The House of Spices

What are Scallion and Garlic Knots?

A staple in Italian pizzeria’s, these are bready dough knots loaded with scallions and garlic. They’re extra soft and fluffy, made with a pizza-like dough, topped with some flavourful garlic butter and scallions before baking.

 

I’ve added my own little Chinese twist by adding scallions and serving them with chilli oil. The warm, fragrant knots, dipped into infused chilli oil is a match made in heaven. This recipe is easy and fuss free! It’s super easy to shape the dough into knots. You can check out my video for visual help. 

 

What type of yeast do I need for this recipe?

To make the scallion and garlic knots, you will need instant dry yeast. It’s extremely convenient as you can add it to the dry ingredients without having to proof it. 

 

Why did my dough not rise?

There could be several reasons why your dough didn’t rise. This could be because your yeast has expired, you didn’t give the dough sufficient time to rise, the surrounding environment wasn’t warm enough or you added too much flour. Make sure to follow the recipe and measure your ingredients in grams (not cups) for greater accuracy. Too much flour prevents the movement of yeast, therefore stopping the dough from rising. Other common reasons include over-kneading or under-kneading your dough. An under-kneaded dough will have a poor gluten structure, hence won’t be able to hold on well. An over-kneaded dough will have a hardened gluten which will prevent the yeast from inflating the dough. 

 

Can I skip the scallions?

The scallions give the bread an amazing flavour, hence I wouldn’t recommend you to skip it. It adds a great onion-y flavour that is light, fresh and slightly sweet. Additionally, it adds a nice pop of green. If you don’t like spring onions as much, I suggest you reduce the quantity. Another suggestion would be to use chives instead as it has a remarkably similar flavour and appearance to scallions. Chives have a more mild and delicate flavour, so you may need to use more of it. 

 

Can I make the dough in advance and store it?

Nope! While you do need to make the dough in advance to let it proof, you cannot make it ahead of time and store it.

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I can’t get perfect knots, what should I do? 

Tying the dough into knots should be fun. Don’t stress for perfection as they’re meant to have character. Although if you do need a guide, you  can check out my video where I give you step-by-step instructions on how to do so. Alternatively, if you do not want to shape them as knots, you can shape them however you like. There’s no restrictions, you can do buns, braids, swirls, literally anything! 

 

Any substitute for the ingredients mentioned?

There are no substitute ingredients for making the dough, however you can be quite flexible with the fillings/toppings. You can replace the scallions with chives, and parsley with other herbs of your choice.

 

Any cooking tips for this recipe?

1. Make sure your yeast is not inactive. 

2. Don’t over-knead or under-knead the dough. 

3. Give the dough enough time to rest and double in size.

4. Be generous with the butter when brushing the knots.