Soft Garlic Knots

I recently wrote about my philosophy that anyone can cook, as long as they are willing to try and as long as they know there will be bumps along the way.  My friend Annie just posted her thoughts on kitchen failures, which coincide perfectly with my own.  Even more coincidental is the fact that her thoughts were within a post about blueberry bagels, a yeasted bread.  Yeast terrified me for the longest time, probably because of some abysmal first attempts to use it.

As it turns out, yeast is not a scary ingredient.  For the me, the secret was making sure to have my water at the perfect temperature.  No guessing on that one.  No matter how good I may be at eyeballing spices, I know I need a thermometer to read the temperature of my water when baking with yeast.  Ready for another coincidence?  The thermometer I use was a gift from Annie. 

My success rate with yeasted breads is now almost 100%, thanks in part to the thermometer and thanks in part to great recipes like this one.  I’ll give you one guess whose blog I found it on 🙂

Soft Garlic Knots

seen on Annie’s Eats (with a photo tutorial)

originally from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

For the dough:

3 c. bread flour
1 TBSP sugar
2 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/4 tsp. salt
2 TBSP olive oil

1/4 c. milk
1 c. plus 2 TBSP lukewarm water (110 degrees F)

For the glaze:
2 cloves garlic
3 TBSP melted butter

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning 

Directions:

1.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the
paddle attachment combine the dry ingredients.  Add the olive oil, milk
and water.  Mix until ingredients have formed a dough.  Switch to the
dough hook and knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic,
about 8 minutes.  Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn once
to coat, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise about 1 hour,
or until doubled in bulk.

2.  To form the knots, punch dough down and divide into 10-12 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a 10-inch long rope and tie into a knot.  Take the end lying underneath the knot and bring it over the top, tucking it into the center.  Then take the end lying over the knot and tuck it underneath and into the center.  Transfer shaped rolls to a baking stone, or a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 45 minutes, until puffy.

3.   Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Make the glaze by finely mincing or pressing the garlic then mixing it with melted butter and Italian seasoning.

4.  Brush the glaze onto the shaped
rolls.  Bake until set and lightly browned, about 14-18 minutes, depending on how many rolls you made.  Let
cool slightly before serving.