If you have ever been to Bob Chinn’s Crab House, a beloved Chicago restaurant, you have undoubtedly ordered the garlic knots. A cross between garlic bread and a garlic roll, the amount of fresh garlic on these babies is palpable.
While strong memories from Bob Chinn’s were the inspiration for this bread recipe. I couldn’t get the visual of my family members using one of these cheesy nuggets to scoop up the last (and best) bits of a big bowl of spaghetti with my rich red tomato sauce.
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And if you need more garlicky goodness to go with them, then twirl up a bowl of garlic butter pasta. Nothing wrong with garlic on top of garlic.
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Easy bread dough
While I usually would start with homemade pizza dough, I realize that it is ok, practical and —many times —necessary to choose a quicker route. So frozen bread dough to the rescue!
I use Rhode’s Frozen Bread Dough (white, not wheat). You could also use the rolls and roll them out but they’re hard to cut into the shape needed for the knots.
I don’t recommend using refrigerated bread dough in a can that you “crack” to open.
Frozen bread dough tips
I’ve learned a few quick tips from working with frozen bread dough:
- Don’t microwave the dough to defrost it. The microwave will kill the yeast in the dough and your garlic knots won’t rise.
- Follow the package directions for thawing. Many brands say you can thaw the dough in a bread pan covered with plastic wrap at room temp. You can also thaw overnight in the fridge.
- The defrosted bread will still be cold when it’s ready. This is perfect for making garlic knots.
Cheese blend for garlic knots
Selecting cheeses to tuck into garlic knots is careful business. Because there’s already a good amount of butter in the recipe, I was concerned I had to worry about the amount of oil or grease that might pool so the cheese selection matters.
I love sharp cheddar cheese (the sharper, the better). The first time I tested this recipe, I wrote it to include more cheddar than fontina. After the first test, I swapped them resulting in more fontina (better cheese pull) than cheddar (stronger flavor).
Garlicky bread knots step by step
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Baked Cheesy Garlic Knots
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Ingredients
- 1 lb frozen bread dough
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme , minced
- 1 cup fontina cheese , grated
- ½ cup cheddar cheese , grated
Instructions
- Follow the package directions for defrosting the dough.1 lb frozen bread dough
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Mix the butter with the garlic, garlic salt and fresh thyme.4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, 4 cloves garlic minced, ½ teaspoon garlic salt, 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme
- Roll the dough out to an approximate 9 x 14” rectangle. Brush the dough with enough of the garlic butter to coat the dough and reserve the rest. Sprinkle with ½ of the grated cheeses. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into approximately 8 -2” strips. Cut the dough down the middle so that you end up with 16 strips.Tie each strip into a knot and place in a 8-9" pie or cake pan.1 cup fontina cheese, ½ cup cheddar cheese
- Lightly brush the pan with more of the garlic butter and place the knots evenly into the pan. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and pour over any remaining butter.
- Cover the dough and let rise at room temperature for 45 minutes until risen and puffy. Bake in the preheated about 15-20 minutes until golden and the cheese is melted. Serve warm.
