Garbanzo Garlic Knots

I was mid-run [okay, so more like slow, painful jog] when it started pouring. I guess summer is officially over. I think we had maybe three weeks of it total? Four? Regardless, it’s kind of a bummer. I love Portland for its mild climates, and I know rain comes with 75% of the year, but I like to milk whatever sunshine I can get.

That said, fall is probably my favorite season if I had to play favorites. I love the clothes, the food, the cooler but potentially still sunny weather, etc.

Soup is a great vehicle for eating bread, which was totally my excuse for finally making the garlic garbanzo knots. Yeah, this bread has garbanzo beans [aka chickpeas] baked right in. Sneaky, right? Coupled with the fact that they’re twisted into neat shapes, I’m all about it. Let it be known that I totally dropped the ball on the garlic topping. So I made do with a trashy substitute. Surely dousing the tops of the knots with a healthy dose of garlic powder is similar……..right? I hope you rolled your eyes at me. I deserve it. It was interesting to say the least, and I’ve saved you the trouble of trying this horrible idea yourself. Just do it the right way. That’s why it’s called the right way.

The recipe makes two batches of dough, and I’m definitely going to make a sweet version of the knots [hello cinnamon and sugar]. I’m also going to pretend I didn’t already mix a bunch of basil into the dough. Basil can belong in a sweet dough. I’m just going to keep telling myself that. I clearly doing learn anything ala garlic powder.

Inspiration: (never home)maker

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 packet yeast [a tablespoon works if you’ve got it in bulk]
• 2 cups spelt flour
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons dried basil leaves [or 6 fresh leaves]
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic [or garlic powder…hahahaha]
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation

1. Mix the yeast in the warm water. Set aside for 5 minutes until nice and frothy.
2. Puree the beans + water + basil in a food processor or blender. Yeah, that’s good by itself. You know you had a bite or three.
3. In the bowl of the stand mixer, whisk together the flours + salt.
4. Pour in the water and the bean puree.
5. Attach the dough hook [I’m lazy], and allow it to do all the dirty work. Once the dough comes together, let work into a smooth round ball of dough. It only takes a couple minutes.
6. Spray the bowl [or get a new one] with oil, put the dough back in, cover it with plastic wrap and a towel, and let it sit for 2+ hours until it gets huge [or doubled in size].
7. After it’s risen, split it in half. Freeze the other half for later. That’s pretty nice to have.
8. Preheat the oven to 425° and line a baking pan with a silpat [or use a fancy pizza stone if you have one].
9. Split the dough into 12 equal pieces and then roll them out into long skinny ropes to make into knots. You feel like you’re playing with silly putty. It’s awesome.
10. Bake them for 15 minutes. This is where I almost melted my eyelashes off. Don’t do that. It’s not fun.
11. Allow them to cool and whip up the garlic olive oil mixture to brush on them [seriously, next time cinnamon and sugar].