Soup needs bread! 😉 I didn’t have a couple of the ingredients that these knots required, but thankfully my improvisations didn’t ruin these. The dough improver is a necessary ingredient though with all the shaping these required. It prevents the dough from snapping back easily and rolling these out and tying them up would have been a pain with out it. These were fun to shape, but I didn’t roll them out like in the directions. I made sure that all my 16 pieces were at least 1.5 ounces each before shaping so I could make sure that they would all bake evenly. I took each ball and rolled it into about 11 inches (think of Play Doh snakes!) and made the knot, then tucked in the ends per the instructions. I baked off all 16 but only buttered half of them so I could store or freeze the rest. My family enjoyed these and they were a perfect accompaniment to our chicken noodle soup. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Soft Garlic Knots – adapted from King Arthur Flour

Dough:

• 3 1/4 cups (13 3/4 ounces) Mellow Pastry Blend or 3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) Baker’s Special Dry Milk
• 3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) potato flour (*I used a couple TBSP of potato flakes)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 3 tablespoons King Arthur Easy-Roll Dough Improver (optional)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 4 teaspoons Pizza Dough Flavor (*I didn’t use this)
• 2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) olive oil
• 1 cup (8 ounces) lukewarm water*

*Add an additional 2 tablespoons water in the winter, or if you live in a very dry climate.

Glaze:

• 2 to 6 cloves peeled, crushed garlic
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon Pizza Seasoning or Italian seasoning, optional (*I used parsley flakes)

Directions: 

Dough: Whisk the dry ingredients together to prevent the potato flour from clumping when liquid is added. Stir in the olive oil and water, then mix and knead — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to form a smooth, elastic dough, adding additional water or flour as needed. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and allow it to rise for about 1 hour, until it’s doubled in bulk.

Shaping: Divide the dough into 16 pieces, and roll each into a rope about 11 inches long; 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, and let rise for 45 minutes to about an hour, until very puffy looking.

Glaze: Whisk together the melted butter and garlic. Set it aside.

Baking: Bake the knots in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes. They should be set, but only very lightly browned. Remove the knots from the oven, and brush or drizzle them with the garlic butter. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and pizza seasoning or Italian seasoning, if desired. Eat the knots warm. Yield: 16 garlic knots.