These sourdough garlic knots are light, fluffy and made from my favorite sourdough pizza crust! Topped with cheesy garlic butter and dipped in my favorite homemade pizza sauce, they're sure to be a crowd pleaser!
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Ingredient Notes
You just need a few simple ingredients to make the best sourdough garlic knots!
Sourdough Starter - Don't have a sourdough starter? Never fear! Just check out my Sourdough Guide for all my tips and tricks
Italian Flour - I always use Italian style flour to make the dough super light and tender. But all purpose flour works in a pinch!
Pizza Dough Flavor - This is completely optional, but I just love the extra flavor it gives to the dough!
Homemade Pizza Sauce - I use my favorite homemade pizza sauce to dip the garlic knots in!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
Sourdough Tips & Tricks
If you've never baked with sourdough before, it can be a little tricky. But don't worry, I have a full Sourdough Starter Guide all about making and maintaining a sourdough starter! I also have a full guide on different types of flour you can use to make sourdough and of course a guide on how to make a Beginner Homemade Sourdough Loaf. Below are a few quick tips and key terms you need to know.
- Sourdough Starter - A culture of wild yeast and bacteria that leavens and flavors sourdough bread. I use what's called a "liquid starter" versus a stiff starter. This means the starter is made with equal parts flour and water and should be a consistency similar to cake batter.
- Sourdough Discard - The portion of your starter that is discarded when feeding your starter (can be used in tons of recipes like sourdough discard blueberry muffins or sourdough pancakes).
- Ripe Starter - A starter that's ready to be used in baking. Your starter is ripe roughly 6 hours after feeding and will have doubled in size, have lots of visible bubbles, and a fresh acidic aroma.
Weigh your ingredients! For all my sourdough recipes, I measure the ingredients in grams because it's much more accurate! I highly recommend getting a kitchen scale if you don't already have one! However, I have included alternate US customary measurements for your convenience.
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If your oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all breads and baked goods! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Easy sourdough recipes for beginners! If you've never made sourdough bread before, I recommend starting with some simple, no-fuss recipes like my sourdough naan or sourdough bagels! But if you're already a pro, I have a ton of fun sourdough recipes you can try!
How to Make Sourdough Garlic Knots
In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine all of the dough ingredients and knead until the dough comes together in a cohesive ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl (5-10 minutes). It should be somewhat smooth but still a little wet and tacky. If the dough doesn't come together, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until it does.
Cover the bowl and let the dough bulk ferment at room temperature for 3 hours. Perform a set of stretches and folds every 30 minutes (3 sets is plenty) and let the dough rest for the remainder of the 3 hours.
To stretch and fold the dough, you'll do one stretch north to south, and one east to west.
- Grab the top edge of the dough and stretch upwards as far as you can without the dough breaking.
- Then fold it over on the bottom.
- Repeat the same motion from side to side.
Shape the dough into a tight ball and place into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and place in the fridge overnight (up to 48 hours).
In the morning: Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into 8 equal pieces (about 84 grams each).
Roll each piece into a rope about 10 inches long and 1 inch thick. Tie each rope into a knot and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover lightly, and let rise at room temperature until puffy (about 1 hour).
While the garlic knots are resting, preheat the oven to 400°F.
Stir together the melted butter, garlic, parsley, parmesan, and salt and lightly brush over the shaped knots.
Bake at 400°F for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
Remove from the oven and brush with the remaining garlic butter. Serve warm with homemade pizza sauce!
These sourdough garlic knots are best eaten the same day but will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Sourdough Garlic Knots
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Dough
- 85 grams sourdough starter
- 340 grams Italian flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 162 grams water
- 26 grams olive oil
- 4 grams kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon pizza dough flavor, optional
Garlic Butter
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Serve with
Instructions
- In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine all of the dough ingredients and knead until the dough comes together in a cohesive ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl (5-10 minutes). It should be somewhat smooth but still a little wet and tacky. If the dough doesn't come together, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until it does.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough bulk ferment at room temperature for 3 hours. Perform a set of stretches and folds every 30 minutes (3 sets is plenty) and let the dough rest for the remainder of the 3 hours.
- Shape the dough into a tight ball and place into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and place in the fridge overnight (up to 48 hours).
- In the morning: Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into 8 equal pieces (about 84 grams each). Roll each piece into a rope about 10 inches long and 1 inch thick. Tie each rope into a knot and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover lightly, and let rise at room temperature until puffy (about 1 hour).
- While the garlic knots are resting, preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Stir together the melted butter, garlic, parsley, parmesan, and salt and lightly brush over the shaped knots.
- Bake at 400°F for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and brush with the remaining garlic butter. Serve warm with homemade pizza sauce!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Linda says
Yum!!!! I will be making again!
Amy says
Is this supposed to be made with sourdough discard or activated starter?
Thanks!
Kyleigh Sage says
This recipe is designed for active starter! However, if you wanted to use discard you can add in 2 teaspoons of instant yeast. And then adjust the first rising time to 1 hour (no need for stretches and folds) and then immediately move on to step 4 (no need for overnight in the fridge). Or you can immediately put it in the fridge and let rise overnight.
Jessica Formicola says
You can never go wrong with garlic bread, but sourdough?? I am dying over deliciousness! Thanks so much for sharing!
Erin Gierhart says
Garlicky, buttery, and soft! What could be better?!?