Perfectly soft, slightly chewy cheesy garlic knots packed with rich buttery garlic flavor is awesomely delicious on its own or with your favorite dish!
1 Tablespoon Fresh Parsley, Plus More for Garnish, Finely Chopped
Red Pepper Flakes, Garnish, Optional
Instructions
In a medium mixing bowl, add the butter, garlic and fresh parsley. Mix ingredients together into a smooth, spreadable mixture.
Lightly grease a 9-inch cast iron pan/oven safe skillet. Set aside until ready to use.
On a lightly floured surface, divide the pizza dough into 10 equal pieces. Keep dough pieces covered with a lightly damped towel or plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out while rolling and shaping into knots.
Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll into a 6-7” inch rope. Use your fingers or rolling pin to flatten rope into a 1 inch elongated rectangle.
Spead about 1 teaspoon of the garlic butter mixture down the length of the flatten rope from top to bottom.
Sprinkle about 1 1/2 tablespoons of mozzarella cheese and 1/2 tablespoon of the Alpine cheese down the length of the flatten rope. Lightly press down cheeses to adhere to garlic butter. (You will end up using about 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese. The remaining 1/2 cup will be used later to top garlic knots.)
Fold opposite ends of the dough together into the center and firmly press together to form a tight seam enclosing the cheese in the center (See process photos above for visual guide).
Shape cheese stuffed pizza dough into a knot by first making a U shape. Bring the right end of the U shape over the left end forming a looped X. Lastly bring the left end over the right into the center of looped X forming a knot (See process photos above for visual guide). Add garlic knot to prepared pan and repeat process with remaining pizza dough pieces until you have a total of 10 garlic knots.
Melt remaining garlic butter in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Allow to cool slightly before brushing over garlic knots with a pastry brush.
Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Lightly cover pan with garlic knots with plastic wrap and allow to rest in a warm part of kitchen for 45-60 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
Bake cheesy garlic knots for 22-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through bake time. Remove pan from oven, sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese over knots and return to oven to bake for an additional 8-10 minutes or until mozzarella cheese is completely melted and cheesy garlic knots have a rich golden brown color.
Cool cheesy garlic knots in pan for 8-10 minutes and garnish with finely chopped parsley and red pepper flakes (optional) before serving while still warm.
Notes
Cheesy garlic knots are best eaten the day it is prepared/baked but will last 4-5 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and 1 month in the freezer.
When ready to eat cheesy garlic knots that have been stored in the refrigerator, simply warm up in the microwave or toaster/conventional oven (preferably) until warm through.
When ready to eat cheesy garlic knots that have been stored in the freezer, thaw out overnight in the refrigerator before warming up in the microwave or toaster/conventional oven (preferably).
Cheesy garlic knots may be prepared and baked the next day or at a later time. See details in blog post.