All in knots

He said my garlic knots tasted like fried chicken. 

"Ermmm, okay,"  I said. "Thank you."

I knew It was a compliment, though a very strange one, because my man loves his chicken. Real chicken. He isn't a Veggie Dude. 

Anyway, he then explained that the glaze topping for the buns - Oregano, garlic and butter - reminded him of a fried chicken meal I once cooked. Ahhh, ok. 

This was a first attempt at making these buns. I was browsing through some food photography sites and I came Zoom Yummy and a recipe for these garlic buns. Zoom Yummy's photographs are lovely. Browse through her blog and I bet you'll want to try some of those recipes too. Since I love making bread, I was tempted by her pictures of these garlic knots. Go check em out and you will understand why. 

Turns out, these buns are really easy to make with relatively brief resting time for the dough to rise, about 1 hour and a half in total. With a prep time of about 30 mins, the knots can be in the oven in a little over two hours.  

ZY's Soft Garlic Knots

3 cups bread flour

1 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tsp instant yeast

11/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup milk, tepid

1 cup + 2 tbsp tepid water

The glaze

2 cloves garlic, minced very fine

2 tsp dried oregano

3 tbsp butter

Whisk the flour, salt, sugar and yeast together by hand. Add the oil, milk and water and stir to combine, either by hand or if using a stand mixer, at speed 2. Next comes the kneading. If you're using the mixer, fasten the dough hooks and mix for about 8 mins (speed 4). If you like kneading by hand, it may take about 15- 20 mins. What you are aiming for is a smooth, elastic dough. 

Once the dough is ready, transfer it into a well-oiled bowl. Roll the dough over once to make sure its coated all around. Cover with cling film and let it rest and double it's size. About an hour.  

Now comes the fun part.

Roll the dough out of the bowl onto a slightly floured surface. Divide into eight equal balls. The dough is kinda sticky so you'll have to flour your hands just a bit. Using the palm of your hand, roll each ball into a rope about, about a foot long (or 30cm). Now, as you would a rope or shoe lace, tie the rope into a knot.

I know, I know, I should have pictures but I was alone and my hands were sticky and floury. Plus, ZY has awesome shots, remember? So, please refer to her for the step by step visuals :)

Tuck the egdes into the centres of the knots as kneatly as possible: the left edge goes over the top and into the centre and the right goes under and into the centre.  

Lay the knots out onto a lined baking sheet and cover with a kitchen towel. Let it rest for about 45 mins. They will rise a little and puff up wonderfully.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 175C.

Prepare the glaze: Melt the butter and simply add the garlic and oregano and stir to mix.

Before putting the knots in the oven, generously brush them with the garlic butter  glaze.

Bake for about 15- 30 mins.