These garlic knots are easy to make, and their buttery, garlicky flavor and springy-soft texture are sure to satisfy. For an extra delicious app or snack, serve them with No-Cook Marinara Sauce for dipping.
You know those garlic knots you get from your favorite pizza shop? Well, what if I told you that you can make an even-more-delicious version at home in less than an hour? All you need is a ball of pizza dough, a stick of butter, garlic cloves, Italian seasoning, salt, and a hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Here's how it works:
1. Cut the dough into pieces, form your knots, and let them rest.
First of all, make sure your dough is at room temperature. Then, when the dough is pliable and ready for shaping, roll and stretch it into a 12- to 14-inch log. Chop the log into 1-inch pieces, roll each piece between the palms of your hands to form a thin rope about 8 inches long, and tie each rope in a knot. Check out the video below for a step-by-step demo of the whole process. When all the dough pieces are knotted, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover the knots with a clean kitchen towel, and let them rest for 30 minutes. The purpose of the resting time is to allow the dough to ferment a little more, resulting in garlic knots that are fluffy and tender in the center.
2. Prepare the garlic part of the garlic knots.
While the knots rest, make the garlic-herb butter. First, press or finely grate four medium garlic cloves. Put a stick of butter in a small saucepan or other pot over moderate heat. When the butter is completely melted, add the pressed garlic and reduce the heat to low. Cook for a couple minutes longer, then turn off the heat. Stir in some Italian seasoning and salt. Voila!
Note: To save your fingers from grating little garlic cloves on a microplane or box grater, I highly recommend springing for a garlic press like this one*.
3. Make your own grated Parm.
If you really have to, you can use the stuff in the plastic can with the green lid. But. If you want the best garlic knots possible, you'll have to invest in a wee piece of real Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and "grate" it yourself. Simply put an ounce or two in your food processor and pulse until it looks fluffy like cauliflower rice or cooked couscous. You probably won't be able to get it as powdery as the fake stuff, but that's a good thing. Just trust me on this one.
4. Brush on the garlic butter and bake.
Use a pastry brush to coat the tops of the dough knots with garlic-herb butter, and bake at 400°F for 15 to 20 minutes, until they're golden brown.
5. Butter up the garlic knots one more time, then serve!
Take the knots out of the oven, transfer them to a serving platter, and slather with another coating of the garlic-herb butter. The knots are best served warm with marinara sauce for dunking, but I've never heard anyone complain about cold knots either.
As always, make sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook if you make the recipe, and please consider leaving me a starred review below.
Garlic Knots
Equipment
- Bench scraper or pizza cutter
- large rimmed baking sheet
- parchment paper
- Kitchen towel
- Small saucepan
- pastry brush
Ingredients
- 1 (14- to 16-ounce) ball pizza dough, at room temperature (Weeknight Dough, Overnight Dough, Neapolitan Dough, or Sourdough Pizza Dough will all work great — or use your favorite store-bought pizza dough)
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter
- 4 garlic cloves, finely grated or pressed
- 1½ teaspoons dried Italian herb blend
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 to 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (not grated)
- Super-Easy Marinara Sauce (or your favorite marinara or pizza sauce), for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the middle position. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using your hands, form the dough into a 12- to 14-inch-long log. Cut the log into 1-inch pieces (you'll end up with 12 to 14 pieces total). Roll each piece of dough between your hands to form a thin rope that's about 8 inches long. Then, carefully tie each rope of dough into a knot.
- Place the knots on the parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart (or as far apart as possible). Cover the baking sheet with a clean kitchen towel and let them rest for 30 minutes. (This resting time allows the knots to puff up a little bit for softer, fluffier final results.)
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is completely melted, add the garlic, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until very fragrant. Remove the pan from the heat, add the dried herb blend and salt, and mix well.
- Place the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in a food processor and pulse just until it is very finely chopped and looks fluffy like cauliflower rice or cooked couscous. (Alternatively, you can grate with a microplane grater-zester or the smallest holes of your box grater.)
- Remove the kitchen towel from the dough knots. Using a pastry brush, coat the tops of the knots with the garlic-herb butter. (Don't use all of the butter mixture, though, because you'll need it again when the garlic knots come out of the oven.)
- Transfer the baking sheet to the middle rack of the oven. Bake until the garlic knots are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the garlic knots to a serving platter. Brush the tops of the knots with some more garlic-herb butter, then sprinkle with the finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Serve warm with Super-Easy Marinara Sauce for dipping.
Video
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