Garlic Knots

My first foray into bread baking was many years ago when I was quite a novice in the kitchen. At that time my “go to” cookbook was The Vegetarian Epicure. I was living in Colorado and didn’t give a thought to the altitude when I jumped into baking a loaf of Honey Wheat Bread. I probably hadn’t ever “kneaded” dough before and definitely didn’t own a Kitchen Aid to help with the task. I wrestled with the dough, popped it onto the oven and anxiously awaited the finished product. Well, it was one heavy loaf that could have been used for a doorstop! Many loaves later I’ve come to love the art of bread baking.

When I saw the three page spread on these Garlic Knots in February’s Food & Wine I knew it was just a matter of time before I made them. I just happened to have a bag of spelt flour in the cupboard and so early yesterday morning I set out to tackle the recipe. I chose two different toppings for the rolls-one batch with sesame and poppyseeds and the other with parmesan, pepper and sea salt.

 

I’m directing you over to Food and Wine for the recipe for Garlic  Knots.  At first glance it may look like a lot of steps, but if you’ve baked bread before you’ll realize that it’s basically a lot of rising and waiting. If you start first thing in the morning the rolls will be ready for lunch. We had them with supper and before warming them up I brushed them one more time with the garlic butter.

I followed the recipe as written, except for the amount of butter and oil used. I went with half of what was called for and had more than enough to brush the rolls. The knots are chewy, yet not heavy. I can see serving them with a bowl of soup or chili. Feel free to come up with your own toppings and definitely try one as soon as they come out of the oven.

Happy Easter!

If you want to really wow your guests and have a good part of the day to hang around you have to try Nancy Silverton’s focaccia-simply amazing and totally authentic.