Garlic Knots

Mmm...I just made these the other day, and while I have plenty of other recipes waiting to be posted, I NEEDED to share these with you before Thanksgiving. They are really, really, good. As in, I had to freeze most of them almost immediately after I baked them otherwise I would have eaten them all at once. By myself. All two sticks of butter and sweet garlicky bready goodness of them.

They remind me of garlic knots I use to get at Franks Pizza (or really any New Jersey Trattoria). Oh how I miss those. The casualness of them, the tastyness of them, the affordability of them. I took them for granted. Now I request that anyone who visits brings me food from them. I don't care what you need to do, smuggle it on the plane, overnight it, drive it here, just get it here. Except for the garlic knots. Because my friends, these are just as good, if not better. That's right, better. And I can make plenty of them myself in just a few hours.

They are sweet, they are salty, they are garlicky, they are addictive, and they are fun to eat (cause you can un tie them and pull them apart!). Don't be scared of the amount of butter...you should have plenty stocked up in your freezer for times like these anyway. Don't be afraid of the amount of garlic or rosemary either. In fact, don't be afraid of deliciousness. Cause if you are, then I'm afraid of you. Mine came out fairly large, which I don't have a problem with at all and they tasted soooo good, but I might try making them slightly smaller so I can have MORE GARLIC KNOTS!!!

So go, print this out and make them as soon as possible!

Buttery Garlic Knots with Rosemary
Printable Recipe
by Kacey's Kitchen, Slightly Adapted from Sass & Veracity Dough

• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup warm water (105 degrees F)
• 1 tsp plus 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• 1 envelope plus 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
• 3 large eggs, room temp
• 5-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2-1/2 tsp salt, plus extra for sprinkling
• dried parsley, for sprinkling
  
• 1 tbsp melted butter

Filling

• 5 large cloves of garlic
  
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

1. In a medium pan over low heat, warm milk and 3/4 cup of butter until it melts. Stir occasionally to prevent milk from burning. Let cool to approximately 120 degrees F.
2. Combine warm water, 1 tsp sugar, and yeast in a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes until it softens and begins to puff.
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer using the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and remaining sugar at low speed until blended. Beat in the milk mixture.
   
4. Gradually add 2-1/2 cup of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time until blended smooth.
   
5. Replace the whisk with the dough hook. Add the yeast mixture, salt, and 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and beat at medium low speed (2 on the KA mixer). You will have a very wet and loose dough that climbs the dough hook but falls back down into the bowl by this time.
6. One tablespoon at a time, add enough flour to form a firm but sticky dough ball (This may be upwards of 10 tbsp). The dough ball will pull away from the sides of the bowl and not flop back to the sides. It will feel like "fly paper" when you touch it.
7. Pour 1 tbsp melted butter in a large bowl (4 qt.). On a very lightly flour dusted counter, and with lightly floured hands, turn the dough out and give it 3-5 quick hand kneads to form a good dough ball. Then put it in the buttered bowl, turning it over to coat evenly. Cover the bowl tightly, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours.
8. Punch down the dough, fold it over in half, then in half again, and brush with melted butter. Cover the bowl again and let rise again in the same warm, draft-free place until double, about 1 hour.
9. About 10 minutes before the last rise, in a large skillet, melt 2 tbsp butter with 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant but not brown, about 2 minutes. Add the fresh rosemary and sea salt, mix well and scrape into a bowl. Set aside.
10. When the last rise is done, you're ready to shape the rolls, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work space and cut it into 16 even pieces. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll into a rope about 11-inches long and flatten it.
    
11. Spoon about 1/4 tsp of the garlic rosemary mixture along its length, then fold lengthwise and press the edges together. Twist lengthwise, then shape into a knot of your choosing.
    
12. As you finish, place each on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Then let rise for about 45 minutes to an hour, until puffed.
    
13. Before the end of this last rise, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
14. Bake the knots for about 15 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and brush with remaining garlic rosemary mixture. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and dried parsley.