Bread Croissants - Garlic Knots

Bread Croissants

Recipe is pretty simple

Make bread dough

Flatten it in a circle, use a pizza cutter to cut lots of wedges

Roll them up and bake them

Homemade Bread by Nigel Hay

1 Tbsp Sugar

1 Tsp Salt

300 ml Water Tepid – see video above where Nigel explains

300 mg White Flour

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 packet of yeast or what you find in the bottle

Mix it up

Let it rise for an hour

Knock it down

Let it rise for another 30 minutes

You got bread

Oven at 350

Garlic butter coating:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup parsley, minced

1 teaspoon salt

So I use milk vice Nigel using water.  He did say you could use 50/50 water/milk, but I just use 1% milk, put in the microwave for 90 seconds.  I let it cool for about 4 or 5 minutes. Otherwise when you add the yeast, your going to cook it.  Add the sugar and yeast.  Let it set for about 10 minutes.

Get a spoon in there and make sure there is no yeast that was caught in an air bubble at the bottom.  But adding the yeast after the milk should prevent this.

Add the flour/salt mixture.  I am using a Kitchenaid and I "could" add all the flour at once.  But the common sense way is to add about a 1/2 cup of flour at a time.  Let it mix and then add more and more until you have added it all.  Let this mix for about 10 minutes.  Yes, it does seem like a long time, but you need to gluten to work in the flour.

I am always torn at this point.  The bread looks "wet".  But you will not regret leaving it like this.   Add more flour if you want.  Remember, cooks will tweak their recipes.  Cover and let rise for 1 hour.  I have been known to go as much as 90 minutes here.

Punch down the bread dough.  Roll it out on the counter and knead the bread for another 2 or 3 minutes.  When my arms get tired, I put it back in the bowl, cover it, and let rise another 30 minutes.

I get out my rolling pin and flatten out the bread on a floured countertop.  With a pizza cutter, I cut the bread into wedges and roll them up.  Outside point to the tip.  Put them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

With the oven at 350, they browned up in about 25 minutes.

FOR GARLIC KNOTS: After they come out of the oven, let them set for a few minutes.  Them brush them with the garlic butter coating.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.