appies. Soooo good
Love the idea of making these tiny Stella! They were probably so cute and poppable!! I would have eaten 20 ;) So glad you liked it and thanks for the review!
Hi. I am making these for a pasta dinner for my son’s birthday. I wanted to know if I can bake the knots the day before and then warm them and add garlic butter the day of? Thank you!
Yes absolutely Taylor! That is a great time saver! Just keep them well covered so they don’t dry out!
These were a hit on thanksgiving. my family and friends loved them!!! They were asking me to make more just because they were so good. Glad I found this recipe Thank you so much!!
I’m so happy the rolls were a hit Katarina! Hard not to love a good garlic knot :) Thanks for reviewing! Happy Thanksgiving!
Yummy rolls- my niece made them. Just to let you know, the proper term is “proofing”, not proving, at least in the U.S. (it’s different in the UK). I went to the CIA, through their entire baking course, and the instructors were ADAMANT that students use the correct word. Counter intuitive, I know
Hey Jilly! Yes the word is indeed proofing, but I like to explain to all those charlatan cooks out there what’s going on, haha! Even if “proving” that the yeast is alive and well isn’t why they call it officially, essentially that’s what you’re doing. It’s an easy way for me to remember it! That’s so cool that you went to the CIA, I would LOVE to do that someday! Thanks so much for your input!!
This looks so delicious..gonna try this out on the weekend and yeah going on beats mode on Black Friday lol
Awesome recipe and perfect ingredients! Thanks for sharing this recipe that is not only great for thanksgiving celebration but is also good for ordinary days or meals. The savory flavors of garlic, butter and butter make it a great snack for ordinary movie time, snack time or study time. It is also filled with richness and flavor so we will surely eat more than one until we get contented with its unique taste due to its unique blend of ingredients. I can’t wait for tomorrow to try this at home!
Thanks Billy! I’m glad you loved the recipe!
Super excited about making these for Thanksgiving. Karen. You are right that one recipe is not enough. I made a batch of your Aunt Shirley’s dinner rolls a couple days ago and Chip and I have eaten the entire batch. No now I have to decide which one to make??? I was considering making the Aunt Shirley rolls and putting the garlic butter on them! I don’t know what to do?!!?? I’m on the horns of a dilemma!! Help!!
Ooooooh Aunt Shirley garlic knot mashup??? That sounds amazing!!!
Karen! These garlic knots look so luscious ad=nd savory, my mouth is watering! I am so excited to try this at home for Thanksgiving but I know I’ll make a fresh batch this weekend all for myself! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! All the love from Nepal! xx
These look so good! So funny that Jan won’t do yeast. It’s always funny to me how people can be raised by the same people but be so different in ways.
I was raised by a woman who wouldn’t know yeast if it rose up and bit her :) Your mom absorbed special powers from somewhere – maybe Grandma Alma? I don’t know if Grandma Doris did yeast – your mom also has the memory gene, you’ll have to ask her….
hi can the dough be made a day earlier and refrigerated or frozen?
Thanks Karen for this recipe,it sounds very delicious. I am german and my mother teached me also to cook with yeast, so by example for a kind of donatats for new year’s eve or easter bread … both sweet foods and sprinkled with powdered sugar …
thank you for shring your recipes and happy day and time
Nicole
I hope you enjoy the recipe Nicoletta! Thanks for your comment!
Hahaha! Who knew I’d have a girl who learned fancy cooking in a run-down college apartment? So glad the yeast gene was transmitted directly to you :)
Mom, you still get credit for teaching me to make chocolate chip cookies. And mashed potatoes. I haven’t forgotten my roots ;)
I cracked up laughing when reading your mom’s cookbook story and your reply!
Your mom’s cooking sounds so much like my mom when growing up.
My mom also taught me how to make the best mashed potatoes.
I don’t do yeast either but instead will make the knots using frozen dough balls.
Sending this pin to my sister because she loves to cook and will get a-hoot reading the cookbook story and getting new ideas from your recipes.
You are smart to make these with pre made frozen dough Renee! Such a smart idea if you need something last minute! It sounds like your mom and mine would be two peas in a pod. They can eat storebought bread and homemade mashed potatoes all day long 😂 Thank you so much for commenting and sharing with your sister! It’s good to hear from you!