Vegan Garlic Knots

Publised on 15/10/2019. Last Updated on 18/09/2024 by Richard

The softest, most aromatic vegan garlic knots you'll ever find! Tossed in garlic and parsley butter, these guys will melt your heart as they melt in your mouth!

I've been meaning to make these damn fine vegan garlic knots for absolutely AGES! I have a notes file on my phone because my memory is terrible. Every time I think of something I want to make, I add it to the file. The words "VEGAN GARLIC KNOTS" have been on that file for (no joke) about 9 months. I don't know why it's taken me so long to get round to this!

The thing I love about them is that they're SO simple to make but are absolutely one of the most satisfyingly delicious things to eat. They make a great starter, side dish or addition to a pot-luck and they dip so well in marinara sauce!

Why Vegan Garlic Knots?

I first had garlic knots in America, which makes sense! They're simply KNOT a thing here (ugh Dad joke) in the UK. We occasionally get dough balls, but they're different. Garlic knots are so special because of how they pull apart and how DRENCHED they are in that garlic butter.

There's the B word. The reason these guys have been off the menu for so long! Garlic knots are made with butter usually, which mean's they're not V-friendly. That's why I decided to treat y'all to my vegan garlic knots!

What's That Dough Like!?

I'm glad you asked! The dough is basically my go-to pizza dough. It's nothing fancy - no sourdough yeast or anything like that. Just straight up quick rise yeast. The dough includes a little olive oil, to keep everything moist and smooth and glossy. It also helps the dough to crisp up and brown on the outside!

If you're feeling extra fancy and want mega MEGA soft knots, replace the plain flour for type '00' flour. This stuff is reserved for pasta and pizza and is SUPER fine, meaning super soft once baked! You can get type '00' flour here and I'd highly recommend getting some!

Any Specialist Ingredients?

These vegan garlic knots are pretty damn simple on the ingredient front, but that's your opportunity to make sure you use the best quality ingredients you can get your buttery, garlicky mitts on!

There's only one ingredient I'd recommend you really use for this recipe: A GOOD PLANT MILK! Being the only liquid element of the dough, you'll find it has a huge effect on the flavour. Here are my two faves! 

Bonsoy
Bonsoy has been my fave soy milk for a pretty damn long time. It has a really subtle flavour and a nice, creamy texture thanks to a high fat and protein content.

You can grab Bonsoy here!

Oatly Barista
Hopefully all the shortages of this magical milk have come to an end. These guys exploded onto the plant-milk scene a few years ago and I can honestly say this milk played a huge role in me making the transition to vegan. It works perfectly in this recipe and is the best milk for coffee!

You can grab Oatly Barista here!

How Do I Make It?

As usual, there's a full recipe at the bottom of this page, but I'm going to walk you through the steps to make the garlic knots below. 

1. Make the dough!

Because of the slightly high liquid and oil content, the dough for these garlic knots can be a little sticky to begin with. However, if you leave the dough to hydrate properly, it'll be much more pleasant to knead and form. 

Activate your yeast in the warm, sugary milk, then mix together all your ingredients until you have a really shaggy, sticky dough. Cover and leave for ten minutes. After ten mins it should be much easier to work with - NO MORE DOUGHY HAND PANIC! 

2. Knead the dough!

My technique for kneading isn't hugely labour intensive. It involves kneading for a few minutes before allowing the gluten to relax for ten minutes. It's really not necessary to do this process more than twice, but if you'd like to experiment with the texture of your dough, feel free to do it a couple more times. 

One thing to note is that you won't need to flour the surface at this stage. The oil in the dough should keep it from sticking. Once kneaded, it's time to prove the dough! 

3. Prove the dough

The next stage is to allow the dough for the vegan garlic knots to rise or prove. The aim is to let it double in size, and this should take roughly an hour. I tend to place my dough in a bowl, cover with a damp tea-towel, then place in a cold oven.

If you like, you can put a small bowl of hot water at the bottom of the oven too. The steam stops the dough from drying out and also raises the temperature of the oven a little, to help speed up the proving.  

4. Shape the dough!

Once proved, your dough is ready to shape. Push out some of the larger air bubbles with your fingers and divide the dough into two. Roll out one dough half into an oblong and slice into 10 ribbons. Sprinkle with a little mix of garlic granules and flour before tying in a knot. 

Repeat with all of your dough and arrange the knots on a lined baking tray. Brush with a little oil. You now need to prove them again, this time I'd recommend only doing between 30 and 45 minutes. Meanwhile, prove your oven!  

5. Bake the knots!

Time for the oven! The proved knots should be nicely puffed and should jiggle when you shake the tin. Pop them in the pre-heated oven and bake for roughly 15 minutes, rotating the tray half way through baking. 

When done they should be golden brown on the top and bottom. Remove from the oven and enjoy that smell!

6. Make the garlic butter and dress!

While the knots are cooling slightly, melt the vegan butter in a small pan and add the garlic. Allow it to cook for a minute or so but make sure that garlic doesn't brown! You want it nice and fresh tasting! 

Stir in parsley and salt. Pop all the knots in one large bowl then drizzle over the butter. Toss or stir to make sure all the knots are dressed. you're ready to serve!

Made this recipe?

Did you give this a go!? I'd love to hear what you think! Either rate and comment on the recipe below or head over to my instagram and leave your thoughts over there!

I really enjoyed developing this one, and I hope you'll love eating it too!

Need more similar recipes!?

Not had your fill of Italian/American classics? Why not try these vegan bad-boys for your next cook-fest!

- Vegan Beyond Burger Lasagna
- The Perfect Vegan Pesto
- Vegan Ricotta Stuffed Pasta Shells

Vegan Garlic Knots

The softest, most aromatic vegan garlic knots you'll ever find! Tossed in garlic and parsley butter, these guys will melt your heart as they melt in your mouth!

4.98 from 83 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 24 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Inactive Time: 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours 19 minutes minutes

Servings: 20

Calories: 126kcal

Author: Richard Makin

Ingredients

For the Knots

• ▢ 230 ml soy milk or your favourite plant milk
• ▢ 2 tablespoon caster sugar
• ▢ 1½ teaspoon instant yeast
• ▢ 200 g plain white flour
• ▢ 160 g strong white bread flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ 30 ml olive oil
• ▢ 1 tablespoon plain white flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoon garlic powder

For the Garlic & Parsley Butter

• ▢ 110 g vegan butter
• ▢ 5 cloves garlic finely minced garlic
• ▢ 2 tablespoon fresh parsley finely chopped
• ▢ ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

To Make the Knots

• Place the soy milk in a small saucepan and place over a low heat. Bring the milk to around 30 °C (drop a tiny bit on the back of your hand. It should just feel very slightly warm).
• Remove from the heat and pour the milk into a small bowl. Add the sugar and yeast and mix well. Set aside and leave the yeast to bloom for around 5 minutes.
• In a large bowl, mix together the flours and sea salt.
• Once the milk and yeast mixture has bloomed and is very frothy on top, add 20ml of the olive oil and mix well. Add the milk mix to the flour mixture and mix together until you have a sticky messy dough. Cover with a damp tea-towel and leave to hydrate fully for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, remove the dough from the bowl and knead well on a clean surface for around 2 minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave for a further 10 minutes. Repeat the process of kneading for 2 minutes and cover again.
• Place the covered bowl into a cold oven. Place a small bowl of freshly boiled water on the bottom of the oven to help keep the temperature of the oven slightly warmer than room temperature. Leave to prove for one hour.
• After an hour is up, the dough should've doubled in size. Tip the dough from the bowl onto a clean, lightly floured surface and press out the large air bubbles.
• Using a sharp knife, slice the dough in half. Form each half into a ball, then roll out into a rough oblong. Slice the oblong into 10 strips.
• Mix together the 1 tablespoon plain white flour and the garlic powder. Sprinkle over the slice dough, then one-by-one, tie each strip into a loose knot and place on a baking tray, lined with baking parchment. Repeat with the second half of the dough until you have 20 knots on the tray.
• Brush the knots with the 10 remaining ml of olive oil. Cover with cling film or a damp tea towel and leave to second-prove on the counter for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 °C
• Once proved, place the risen knots in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. While the knots are baking, prepare the garlic and parsley butter.

To Make the Garlic and Parsley Butter

• In a small saucepan over medium, melt the vegan butter. Add the minced garlic and allow to cook for a minute or two. Do not allow the garlic to brown. Remove from the heat.
• Add the parsley and salt to a large bowl an top with the garlic butter. Stir to combine. Add the warm knots and toss well to coat. Serve hot with your favourite marinara sauce for dippin'!

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1grams | Calories: 126kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Sodium: 217mg | Potassium: 54mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 289IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg

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