Baking Goodness

This is my last week of maternity leave. In order to cope with this reality I have decided that the best thing to do is spend every waking moment either with my baby or baking bread while he sleeps. For as long as I can remember one of my favorite foods has been bread, something about it is just so comforting. The warmth, the softness, the delicious texture. So far its working, its keeping me from thinking about next week. To start the week off I baked garlic knots and they turned out so amazing, soft and flavorful!

Recipe from Joy the Baker

package active dry yeast, about 2 1/2 teaspoons

1 cup warm water (just warmer than body temperature)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons sugar

For the garlic mixture:

4 to 6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar with warm water.  Let sit for 5 minutes until yeast is frothy.  That means it’s alive and ready to go.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours and salt.  Create a small well in the center of the flour mixture.  Pour in the yeasty water and add oil.  With a fork, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  If the dough is too sticky, add more all-purpose flour.  Dough should be slightly sticky, but not stick to your hands too much.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes.  Place dough in a large greased bowl.  Flip the dough over to coat the dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel, and leave to rest in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour, or until the dough is doubled in size.  At this point, you can make the garlic knots, or let the dough rise in the refrigerator overnight.  Just bring the dough to room temperature before rolling it out.

When ready to prepare the garlic knots, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface.  Roll into a 10-inch by 10-inch square.  Roughly…. it doesn’t have to be perfect.  Use a pizza cutter to slice 10 1-inch stripes.  Tie a knot in the center of the dough, and wrap the ends under and around the knot.  This doesn’t have to be perfect either… just make sure that the dough is all tucked into itself.  Cover with clean kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.   Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Place dough knots on prepared baking sheets and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown.

While bread bakes, in a large bowl whisk together minced garlic, butter, olive oil, parsley and salt.  When rolls come out of the oven, immediately toss them in the garlic butter mixture.  Toss until coated and remove from the butter bowl.  Serve rolls warm.

Rolls are best served the day they’re made, but will last for 3 days if well wrapped.  Just reheat in a piece of foil in a 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes.

Check out Joy the Baker for better pictures of the garlic knots and tons of other amazing looking things to bake!