Easy homemade Garlic Knots recipe with butter garlic topping. They’re soft, chewy, and a great side to pizza, pasta, and salad.

Looking for more bread and roll recipes? Check out my Cheesy Breadsticks, Beer Bread, and Buttermilk Cornbread!

Why I love this recipe:

  • Unique – They just feel a little more special than classic garlic bread or breadsticks, and my kids always request them.
  • Easy – They may look intimidating, but they are actually so simple to make.
  • Garlic Sauce brushed on top is delicious, and if you serve them with a bowl of marinara sauce, they’re out of this world good!

How to make Garlic Knots:

Proof Yeast: Combine warm water, yeast, and ¼ tsp sugar and stir–allow to rest for 5-10 minutes until foamy. 

Yeast proofing in a small bowl.

Make Dough: Pour yeast mixture into the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Add remaining ¼ cup sugar, warm milk, butter, egg and salt. Blend mixture until combined. Add the flour slowly, mixing until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 – 6 minutes. You may not use all of the flour called for. The dough should be soft, very slightly sticky when touched with a clean finger, and pulling away from the sides of the mixer. 

Bread dough for garlic knots mixed in a stand mixer.

Allow Dough to Rise: Grease a large bowl with cooking spray or a tiny bit of oil. Place the dough in the bottom of the bowl and turn it over once to coat all sides in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.

Risen bread dough in a bowl, punched down once, leaving an imprint.

Shape Dough: Gently punch the dough down. Add a little flour to your countertop or work surface. Grab a ball of dough, about the size of a golf ball, and roll it out into a long rope (about ½ inch thick and around 9 inches long). Tie the rope into a knot and place it on prepared baking sheet.

Hands forming a rope of bread dough into a knot.

Second Rise: Cover garlic knots loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise again in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.

Garlic knot dough rising on a pan for the second rise.

Bake: Preheat oven to 400° F. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 min. or until lightly golden on top.

Baked bread knot being coated in garlic butter sauce.

Brush with Garlic Sauce: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl while the knots are baking. After removing knots from oven, brush them lightly with garlic sauce while they are still warm.

Serve with:

Storage and Freezing Instructions:

Store in an airtight container or bag at room temperature for 2-3 days.

To Freeze After Baked: Allow homemade garlic knots to cool completely and place in a freezer safe bag.  Store for up to 2 months.  To thaw, remove garlic knots from the freezer and allow to thaw at room temperature, or stick them in the microwave for a few seconds.

To Freeze the Dough: Make the dough and shape the knots. Cover the baking pan with plastic wrap and flash freeze (place them in the freezer for 1-2 hours).  Move the frozen dough knots from the baking sheet into a freezer safe ziplock bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months.  To bake, remove frozen rolls and line them on a greased baking sheet.  Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow them to thaw and rise on the countertop for about 2 hours. Uncover and bake at 400º F for 9-12 minutes.

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Recipe

Prep 2 hours
Cook 15 minutes
Total 2 hours 15 minutes
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Ingredients
 
 

Garlic Topping

Instructions
 

  • Combine warm water, yeast, and ¼ tsp sugar and stir–allow to rest for 5-10 minutes until foamy. 
  • Pour yeast mixture into the bowl of an electric stand mixer (or into a large bowl if you plan on kneading by hand). Add remaining ¼ cup sugar, warm milk, butter, egg and salt. Blend mixture until combined. 
  • While mixing on low speed, slowly add the flour, mixing until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 – 6 minutes. You may not use all of the flour called for!
  • The dough should be soft, very slightly sticky when touched with a clean finger. It should be pulling away from the sides of the mixer. 
  • Grease a large bowl with cooking spray or a tiny bit of oil. Place the dough in the bottom of the bowl and turn it over once to coat all sides in oil (this helps keep it from drying out.) 
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.
  • Gently punch the dough down. Add a little flour to your countertop or work surface (or spray it lightly with cooking spray).
  • Grab a ball of dough, about the size of a golf ball, and roll it out into a long rope (about ½ inch thick and around 9 inches long). Tie the rope into a knot and place it on prepared baking sheet.
  • Cover garlic knots loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise again in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.
  • Preheat oven to 400° F. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or line it with parchment paper.
  • Bake for 10-12 min. or until lightly golden on top.
  • While they're baking, make the garlic sauce by combining all ingredients in a small bowl.
  • After removing knots from oven, while still warm, brush them lightly with garlic sauce.

Notes

Cheesy Garlic Knots: add a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese on top of the knots before baking.
Storing Instructions: Keep in an airtight container or bag at room temperature for 2-3 days.
To Freeze After Baked: Allow garlic knots to cool completely and place in a freezer safe bag.  Store for up to 2 months.  To thaw, remove garlic knots from the freezer and allow to thaw at room temperature, or stick them in the microwave for a few seconds.
To Freeze the Dough: Make the dough and shape the rolls. Cover the baking pan with plastic wrap and flash freeze (place them in the freezer for 1-2 hours).  Move the rolls from the baking sheet into a freezer safe ziplock bag or container and freezer for up to 3 months.  To bake, remove frozen rolls and line them on a greased baking sheet.  Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow them to thaw and rise on the countertop for about 2 hours. Bake at 400º F for 9-12 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 125kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 3gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 176mgPotassium: 45mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 106IUCalcium: 9mgIron: 1mg

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I originally shared this recipe April 2013. Updated April 2019 and March 2022.

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Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Comments

    1. Yes, making garlic knots with bread flour can definitely work! Bread flour has a higher protein content, which leads to more gluten development and can make your garlic knots chewier and more bread-like in texture. It’s a great option if you’re after that extra chewiness.

  1. 4 stars
    The knots were good, with a few caveats.

    First, our family considers 2 Tablespoons of garlic butter entirely inadequate for 24 knots, but we’re probably spoiled. My husband would prefer 8 STICKS of butter, but I used 8 Tablespoons (6 of butter and 1 of olive oil). I brushed it on before and after baking, and I would use even more next time.

    Second, it was way more than “slightly sticky” when I had added the full 4 1/2 cups of flour. Like others, I had to add an extra 1/2 cup of flour (total of 5 cups). Also, the metric conversion for the milk does NOT equal 1 1/3 cups; it’s for 1/3 cup. As another review mentioned, the video does NOT seem to show adding 1 1/3 cups of milk, which seriously made me question how much SHOULD be used.

    Finally, step 8 says to put the (single) knot on prepared baking sheet, which isn’t prepared until step 10. That part should be moved up before step 8, and step 8 should say to repeat with the other 23 knots. Personally, I think it’s more helpful to say to divide the dough into 24 equal parts than to say “grab a ball of dough about the size of a golf ball.” I don’t play golf, and I might have ended up with, say, 10 balls of varying sizes. I prefer to divide my dough in half, then in half, etc., ending with dividing in thirds until I have 24 pretty even pieces.

    I just think this recipe could be written better, and I would prefer much more than the 2 T. garlic butter so I could brush it generously (not lightly) on 24 rolls.

  2. 5 stars
    The garlic knots were absolutely fantastic! I made them for a holiday meal and froze the knots after shaping and before baking. I let them rise in the car for 2+ hours on the way to our destination. Because of this, they may have risen a bit too much and were pretty big, but oh so light and tasty with your marinara sauce. As my daughter said, can a garlic knot be too big?

    Thanks for the wonderful recipe!

  3. 5 stars
    Depending on your elevation (for example, if you live in the mountains versus at sea-level) can determine if you need to add more or less flour, I added the amount called for (unpacked, level scoops) and it was perfect. One trick I learned is to make your hands wet before you handle stickier dough, to avoid adding too much flour to be able to work with the dough. This dough is sticky, but by the first rise it should be pliable enough to work with! Flour your surface well, wet hands until you’re at the step of working & rolling the dough into shape. I used the ratio for the butter/oil spread and applied to to the rest of the stick of butter (approx 4 tsp left), equal amounts of oil, once this got hot and incorporated together on the stove I poured it into a jar with pre-cut fresh garlic. This recipe produced soft, fluffy, and perfectly browned garlic knots (the biggest ones I’ve ever seen). Two of my garlic knots ended up flattened, out of the 16 huge ones I made from this recipe, and I’m not sure why, but the rest fluffed up and are bigger than my palm! They’re absolutely beautiful. After I dressed them with the butter/oil/garlic spread is when I sprinkled on grated parm (the brand matters!) This will go perfectly with my lasagna tonight, thank you so so muccccch!

  4. 1 star
    Doesn’t taste like classic garlic knots at all. More like a supple brioche which is far off the mark for me. The amount of garlic oil topping was soooo small for the large recipe as well. It’s not the worst tasting thing but this might as well not be a garlic knot recipe at all.

  5. 4 stars
    The knots rise but never get tall like a knot. Any suggestions? They taste fantastic, just flat in shape.

  6. 4 stars
    I made these tonight and the measurements were pretty far off for me… I ended up adding 5 cups of flour and might have been able to add more because the dough was still so sticky. Shaping them was difficult because they were so sticky. BUT… The flavor was out of this world and it ended up making 15 very large garlic knots. My family hasn’t stopped talking about how good they were since dinner ended and are already talking about finishing the leftovers for breakfast 🤣😊

    1. 5 stars
      I also added like 5 cups of flour, and it was still sticky. Not like the video. However i think itll be okay. Theyre doing their second rise right now.

  7. 5 stars
    Wow is all I gotta say about these knots. I make them all the time. I even use it for hamburger buns, hotdog rolls. It is a very versatile recipe and so soft and fluffy. You really knew what you were doing when you made this recipe.

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