I think I caught the bread making bug. And I like it.

For years, I was scared of baking bread. I had a horrifying experience trying to make 100% whole grain spelt bread that came out flat as a pancake. I didn’t think I would ever recover from that and I assumed that I just wasn’t bread baker material. This week I realized that while there are some rules that you need to follow, it really isn’t that hard at all! Most of the work is ‘hands off’ while you are letting the dough rise and you can do other things, such as weird photoshoots in the woods or watching NCIS with your cat.

My next conquest was a Garlic Knot. I was a bit scared about making bread into knots, but it turned out to be so easy I almost laughed when I made them.
Repeat after me: I will put my bread making fears aside and give bread baking another chance.

Itty Bitty Herbed Garlic Pumpkin Knots with Vegan Parmesan Cheese
Adapted from Neverhomemaker.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup very warm water
- 2 tsp instant dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tsp dried herbs (I used mixed basil, oregano, thyme, parsley)
- 1 & 3/4 cups unbleached bread flour
Herbed garlic spread w/ Parmesan cheese:
- 2-3 tbsp Earth Balance, melted
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 2 tsp vegan parmesan cheese
Directions: In a large bowl, mix together your dry ingredients (flour, salt, yeast, dried herbs). In a smaller bowl, mix together the wet ingredients (syrup, pumpkin, olive oil). Once those are mixed quickly add in your very warm water and mix well. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir well. When the mixture becomes too dry to stir, place the dough onto a floured surface and knead it for 2-3 minutes until it comes together into a ball. You will need to add quite a bit of flour since the dough is quite sticky from the pumpkin. When the dough is no longer tacky to touch (but not dried out), place it into an oiled bowl with olive oil and gently cover the dough in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise for 2 hours.
After 1 and a half hours, grab your pizza stone if you have one, and preheat it in the oven at 450F. If you don’t have a pizza stone, grab a baking sheet and line it with a non-stick mat or parchment. If you are using a pizza stone, grab a Peel and sprinkle on cornmeal. After 2 hours, take your dough, punch out the air, and lay it on a floured surface. Gently press it out so that it forms a small rectangle and then take a pizza roller and cut strips approx. 1/2-3/4” width by 6-8 inches in length. You can make them any size you want though! I had to play around with it for a bit to see what I liked. Grab a strip and make it into a knot. You can tuck the ends back into the centre or leave them hanging (I left them hanging).
Place the knots onto the Peel OR onto the baking sheet. Once you have all your knots made, place into the oven at 450F for about 11-12 minutes until slightly golden on the top. Spread on the herbed garlic spread with a pastry brush or add all ingredients into a bowl and toss. Serve immediately. I didn’t have to tell you that right? Makes approx. 14 small knots. You can also double this recipe and freeze half of the dough for later.

A word about the pumpkin– I didn’t notice the taste in the knots. Next time I might leave it out or you can also try adding some spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, etc to try and bring out the flavour a bit more.


My favourite part!

Now let the yeast do the work and let it rise for 2 hours. Or five if you are like me (I got busy & distracted!).

Flatten the dough into a small rectangle and then cut into strips. Take a strip and simply tie into a knot. You are done! You can play around with how big you like them. I made some larger ones too, but I didn’t find they looked as cute as the itty bitty ones.
Bake at 450F for 11-12 minutes (that was on a pizza stone so I am not sure if the time will vary on a baking sheet). Note: Don’t spread on the garlic mixture until after it comes out of the oven.

The Herbed Garlic spread is out of this world. I highly suggest making it. The vegan parmesan cheese, Earth Balance, minced garlic, and herbs really made the knots come alive.

This was one of the first things I have made in a while where Eric did not mention anything about chocolate! Success.

What is your favourite kind of bread? Store bought and homemade…
I love multigrain bread with TONS of seeds on it, so that is certainly on my list to bake. I also would love to make a pumpernickel bread and make a homemade vegan spinach dip inside it. Mmmmm.
Mmmmm… Bread! My favorite bread is Dave’s Killer Bread which is made here in Portland, OR. It is covered with tons of seeds and full of whole grains. But, like you, I really love making my own bread too. Here is a link to my most favorite homemade bread on my blog:
http://tahinitoo.wordpress.com/2008/06/03/rye-love/
Bread, oh my. I used to eat bread as a kid and when I was in my early 20s it became evident that gluten was not my friend. After going thru withdrawals and eliminating it, I havent missed it in the past 5 yrs…I never even buy (or make) GF bread. I do make lil GF muffins and stuff but ok, I lied, a really seedy, oatey, hearty, full-of-texture bread…that’s where it’s at. But most GF breads are just like bland cardboard. LOL. So I dont bother buying them…or making them….maybe I need to start!
:)
WOW Those look delicious!!!
My favorite is my family’s Honey-Molasses Whole Wheat Bread, made from scratch and the wheat is picked right from our own fields =). Sometimes we don’t grind the wheat up as much so it has a more grainy texture, mmmm!
Hooooooly crap, those looks fantastic!
oh my – how wonderful! I am ALL FOR homemade bread :)
Angela, they are so pretty! It makes me feel better to know that I am not the only one with a bread making fear. After some self-analysis, I have come to the conclusion that my fear is rooted in my mother always telling me how hard it is to “make good bread”. You’ve given me some confidence!
Carla
I love homemade foccacia, raisin cinnamon, and wholewheat loaves. I grew up on 100% homemade bread and started baking it when I was little. I remember thinking store-bought toast looked so skinny and funny.
I buy bread now for everyday things, the dense seedy kind, but still bake for fun. I’ve got your dinner rolls that I adapted with some herb and garlic butter in the oven right now! Smells delish. I’ll have to try your new recipe too.
Those look so good…I am sure they pull apart and just melt in your mouth…Mmmm!
My fav. bread is anything grainy and wheaty…lots of fibre!
Whole wheat bread does not really exit here in Korea…saddest thing ever!!
Omgosh…I’m still HORRIFIED of baking…but only because I can’t resist going back for seconds…and thirds…heck the whole batch!! ;)
Pretzels are cool…but Cinnamonbuns are were it’s at!!
Hey Angela!
I’m a fairly new reader and I just tried these out for dinner, we were having pasta and meat balls so I thought they’d go well. It’s the first recipe of yours I’ve tried and… they were perfect and adorable and delicious and wonderful! I may have used more herbs in the dough than you did but… I’m kind of a fan of herbs… :)
Isn’t making bread so satisfying? I love when it rises successfully, and then punching it down is fun, and watching it get nice and golden in the oven. And of course nothing beats warm, freshly baked bread.
If you’re interested in baking more bread I’d suggest looking into the Tassajara Bread Book. It’s basically a really detailed, kind of hippie, bread bible. It’s how I started, and they’ve got some great recipes!
Anyway I really like your blog, and thanks for posting all these great recipes and health advice and inspiration and everything!
Yum! So cute. I love multigrain bread, dark rye and sourdough.
I make spelt, sprouted whole wheat with a little bit of Prairie Gold (hard white winter wheat), it is sooooooo good! I have made all my own bread for about 15 years now, I HATE store bread!!
Those are cute little knots!!!
I am so excited that you are going to FoodBuzz!!!! I am glad other Canadians will be there :-) When do you fly in?
I love pumpernickle bread and I prefer homemade breads!! I have only recently started playing around with baking my own yeast breads. I usually would always just buy my breads from the bakery!
Are you kidding? If you didnt post pictures I would have had trouble beliving you! :-) These are the definition of EPIC!
Hi hi!…. well, this is actually my first comment on your blog even though I’ve following you for a long time…
Thank you so much for this recipe!
I just made it today and let me tell you… they did not stay in the tray for more than 2 hours!
I’ll post the pictures on my blog next week.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs from Norway!
Yum, those knots look really good!
I thought the original recipe, the one you posted, looked amazing, but the whole pumpkin and garlic idea totally freaked out my roommates so I adapted your recipe a bit…
I swapped the herbs and salt for a little sugar and pumpkin pie spice, the olive oil for canola oil, and added a little more pumpkin (and consequently, a little more flour). Then, instead of a garlic butter glaze, I went with a cinnamon and maple syrup sauce. Yummmmmm.
Thanks for the idea!
Challah bread! That’s my favorite… but have never tried for fear of failing. How on earth to vegan-ize an egg bread? That might be a challenge suitable only for OSG herself.