Homemade Garlic Knots

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This recipe is our attempt to recreate some delicious Garlic Knots that we ate at an absolute institution of eating in Venice, California. We are talking about, of course, the famous C&O Trattoria. For those who have been to this amazing restaurant they will know exactly what we’re talking about. For those who haven’t – just trust us, these Homemade Garlic Knots are going to taste phenomenal

What makes the Garlic Knots at C&O Trattoria so Memorable?

Well, for two main reasons:

1. They are simply delicious. They come out piping hot in these large trays being carried around by the servers. The Garlic Knots are clearly fresh out of the oven, and drenched in a delicious Garlic Butter Sauce which just oozes all over the bread
2. Secondly, and most importantly – They are free! That’s right! We couldn’t believe it either when we first visited this restaurant. The servers just come around and throw a bunch of them down on your plate. There’s also no limit either. Finished your meal and waiting for the check? No problems at all, they’ll still throw down 3-4 knots on your plate if you ask. What an amazing restaurant!
   
   

Lastly this famed restaurant has another brilliant idea, which is how they deliver their house wine. It’s a pretty tasty drop of red wine that is served in these MASSIVE bottles. I’d easily say 3 liters each. They throw the whole bottle down on your table, and you just pay for how much you drink. They measure / weigh the wine at the end, and you pay accordingly. What a brilliant idea!

So, in homage of this amazing restaurant, here is our attempt to create some delicious Homemade Garlic Knots. Packed full of yummy herbs and topped with an irresistible Garlic Butter Sauce. The perfect bread side dish for a hearty meal

How to make Homemade Garlic Knots

Making your own Homemade Garlic Knots is a very easy recipe. Like most baking dishes, it just requires a little bit of patience. Once the dough has been made and kneaded it will require about 2 hours of proofing, over two separate stages. Other than that, it’s a relatively straight forward recipe to make

Our recipe below outlines how to make these Garlic Knots using a Stand Mixer. If you don’t have a Stand Mixer, that’s totally fine. You will just have to knead the dough by hand. Totally do-able, it will just take a little bit longer to get the dough to the right consistency to move onto the next step

In addition to the typical dough ingredients of Yeast, Flour, and Water, this recipe adds Olive Oil and Garlic Powder to the dough. The Olive Oil gives the bread a slight Focaccia-style texture to it, and the Garlic Powder is all about elevating the wonderful Garlic flavor

Mix the dough together until you can form a ball and the ingredients are all well combined. Then, place the dough into a large bowl with some Olive Oil. Cover it and proof for between 1 – 2 hours. The goal here is to keep resting the dough until it has doubled in size, then you can move onto the next step

Shaping the Dough into Garlic Knots

Once the dough has doubled in size, it’s time to shape it into the Garlic Knots. This is a simple process of rolling out the dough into a long rectangle that can then be cut into 18 strips. It doesn’t matter if you cut a few more, or a few less. Each individual strip is rolled out thin, then tied into a Garlic Knot, almost like you’re making a pretzel

The shaped dough is then covered with some wrap and left to prove another 30 minutes at room temperature. This extra proving is just to help relax the dough before it gets cooked

We then mix Garlic, Melted Butter, and Italian Herbs together into a bowl and generously brush the dough once it’s rested. Then, it’s straight into the oven for 16 – 18 minutes at 400F until they are baked and a beautiful golden-brown color

Then, for the final stroke of decadence, it’s another brushing of that delicious Garlic Butter mixture! Hit the Homemade Garlic Knots with a dash of flaky salt and they’re ready to eat. Like all baked bread it’s best eaten straight away when it’s warm. So, dive in and enjoy!

Finally, it’s just not right to eat Garlic Knots without some good Red Sauce for dipping

Sure, you can eat your Garlic Knots by themselves. Sure, they taste great. But what if I told you that we have an amazing Red Sauce recipe on this very website that goes perfectly with your Homemade Garlic Knots? Well guess what? We do, and it’s right here!

We highly recommend making our simple and delicious Marinara Sauce / Red Sauce. The Garlic Knots just love this sauce, and it’s a match made in heaven

Homemade Garlic Knots Recipe

Ingredients

• 450g All-Purpose Flour
• 1 and 1/3 cup Warm Water
• 2 ¼ tsp. Yeast (standard package size)
• 1 tbsp. White Sugar
• ½ tsp. Garlic Powder
• 7 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
• 6 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. dried Italian Herbs (Oregano can be used as a substitute)
• Olive Oil
• Salt
  
  

Equipment needed: Stand Mixer with dough hook attachment

Instructions

1. Heat the water to between 100 and 110 degrees. This is the optimal temperature to activate the yeast without killing it
2. Add the Yeast to the water along with the Sugar. Whisk to combine and leave for 5 minutes for the yeast to bloom. We have a great video on how to bloom yeast on our YouTube Channel
3. Add half the Flour, 3 tbsp. Olive Oil, Garlic Powder and 1 tsp. Salt to the mixture then mix in your stand mixer with a dough hook on low to combine. Once combined add the remaining Flour and mix to combine
4. Increase the speed setting to medium and mix for a further 5 minutes until a ball forms with the dough that springs back when you push into it. You can absolutely make this dish without a stand mixer. Just kneed the dough until it has this consistency
5. Place 1 tsp. of Olive Oil in a separate bowl then transfer the dough into the bowl. Coat the dough well with the Olive Oil then cover with cling wrap to proof for 1 – 2 hours until it has doubled in volume
6. Roll out the dough into a long rectangle on a large cutting board. Use a little extra flour if needed to stop the dough from sticking to the cutting board. Cut dough into 18 strips then stretch out to approx. 8 inches long
7. Fold over and tie into a knot as per the below photos. Place each knot onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, allowing a bit of room between pieces then cover with cling wrap and leave to prove for another 30 minutes
   
   

To Make the Garlic Butter

1. While the dough is resting melt the Butter then mix into a small bowl with the Garlic, Italian Herbs and ¼ tsp. of Salt
2. Once dough has finished proving, remove cling wrap and brush the tops and sides with a generous amount of the Garlic Butter then bake in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 16 – 18 minutes
3. Once baked, remove from oven, and brush any remaining Garlic Butter on top of the Knots. Finally, finish with a sprinkle of Flaky Salt and serve while hot!
   
   

It goes without saying that the absolute must-have sauce to pair with these delicious Garlic Knots is our fabulous Homemade Red Sauce / Marinara Sauce. Tear apart a piece of the Garlic Knot, dip it into the Sauce and you’ll be in heaven!

Feel free to check out some of our other delicious Appetizers and Snacks here. Here are some of our favorite Bread dishes we’d love for you to try:

• Garlic Onion Bread
• Focaccia Flatbread
• Pepperoni Pizza Rolls with Homemade Pizza Dough
• Easy Fluffy Scones
  
  

Happy Cooking!