Garlic Parmesan Bread Knots & Twists

The Best Bread Knots & Twists

I love bread and these Bread Knots & Twists are no exception.  You can make them from scratch by throwing together ingredients for Dinner Rolls dough or you can purchase it, premade, frozen.  Either way you can make Knots & Twists that are absolutely amazing.  Once you learn a simple twist and tie technique, all you have to do is let the dough rise, brush in the Garlic seasoned butter, sprinkle on the Parmesan Cheese and Oregano, then bake to perfection.  In just a matter of minutes, you can sink your teeth into an American Tuscany; code for Heaven on Earth.

Bread Knots & Twists
Dinner Rolls Dough Ingredients:

4 to 5 Cups FlourRhodes Dinner Rolls
2 tbsp Yeast, Instant Rapid Rise
1/3 cup Sugar, granulated
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 Cups Warm Milk, 110 degrees
1 egg
2 tbsp Melted Butter, for basting

Freeze dough or follow the instructions, below, for Bread Knots & Twists.

Bread Knots & Twists Ingredients:

16 Frozen Dough Dinner Rolls, thawed
1 Cube Unsalted Butter, melted
1/2 tsp Salt (Don’t add salt if butter is salted)
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
Parmesan Cheese to taste
Oregano to taste

Bread Knots & Twists Instructions:

To make Bread Knots & Twists, thaw and Roll the dough before it rises.  Twist and Tie the dough into desired shapes and place on a greased cookie sheet 2 inches apart.  Cover with a towel and allow the dough to rise at least triple the size.  In the meantime, melt 1 cube of Butter and add the Salt, Garlic Powder and Onion Powder and stir with a whisk. When the dough has risen, baste and coat the dough with the melted Butter mixture.  Then shake Parmesan and Oregano over the top of all the Knots and Twists.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 Minutes.  Then coat again with the remaining butter and serve Garlic Parmesan Bread Knots & Twists while they’re still warm.

If you want the dough to rise quicker after you’ve twisted and tied the rolls into knots, heat your oven to 200 degrees then turn it off.  Add a large bowl of water to the bottom rack and place the cookie sheet full of dough on the top rack.  The dough will rise 3 times faster this way so keep a close eye on it and be sure NOT to cover with a towel this way.  The Bread Knots & Twists won’t turn out right, if you do.

Bread Twists

Bread Twists

What’s the Deal with Bread Twists?

Bread Twists for me, started when I was a young man.  I would camp with some friends near a reservoir we would boat and fish on, and we would twist canned biscuit dough around our Hot dog and Marsh mellow skewers to make “Bread Twists”!  Now I don’t now if this is something everyone else does elsewhere, but I’ve never seen anyone else do it since.  However, there is a local Pizza Joint here, that shall remain nameless, that has branded their very existence around them.  They are so good, I thought I’d share a real simple way to make these yourself at home.

 Rhodes Texas RollsInstead of going through a whole dough recipe and having to worry about the yeast and what not, do yourself a favor and pick up a frozen bag of dinner rolls.  I used these Texas Rolls made by Rhodes because they are 50% larger than the average dinner roll, so it gave me more Twist to work with.  The great thing about a pre-made dinner roll is that they’ve taken all the guess work out of making a fluffy light bread, which is the key to making perfect Bread Twists.  It is critical, however, to follow the thawing instructions and let the dough rise properly.  Once you’ve done that, roll them out with some flour into a long cylinder shape that you can then roll flat with a rolling pin.  Then using a Shish Kabob Skewer, pierce the tip on one end of the dough, then slide the dough to the bottom of the skewer and twist the dough to the end of the skewer and stab the tip of the remaining twist.  It’s important to let them rise back up again before baking so they remain fluffy when they cook.  I use a cake pan when I lay the Bread Twists Side ways in order for the bread to swell and cook down as well as out in every direction.  This also helps to brush the Garlic and herb seasoned butter over the top.

Bread Twists Ingredients:

12 thawed Dough Rolls and Skewers

4 tbsp melted Butter
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp dry Oregano

Parmesan (Don’t mix with the Butter)

Mix all the Butter Topping ingredients together and brush the twists on all sides before and after baking.  The twists do tend to come unraveled during the handling, but they twist back just as easily. Shake Parmesan Over the top after they’ve been basted and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes or until Golden Brown.  Because oven temperatures may vary, the time will too so watch them carefully because they cook faster when the dough has been rolled out and flattened for twists.  Bread Twists are great with Italian Pasta, Pizza or just Dipping in Marinara, Alfredo or Garlic and Olive Oil.