Garlic Knots Revisited

The last time I made garlic knots they were delicious, but this time I made them again with slight variations on the recipe and they were even more delicious.  Hard to believe, I know, but it's true.  I made some changes to this recipe, which is the same recipe I used last time I made the knots.  I'm still not totally happy with the performance of the yeast, but I'm willing to settle.

So, my modifications:

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup water at (warm) room temperature 
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup +1 tablespoon whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 4 tsp olive oil

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• 1 1/2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs Smart Balance (or other butter substitute)
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 Tbs chopped fresh basil

Directions:

1. Combine water, sugar, and yeast.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes.  It's supposed to get foamy, and that's how you know that the yeasties are waking up.  It didn't get really foamy when I did this but it's a well-known fact that yeast hate me, so I'm probably not a prime example of how to make yeast behave.
2. While the yeast is waking up and taking a swim, mix together the flours and salt.  Add in the yeast mixture and stir together until it becomes a dough.  It will be kind of sticky.
3. Put the 4 tsp of olive oil in a container, then throw in the dough and coat it with the oil.
4. Cover tightly and let sit for about an hour, or until the dough has risen (I've heard that the dough is supposed to double in size, but as previously stated yeast hate me, so I can't attest to this).
5. Preheat the oven to 400 F (give it about 1/2 hour to preheat).
6. In a smallish bowl melt your butter substitute of choice, then add the olive oil.  Mince the garlic and then add that to the oil mixture.  Go ahead and add the salt too.
7.  Once the dough is risen, dump it out onto a flat surface- I used a cutting board.  Spread it out into a rectangle.
8. Dump just over half of the garlic/oil mixture onto the dough and spread it over the surface.
9. Cut the dough into strips.  I wanted to make mini-knots so each strip I cut was about 1/2 in. by 2 in. (This is not exact. At all.)
10.  Tie each strip up into some semblance of a knot, or a blob, and put them on a lightly greased baking sheet.
11. Bake for about 9-11 minutes, or until the knots are lightly browned and cooked through.  Be careful not to overcook them!
12. While the knots are baking, chop up the basil and add it to the garlic mixture.
13.  Once the knots come out of the oven, throw them all in a bowl.  Pour the garlic mixture over top and toss the knots so that they get covered in the mixture.
14. Eat them all.

Yummmm

These knots got completely devoured in about 5 minutes flat by all the people in my house.  They're so good.  Next time I think I definitely need to make a double batch.