Bread Archives | Bake With a Grain of Salt

Easy Buttery Garlic Knots

Soft, fluffy and easy to make, these buttery garlic knots are perfect with any italian dish or soup! Eat on the side with a salad or just as a snack! Top with parmesan or flaky salt!

Okay, what’s better than easy to make buttery garlic knots to eat with any of your Italian dishes?

This recipe only requires about ten to fifteen minutes of active prep time and a few hours of down time.

This is what the dough will look like after you mix the yeast water, half of the dry ingredients, and the olive oil. At this point you want to switch to a dough hook if you’re using a stand mixer.

This is what the dough should look like once it is done being mixed.

After the dough has done it’s first rise. Once you punch, roll, and shape the dough this is what they should look like.

Let them rise once more for an hour before baking.

Then brush with garlic butter and enjoy!

Once you brush the easy knots with garlic -y buttery goodness, you’re welcome to top the knots with flaky salt, grated parmesan, or crushed red pepper!

Some tips on storing these knots if you want to premake them and bake them when the craving strikes.

You can freeze the whole batch or just half of it, whatever you prefer.

If you want to store these, then place them on a parchment paper lined sheet pan and place in the freezer right after you shape them into the knots. Do not allow the dough to do its second rise. Freezing the knots at this stage will freeze the yeast in the dough and prevent it from fermenting or rising more during storage.

Once the knots are frozen, you can remove them from the sheet pan and store in a freezer safe container or plastic bag and place back into the freezer. They can last for a few weeks like this.

When you’re ready to eat them, remove them from the freezer and place on a parchment paper lined sheet pan. Cover with a damp towel and allow to thaw and proof. Once they have thawed, you can bake them the same way you normally would.

Finally, finish the knots with a generous coating of garlic butter and any other seasonings and enjoy!

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Easy Buttery Garlic Knots

Soft, fluffy and easy to make, these buttery garlic knots are perfect with any italian dish or soup! Eat on the side with a salad or just as a snack! Top with parmesan or flaky salt!

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Proofing Time2

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: American, Italian

Servings: 6

Calories: 115kcal

Ingredients

Knots

1 tsp Instant Yeast
½ Cup Water, lukewarm (95° – 110° F)
1½ Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
1 tsp Fine Sea Salt
1½ tsp Olive Oil

Garlic Butter

2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Cloves Garlic
Parmesan (Optional)
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (Optional)
Flaky Salt (Optional)

Instructions

Mix the yeast into the water thoroughly and set aside while prepping the rest of the ingredients.
Mix the salt, sugar, and flour thoroughly in a bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl (or your stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment) Add half of the dry ingredients mixture and the yeast water. Mix with a wooden spoon (or on low with your stand mixer) until combined.
Add the oil and mix until combined (turn the speed up one notch on a stand mixer).
(If using a stand mixer, swap to a dough hook. Make sure you scrape the dough off of the paddle attachment) Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until the dough is smooth (turn up to a medium/medium low speed on the stand mixer)
Add the dough to a greased bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature for about an hour (until the dough has doubled in size)
Punch the dough down once it has risen and cut into 12 even pieces (they can be any shape since we will be rolling these)
Roll those 12 pieces into balls and then roll them out into thin logs that are about 8 inches in length.
Cut those logs in half and tie each half into knots.
Set the knots on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and cover with greased cling wrap. Let rise for an hour.
Once proofed, place the knots in a 400° F oven for 10 – 13 minutes.
While the knots are baking, melt the butter and grate the garlic cloves into the butter. Let the garlic steep.
Once you remove the knots from the oven, brush the garlic butter on.
Sprinkle on any option flaky salt, crushed red pepper, or grated parmesan and enjoy!
Read the blog post above for information on how to store the garlic knots so you can bake them on demand!

Hotteok (Sweet Korean Stuffed Pancakes)

Hotteok is a Korean style sweet pancake that is stuffed with cinnamon sugar and walnuts! Made with a simple yeasted dough and can be stuffed with any flavor of your choosing!

One variety of Korean ‘pancakes’ is Hotteok which is stuffed with a sweet, nutty filling. Another is called jeon a vegetable pancake we can explore later!

Hotteok (Sweet Korean Stuffed Pancakes) cooking

There are store bought dough mixes you can buy for hotteok if you want to use them, but it’s more likely that you’ll have instant yeast on hand than an Asian market near you that carries it.

The dough is really simple to make and requires little kneading. For those of you that have a stand mixer you can set them aside for the recipe! You’ll just need a large bowl and a wooden spoon!

Mix your flour, sugar, and salt together and add in the yeasted water and stir with the wooden spoon. It should look like this.

Add the oil and mix properly. Roll the dough into a ball and place into greased bowl, cover with greased plastic wrap. Let set for an hour at room temperature while it rises. (it’s okay for the dough to be sticky)

Once the dough rises, it should look like this. Punch the air down and turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. (Add the 1/8 cup of flour I said to reserve in the recipe instructions)

Knead or fold that flour into the dough until the dough is smooth. Then cut the dough into four even pieces and roll those in to balls. Cover with the plastic wrap and set aside while you prepare the filling. Make sure you finely chop your walnuts and then measure out the required tablespoon.

Using your hands, flatten the balls to be a little larger than the size of your palm. Then press down the sides of the dough so the perimeter of the dough is thinner than the center. Then scoop the filling evenly between the four flattened dough balls.

To seal and roll the dough, bring four points of the dough together and pinch shut. Then bring the rest of the dough together and roll between your palms.

Place the hotteok balls aside and heat up some neutral oil on a pan. You just want a thin layer of oil on the pan. We are very shallow frying these. Make sure the oil is hot and shimmering before you place the hotteok in there. Place the hotteok in the pan (the oil should sizzle) depending on the size of the pan you may only be able to fit one or two in there. Be sure to leave space for when you flatten them.

Cook the hotteok for about a minute to a minute and a half, or until the dough is a crispy golden brown.

Once you flip the hotteok, grab a flat spatula, a burger flipper, or something like that as well as a heavy handled spoon. Place the flat spatula on the dough and use the wooden handle to push on the spatula to flatten the dough. It should be flat like a disc.

Then cook for another minute to minute and half. Flip one more time and cook until the rest of the dough is golden brown. Place the finished hotteok on a bed of paper towels to absorb any grease.

Enjoy the hotteok warm! But be careful not to burn yourself, the filling can be very hot.

If you enjoy these sweet Korean stuffed pancakes, you can enjoy Hotteok with any type of filling! A friend of mine suggested using pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds! You can also do nutella or mozzarella cheese.

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Hotteok (Sweet Korean Stuffed Pancakes)

Hotteok is a Korean style sweet pancake that is stuffed with cinnamon sugar and walnuts! Made with a simple yeasted dough and can be stuffed with any flavor of your choosing!

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Rising Time1

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: Asian, Korean

Servings: 4 Hotteok

Calories: 180kcal

Ingredients

Dough

½ Cup Water Lukewarm (95°-110°F)
½ tsp Instant Yeast
1¼ Cup All Purpose Flour plus ⅛ for flouring surface and kneading
½ Tbsp Sugar
⅓ tsp Kosher Salt
½ Tbsp Vegetable Oil

Filling

¼ Cup Dark Brown Sugar
½ tsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Walnut, Finely Chopped
Vegetable Oil for cooking

Instructions

Mix together the water and yeast. Set aside while you prep the other ingredients.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, white granulated sugar, and kosher salt.
Add the yeast water to the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon.
Add the vegetable oil to the dough and mix properly. It will be sticky but keep mixing!
Roll the dough into a ball and place into a greased bowl and cover with cling wrap.
Place the dough aside in a warm/room temperature room for an hour as it rises.
Once the dough has risen for an hour, punch the gases out of it and roll onto a floured work surface (use the ⅛ cup of flour for this).
Knead the flour into the dough until fully incorporated and the dough feels smooth. It's okay for it to be sticky.
Cut the dough into four equal sized lumps and cover with the cling wrap you used earlier. Set aside while you mix the filling and chop the nuts.
Finely chop the walnuts and then measure out a tablespoon of them. Mix with the cinnamon and dark brown sugar.
Flatten each of the dough balls slightly in the palm of your hands and then evenly add the stuffing between the four dough pieces.
Refer to the photos above on how to seal the dough balls. Set them aside.
Depending on the size of your pans, use enough vegetable oil to thinly cover the bottom of whatever pan you're using. It can be cast iron, enameled cast iron, nonstick, etc. Let it heat up until shimmering.
Place one or two of your dough balls in the pan (the pan should sizzle). Make sure there's enough room in the pan for the balls to expand as you flatten them.
Let the balls cook for about a minute to a minute and a half or until the dough is golden, crispy brown.
Flip the dough and take a flat spatula, a burger flipper, or something like that as well as a heavy handled spoon. Place the flat spatula on the dough and use the wooden handle to push on the spatula to flatten the dough. It should be flat like a disc.
Cook the hotteok for another minute to minute and half, or until its golden crispy brown.
Flip the hotteok one more time and let the rest of it cook before removing from the pan and placing on some paper towels.
Enjoy warm! If you want to make ahead and reheat, you can heat them up on a pan or in a toaster oven!

Easy Sandwich Loaf Bread

Once you start making this easy sandwich loaf bread, you’ll never want to buy the store bought stuff ever again! It’s slightly sweet and toasts to the perfect crunch!

This easy sandwich loaf bread recipe is a perfect introduction to the art of bread making! It’s a versatile bread so it surely won’t last long in any household!

I make this recipe using my stand mixer, but I will walk through how to make the bread without one. For home cooks that are trying to bake casually, I would recommend using a stand mixer if you have one just out of convenience and efficiency.

It’s key to ensure that your milk and water (and any liquid you use to bloom yeast) is at a ‘lukewarm’ temperature. This is usually between 95 and 110 F. Anything lower won’t activate the yeast properly and anything higher runs the risk of killing it.

Mix thoroughly and allow the yeast to bloom for around 8 – 10 minutes before you use it. Measure out your other ingredients while the yeast is blooming. Do keep in mind that your butter should be room temperature and soft to the touch.

If you’re using a stand mixer to mix the dough, fit on the dough hook attachment and start by mixing the dry ingredients together. Slowly drizzle in the yeast mixture and continue mixing until the dough comes together. Add in the butter a tablespoon at a time until fully incorporated.

If you’re doing this without a stand mixer, you’ll want to mix the yeast mixture into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Mix until the dough looks like this

When you’re adding the butter, the dough will become sticky you can add a few sprinkles of flour to help but I would be cautious of adding too much. Once the butter is in, you can turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth.

Place in a oiled boil and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let rest for an hour to hour and half or until doubled in size.

Punch the dough out and work any air bubbles out as you roll the dough out into a rectangle. Then fold the dough over itself into thirds across the long side.

Then roll the folded dough out again so the short side of the dough matches the length of your loaf tin. Tightly roll the dough onto itself so it can rest in your loaf pan. There will be holes in your bread if it’s not rolled tightly enough (my bread rose too much so there’s an air pocket in the center of the loaf).

Place the log in a prepped loaf tin and cover with another loaf tin, let rise for about an hour and bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes!

Let your easy sandwich loaf bread cool fully before slicing!

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5 from 1 vote

Easy Sandwich Loaf Bread

Once you start making this easy sandwich loaf bread, you'll never want to buy the store bought stuff ever again! It's slightly sweet and toasts to the perfect crunch!

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Rising Time2

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 Slices

Calories: 120kcal

Equipment

Standard Loaf Tin

Ingredients

¾ Cup Lukewarm Water (95°-110° F)
½ Cup Lukewarm Milk (95°-110° F) (preferably whole milk)
2½ tsp Instant Yeast
3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1½ tsp Fine Sea Salt (grind your kosher salt if you have kosher)
1 tbsp Granulated Sugar
3 tbsp Unsalted Butter, room temperature

Instructions

Mix together the lukewarm water and sprinkle the instant yeast on top. Stir and set aside for ten minutes to let the yeast bloom.
Mix together the flour, salt, and sugar in large bowl. (Stand mixer bowl if you're using one)
(Fit the stand mixer with the dough hook or use a larger bowl and a wooden spoon if you don't have one) Add the yeast, milk, and water mixture to the bowl and mix on a low speed until incorporated. (this will take a few minutes with a mixer, and more time by spoon)
Add a tablespoon of butter at a time to the mixture until full incorporated. Once fully incorporated mix for 30 seconds more. (If you're doing this by hand, put the dough on a floured work surface a knead the butter into the dough. Work until the dough is smooth.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature for about an hour and half or until the dough doubles in size (make sure it doubles, if you live in a colder or less humid climate this may take longer)
Once the dough doubles in size, punch the air out and place onto a floured work surface. Make sure you punch any air pockets out.
Roll the dough into a large rectangle and fold into thirds across the long side. (refer to photos)
Roll that out into another rectangle where the short side is the length of your loaf pan.
Start from the side of your dough that matches the length of the load pans and Tightly roll your dough into a log.
Place in a greased and floured loaf tin and cover with another loaf tin, let rest for about an hour at room temperature or until doubled in size.
Bake at 350° for 35 – 40 minutes. Let cool for ten minutes until removing from loaf pan and let cool fully on a wire rack.